Royal Windsor Pudding!

Royal Windsor Pudding – the very best of regal cuisine!

Mrs Beeton’s Windsor Pudding Recipe

Royal Windsor Pudding – ready for steaming!

Enjoy a hearty chunk of Royal Windsor Pudding!

You see, whilst scouring through the archives of the Foods of England website (put link) I stumbled across Windsor Pudding – I say, thank goodness for modern technology! I was enthralled to read that in 1822 Mary Eaton first recorded this scrumptious pudding recipe in The Cook and Housekeeper’s Dictionary. 

“Original Receipt in ‘The Cook and Housekeeper’s Dictionary’ by Mary Eaton (Eaton 1822);
WINDSOR PUDDING. Shred half a pound of suet very fine, grate into it half a pound of French roll, a little nutmeg, and the rind of a lemon. Add to these half a pound of chopped apple, half a pound of currants clean washed and fried, half a pound of jar raisins stoned and chopped, a glass of rich sweet wine, and five eggs well beaten, with a little salt. Mix all thoroughly together, and boil it in a basin or mould for three hours. Sift fine sugar over it when sent to table, and pour white wine sauce into the dish.”

My research also revealed how this regal pud received its title. Well, to start “Eaton” is Mary’s surname, and Eaton is located near Windsor in Berkshire, England. Mary may have also resided in Eaton or Windsor (who knows!), but nevertheless, the origins of this pudding are terribly obvious!

​Darlings, I must admit I’m a tad baffled by Mrs Beeton’s Victorian version, as it’s peppered with discrepancies and lack of or choice of alternative ingredients. First off, the Georgian or Regency recipe calls for “suet”, and the Victorian recipe calls for no suet at all.

Evidently, Mrs Beeton (actually, I mean the real author of this recipe, as Mrs Beeton only ever developed ONE recipe in her lifetime, Useful Soup for Benevolent Purposes) replaced suet with “Carolina” or pudding rice, which is very odd as suet was all the rage in Victorian England. 

Now, regarding Mary Eaton’s recipe, what the heck is French roll? Of course, I consulted my resources but was unable to find sausage on it, so, if you have an inkling of a clue, please do indulge Miss Windsor.

​Thankfully the ingredient of apple is included in both recipes, however, Mrs Beeton’s version failed to include chopped raisins, currants, and according to Mary’s Eaton’s instruction not even a drop of rich sweet wine, instead, half a teaspoon of lemon juice, which I increased to one tablespoon.

I say, the true anomaly of Mrs Beeton’s so-called recipe, is why on earth does it call for four “egg whites” instead of four whole eggs? And although I gave this recipe a jolly good crack of the whip! surprisingly it turned out like a steaming hot, pale coloured, virtually anaemic looking, wobbly blancmange.

But do not despair, as Grandmother Josie would often trumpet, “There’s no use crying over spilt milk!” – indeed, grannie! Always straight to the point with her pithy maxims, and often followed by, “If at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again”. So, Miss Windsor recreated this recipe once more with the addition of brown breadcrumbs, and thankfully it turned out just fine.

Before you dash off to your kitchen, I must proclaim that this pudding has been subject to intense scrutiny by Miss Windsor’s fine palate, and of course passed the taste test with flying colours. This magnificent pudding was awarded Miss Windsor’s Royal Stamp of Approval for superior flavour, queenly quality, and for its OUTSTANDING contribution to the arena of food history.

TIP: split the pudding mixture between two x 1-pint (570ml or 20 US fl oz) pudding basins, as this will cut down the steaming time considerably – only an hour or so, as opposed to three.

Serve each slice with a generous helping of Birds Custard – I do wonder if our trusty, old-fashioned, British household brand of Birds is a firm favourite of the royal family?

Enjoy the very best of royal fayre!

Miss Windsor x

ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY MISS WINDSOR, EXCEPT FOR THE QUEEN MOTHER!