Steamed Apple & Marmalade Pudding

You all know that the only thing I do in the kitchen is desserts. BB is in charge of our daily meals and all special meals, including Christmas. He enjoys it. And he is good at it. And I wouldn't be - good at it, that is. But I do good desserts - thanks to Aine McAteer's book, Recipes to Nurture. Sadly, the book is out of print, and you can only get it used on Amazon. However, at £98.50, it's a little pricey.

But I have great news for you - Aine McAteer is working on a new book, with plenty of new recipes! How do I know this? Because I have been kindly asked by Ms McAteer herself to try out some of her new and reworked recipes! I am honoured! I asked her to send me only the desserts chapter. Let's face it, I'm unlikely to have much interest in the savoury recipes. (Though I see in my old post that I did a nice pumpkin soup, which I reprised a couple of months ago. And I use her recipe when I make miso soup.)

I'm really excited about these new recipes. I've only tried a couple so far. Between Christmas madness, which started before Halloween this year (Brown Thomas opened their Christmas shop in September, or was it August, even?), and work, and life in general, which doesn't include that much time in the kitchen on my part, I haven't found enough time. But what I've tried has been a resounding success!

Believe it or not, I had never made a steamed pudding in my life before. And it was more than a bit daunting. But the ingredients were simple, the steps looked straightforward enough, and I followed them faithfully, as I always do. The result? I think the picture here speaks for itself! A beautiful, tasty, homely, comforting, steamed pudding! BB declared it favourite dessert of the month!

Disclosure (I found that word in Newsweek - I always fancied the idea of using it too!): Just want to say I am not a relative of Aine McAteer, nor a close friend. I have never met her in my life. I just remember dropping her a note on her old website many moons ago, and when I joined Facebook, her name was in the FB suggestions, and we've been Facebook friends since!