TANNIE JOOSTE SE BRUINPOEDING
Auntie Jooste's brown pudding

The day the unfloppable flopped

The above pudding is a firm family favorite. It has spread beyond my own family by now, and my sister's neighbor always asks for it at least once during my annual vacation. This is how it entered my family. Many years ago, after my grandmother's interment (my dad's mom), the women in the spiritual community provided refreshments at our house. One lady, Mrs. Jooste, provided this pudding. We liked it so much that we asked her for the recipe, and she gladly obliged. It is very simple and easy, and made entirely on the stovetop (no oven-baking required). Similar and near-identical versions of the recipe abound. Once you've tasted this one, however, you're likely to stick with it and not feel the need for any other.

The recipe as it was handed down is quite cryptic, assuming the cook will know what to do, and when. I've written it down the way I myself do it, in the order I do it.

The end result is not an impressive-looking pudding, but it is an impressive-tasting one.  It is sweet, cinnamony, gingery, and saucy. What more could you ask for.

The last time I made this pudding was ... this morning. An astounding thing happened: the unfloppable flopped. When I thought everything was plain sailing - with the dough in the sauce and the lid of the saucepan securely on, and I was about to start washing up - I discovered I had forgotten to add the baking soda (measured out and mixed with hot water as the recipe required). This was a critical mistake as the baking soda is the only rising agent in the dough. It was too late to stop the bus, in a manner of speaking, so I let things run their course. The result was doughballs resembling mudcakes (real mudcakes, made from actual mud - not the confectionary version) adrift in a pool of sauce. I didn't taste them, but they probably tasted like mud as well, only sweet. I was a little annoyed at myself but instantaneously resolved to have a re-run as the intended recipients were my sister's domestic worker and gardener. Today is the last day I'm seeing them before leaving, and I wanted to treat them. The second attempt met with success. (Between the two attempts I had to pay the supermarket a visit as I had run out of ingredients.) I made another boo-boo during attempt #2, but a reversable one: I added the salt intended for the sauce to the flour mixture (which was soon to become dough) instead, but I could scoop it out. All's well that ends well, as conventional wisdom would have it.

The ingredients are super-simple, and you should have most of them in your pantry already. One of the ingredients is smooth apricot jam. The quality of the apricot jam is not critical to the success of the recipe. I would say if you make the pudding for a non-discerning audience, who would be satisfied with anything sweet, use cheap(er) jam. However, for the best results - tastewise - user better quality jam. There is no need to use apricot preserve; smooth apricot jam is perfectly fine.

IMPORTANT
Once the dough is in the sauce and the lid is on the saucepan, DO NO REMOVE THE LID UNTIL COOKING IS DONE. It only takes about 10 minutes. The saucepan with lid on acts like a mini-oven. Heat and steam build up inside, and lifting the lid will let both the heat and the steam escape, lowering the temperature. It will also affect the rising of the dough. 

Here is the recipe the way I make it.

For the dough you'll need:
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
1 teaspoon (5 ml) powdered cinnamon
2 teaspoons (10 ml) baking soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon (15 ml) hot water
1/2 cup (125 ml) butter or margerine
1/2 cup (125 ml) smooth apricot jam

In a medium-sized bowl, sift together flour and salt.
Mix in cinnamon. (You could also sift it together with the flour and salt.)
Rub in butter or margerine until well combined.
Put the bowl aside.

In a medium-sized saucepan, the one in which you are going to cook the pudding, mix the following:

3 cups boiling water [boil water in kettle first]
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Put the lid on and bring to the boil again on high heat. While you're waiting for the sauce to boil, continue with the dough.

Add dissolved baking soda to the flour mixture.
Mix the apricot jam in until a soft dough is formed.
Form dough into meatball-sized balls and place on a big plate. Work quite quickly.
Once the sauce boils (it should be boiling by the time you've formed the balls) place the balls of dough in the boiling sauce in quick succession, spreading them out somewhat. Cover with lid.
Turn the heat down to medium or just below medium and leave for 10 minutes. RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO REMOVE THE LID TO PEEP. After 10 minutes, remove saucepan from stoveplate to halt the cooking process. You may remove the lid now and leave it off, or you could replace it.

Scoop balls with sauce into serving bowls and serve with custard.