Small Beef-steak Pudding is a traditional British recipe, based on Eliza Acton's recipe of 1845, for her classic boiled pudding of beef steak and water cooked in a rich suet crust. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Small Beef-steak Pudding.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Eliza Acton's 1845 volume Modern Cookery, the first classic Victorian cookbook.
Original Recipe
SMALL BEEF-STEAK PUDDING.
Make into a very firm smooth paste, one pound of flour, six ounces of beef-suet finely minced, half a teaspoonful of salt, and half a pint of cold water. Line with this a basin which holds a pint and a half. Season a pound of tender steak, free from bone and skin, with half an ounce of salt and half a teaspoonful of pepper well mixed together; lay it in the crust, pour in a quarter of a pint of water, roll out the cover, close the pudding carefully, tie a floured cloth over, and boil it for three hours and a half We give this receipt in addition to the preceding one, as an exact guide for the proportions of meat-puddings in general.
500g plain flour
200g minced beef suet
1/ tsp salt
300ml cold water
500g tender beef steak, cubed
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
150ml water
Method:
Stir together the flour, suet and salt in a bowl. Add enough of the water to bring these ingredients together as a dough. Turn about 2/3 of the dough onto a floured work surface and roll out until about 15mm thick. Use this to line the base and sides of 1l pudding basin.
Season the beef pieces with salt and black pepper then place in the pudding bowl and pour over the water. Roll the remaining dough until large enough to cover the top of the pudding. Crimp the tow pieces of dough together then cover the top of pudding with a piece of buttered paper in which a fold has been placed to allow for expansion. Tie this securely to the top of the bowl then cover everything with a double layer of kitchen foil.
Sit on a trivet or upturned plate in a large pan. Pour in boiling water until it comes half-way up the side of the pudding basin then place over the heat and continue boiling for 3 1/2 hours, until the pudding is cooked through. Check on the pudding every now and then and top-up the liquid with more boiling water as needed.
When cooked, remove the pudding from the pan and allow to cool a little. Uncover the bowl and remove the lid. Sit a serving plate on top and invert the pudding onto this. Serve hot, accompanied by boiled potatoes, green vegetables and gravy.
