serves
6–8
prep
20 minutes
cook
3:20 hours
difficulty
Easy
serves
6–8
people
preparation
20
minutes
cooking
3:20
hours
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
- 450 g plain flour
- 225 g currants or sultanas
- 225 g raisins
- 115 g shredded suet, or packet of suet mix
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 5 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp (heaped) ground ginger
- 1 tsp (heaped) ground cinnamon
- 1 egg
- 1 apple, grated
- 450 ml milk
Instructions
Mix all the ingredients together with enough milk to make a “not too wet mixture”.
Drop linen cloth in boiling water, using tongs remove and wring out excess moisture. Sprinkle the cloth with flour.
Put the dumpling mixture into the centre of a large square of cotton or linen and tie securely with string. Don’t leave too much room in the cloth or the dumpling will split.
Place the dumpling into a large saucepan of boiling water and simmer for 3 hours. Make sure the water level is topped up with more hot water to about half way up the side. The dumpling should be covered with water.
It is a good idea to use a heat-proof plate in the bottom of the pot to keep the dumpling off the pot base.
When ready, put dumpling on a wooden breadboard and carefully remove cloth. Put plate on top and turn over.
Put in a warm oven for 10 minutes. Turn dumpling onto a clean plate and put into oven for a further 10 minutes.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
