Irish Blaeberry Pudding(small batch)

 

One thing that I will always be sad about is that I never ever got to visit Ireland when I was living in the UK. For the whole 20 years that I was there, it was on my bucket list to go, but alas, it just never happened for one reason or another.

I love the Irish people.  They are so kind and friendly. They become your best friend within a few minutes of meeting and there is nothing that they won't do for you.  Our landlord was Irish, and one of my best friends, Josephine, is Irish. They are beautiful people.

 

They are a very humble and simple folk.  There is no artiface. What you see is what you get. I love that about them.  I, too, am simple folk.  

We used to love to go to an Irish Pub in Toronto on Sunday afternoons. It was filled with families enjoying a nice afternoon together and a bevvie or two. There would be fiddlers, and singers, dancers. It was a good time.

Maybe one day I will still get to Ireland. You never know.

One way of visiting a country without actually going there is by learning to cook and love its food. The food of Ireland is very much like its people.  Simple and wholesome. There is nothing artificial or complicated about it.

It's just plain good eating. Fresh and natural ingredients, put together simply. 

This recipe I am sharing with you today comes from a cookery book entitled "Bread and Butter, cakes and bakes from granny's stove" by Irish author, Ciara McLaughlin.   It's a lovely book filled with beautiful bakes, both savory and sweet.  Seasonally categorized.

 

In looking at the photo you might be tempted to think this isn't a very special dessert.  You would be wrong. It's fabulously tasty, with a sweet fruity base topped with a buttery light cake.

The berries used in this pudding are what the Irish call the Blaeberry, or Bilberry. They are very similar to wild blueberries. They are actually quite interchangeable and are beautiful in simple desserts such as this one.

The original recipe for this delightful pudding made 8 to 10 servings. I cut it down to make only 4, or 5 if you are not big eaters.

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE IRISH BLAEBERRY PUDDING

I guarantee you probably have everything you need in your kitchen to make this lovely dessert today. There is nothing out of the ordinary required.

For the fruit:

• 1 cup (225g) bilberries or blueberries, washed, cleaned of stalks and leaves
• 2 heaped TBS of sugar

For the cake:

• 1/4 cup (50g) caster sugar (fine granulated sugar)
• 5 1/2 TBS (75g) butter, softened
• 1 large free-range egg, beaten
• 1 cup less 1 TBS (125g) self-raising flour (see note)
• 2 TBS whole milk

 

Caster sugar is a fine granulated sugar.  It is not coarse. I find the granulated sugar here in Canada to be quite comparable.  One of the qualities of caster sugar is that it melts quickly into the ingredients of cookies, cakes and bakes. 

If you have ever had a cake end up with what looks like brown speckles on top, that is your sugar. It was too coarse and did not completely amalgamate into the batter.

If your granulated sugar is very coarse, give it a few pulses in the food processor to make it finer.

Don't worry if you don't have self-rising flour. I tell you how to very easily make your own in the recipe notes below. It's not hard at all.

 

HOW TO MAKE IRISH BLAEBERRY PUDDING

I can promise you this is a very simple dessert. There is nothing complicated about it. You don't even need any specialized equipment. All you need is a casserole dish, a wooden spoon and a bowl.

 

Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Have ready a (7 by 8-inch) deep casserole dish.

Scatter the blueberries in the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle the sugar over top.

Using a wooden spoon, beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy and well creamed together. Beat in the egg a bit at a time until well incorporated.

 

Fold in the flour and the milk to combine well. Drop by dollops on top of the berries in the dish and then spread out to cover, using the back of your spoon.

Place onto a small baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the sponge springs back when lightly touched and the berries are bubbling underneath.

Leave to cool for about 15 minutes, then spoon into bowls and serve warm with your desired accompaniment.

 

This pudding (which is a way of saying dessert over there) is a very simple make with beautiful homey, wholesome flavors.  It's very similar to the English Eve's Pudding.  You could actually mix a chopped cooking apple in with the berries to give you a slightly different but equally tasty version.

Do taste your berries before you start. If they are very tart, you may want to adjust the amount of sugar used.

This is delicious served warm along with some pouring cream, clotted cream, whipped cream, warm custard, or a scoop of cold ice cream.  Today I enjoyed mine with a dab of vanilla ice cream. It went down a real treat!

 

If you are a huge fan of blueberry type desserts, then you might also enjoy the following:

LEMON BLUEBERRY TURNOVERS - Delicious. You only need a few ingredients. Puff pastry. Lemon Curd. Blueberries. Blueberry jam. Fabulously simple and so impressive.

LEMON SANDWICHES WITH BLUEBERRIES & CREAM - Slabs of a lovely, moist and delicious lemon cake layered together in layers with a sweet blueberry sauce and a rich yogurt cream.

Yield: 4

Author: Marie Rayner

Blaeberry Pudding (small batch)

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 40 MinInactive time: 15 MinTotal time: 1 H & 5 M

The original recipe for this served 8 - 10 people. I small batched it. Its an Irish bilberry/blueberry pudding with a sweet fruity bottom and a buttery cake topping. Serve warm with cream or ice cream for a real treat!

Ingredients

For the fruit:

• 1 cup (225g) bilberries or blueberries, washed, cleaned of stalks and leaves
• 2 heaped TBS of sugar

For the cake:

• 1/4 cup (50g) caster sugar (fine granulated sugar)
• 5 1/2 TBS (75g) butter, softened
• 1 large free-range egg, beaten
• 1 cup less 1 TBS (125g) self-raising flour (see note)
• 2 TBS whole milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Have ready a (7 by 8-inch) deep casserole dish.
2. Scatter the blueberries in the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle the sugar over top.
3. Using a wooden spoon, beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy and well creamed together. Beat in the egg a bit at a time until well incorporated.
4. Fold in the flour and the milk to combine well. Drop by dollops on top of the berries in the dish and then spread out to cover, using the back of your spoon.
5. Place onto a small baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the sponge springs back when lightly touched and the berries are bubbling underneath.
6. Leave to cool for about 15 minutes, then spoon into bowls and serve warm with your desired accompaniment.

Notes

You can easily make your own self-raising flour. Measure your flour into a container. For each cup of flour whisk in 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt. Store in an airtight container for up to three months. (I never make more than 2-3 cups at a time.)

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