Full question
I’ve been making Nigella's Ultimate Christmas pudding for years now with no issues. I have an AGA, two puddings I gave 20 minutes on the hot plate and then into the simmering oven overnight they have come out perfectly. The third and largest pudding again had 20 minutes on the hot plate and was transferred to a hotter oven in a cast-iron casserole as (there was no more available space in the simmering oven) at roughly 160c for 8 hours. This pudding is black and tastes bitter and burnt on the surface compared with the other puddings. There was also a fair amount of melted fat in the saucepan. Was the oven too hot ? It had plenty of water in the pan. I also wondered if the escaping suet made the mixture dry out? Is it likely to be edible if I remove the burnt dried part? I hate to waste it.
Our answer
Nigella's Ultimate Christmas Pudding (from NIGELLA CHRISTMAS) is usually steamed on the top of the stove. This is a very gentle method of cooking. We have not tried the AGA method but we wonder if the water had mostly evaporated by the time you checked the pudding in the morning. If this is the case then we would think that at 160c then it may well have been too hot and this has caused the fat to bubble out and the pudding to burn. Also if the pudding basin was in direct contact with the bottom of pot then it will heat up quickly as the water reduces and it may have helped to have a heatproof/ovenproof trivet or something similar for the basin to sit on.
Whilst the pudding may not suitable to be eaten as a traditional pudding, if only the outside is burnt then you could use the centre to make Nigella's Christmas Puddini Bonbons. We suggest tasting a sample from the centre to check that it is not bitter but if the pudding is dry then it doesn't particularly matter for the bonbons as there is extra added alcohol and golden syrup, which will add moisture.
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