Grandma’s traditional suet pudding recipe with a vanilla hard sauce
Traditional suet pudding is an English dish made from suet fat, flour, raisins, and spices and steamed to perfection. This recipe has been handed down from my Mammam’s family and for generations to come.
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Jump to RecipeThe history of traditional suet pudding
Suet pudding dates back to the start of the 18th century and was frequently made as beef or mutton dishes. As savory pudding dishes are still celebrated in England, as well as other European countries, sweet pudding dishes have also emerged.
Suet pudding should not be mistaken for fruit cake or Christmas cake as it is called in England.
What is suet?
Suet is a crumbly, hard, saturated fat derived from cows and sheep kidneys. Butchers clarify suet by boiling it, rendering a purified fat.
Suet has a melting point of between 113 °F and 122 °F. Butter, by comparison, melts between 90 °F to 95 °F, and as a result, suet fat is less likely to melt into the flour when making a pastry.
As the pudding cooks, the suet melts after the cake has had a chance to set and leaves behind tiny holes. These tiny holes allow the cake to better stand up to wet fillings and gives a lighter, fluffier texture.
Where to find suet
I purchase suet from my local butcher store and it comes ready for use. If you don’t have a local butcher, some specialty grocery stores carry the fat around the holiday and winter season.
Suet substitutes
There really is no equal substitution for beef suet, but if you absolutely cannot find it lard, shortening, or beef tallow are substitutes.
Traditional suet pudding utensils/ingredients
Traditional suet pudding is steamed on the stovetop for a few hours. A double boiler pot like this can be used to accomplish this. Similarly, you can make a double boiler by placing a pot with a lid over another pot with about 3 inches of water in it. I am lucky enough to have this vintage pot that my grandmother (and probably her mother) used to make suet pudding.
The ingredients are simple and combine all the flavors of Christmas:
- Suet
- Flour
- Sugar
- Molasses
- Raisins
- Walnuts
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
- Sour milk
- Salt
How to make sour milk
For every cup of milk, add 1 tablespoon white vinegar or strained lemon juice. Mix and let sit for 15 minutes. You can use buttermilk if you have it on hand as a substitute.
For this recipe, add 2 tablespoons white vinegar to 2 cups whole milk.
How to make traditional suet pudding
Suet pudding is a special dish that my family looks forward to every Christmas.
In a bowl, combine:
- 3 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1 cup chopped suet
- 2 cups sour milk
- 1/2 cup molasses
Add 1 cup raisins and 3/4 cup chopped walnuts. Pour mixture into a greased boiler/steamer pot and steam on the stovetop for 3 hours.
Hard sauce
Hard sauce is a funny term in that the sauce is not hard at all. The sauce is a thick concoction that melts when served over warm pudding, and is gelitanous when cool.
A variety of sauces pair well with suet pudding. My family (and my personal favorite) is a vanilla hard sauce. Other flavors used include lemon and rum. The recipe is the same for all three, just exchange the vanilla extract with lemon or rum extracts:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (OR lemon OR rum)
- Nutmeg to taste
First, combine the sugar, butter, water, and vanilla in a saucepan and heat until the mixture is near boiling point. Secondly, whisk in the cornstarch and continue to cook over medium heat until mixture becomes thick and coats the back of a spoon. Serve warm over a HUGE warm slice of suet pudding.
Mammam’s other classic Christmas recipes
- Classic cashew brittle
- Sourdough nut roll – Her classic nut roll recipe with a sourdough twist!
- Peanut butter fudge – Her BEST recipe!
- Chocolate walnut fudge – A classic!
I promise you this is the BEST home fragrance you will ever smell at Christmas time! Make some traditional suet pudding today and let me know in the comments below how much you enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by!
Traditional suet pudding with vanilla hard sauce
Equipment
- 1 Double boiler pot
- measuring cups/spoons
Ingredients
Suet Pudding
- 3 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1 cup chopped suet
- 2 cups sour milk
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 cup raisins
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Vanilla Hard Sauce
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- nutmeg to taste
Instructions
For the Suet Pudding
- Combine all ingredients, mixing well, and pour into a greased double boiler pot
- Steam 3 hours on stovetop or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean
For the Vanilla Hard Sauce
- Combine cornstarch with 1/2 cup water
- Combine the rest of the ingredients in a sauce pot
- Bring to a boil and add cornstarch/water mixture
- Continue to cook until thickened
- Spoon over sliced suet pudding
Thank you for posting! My grandmother made this for holidays when I was growing up, and I’ve been looking for the recipe for decades.
You are very welcome! Enjoy!
Hard sauce is called that, not because of the texture but because of the fact that it has alcohol in it. Just the way that “hard cider” is a drink with a beer-like alcohol level, whereas “cider” (in the US) is just pressed apples. They have not been fermented. Hard sauce is traditionally made with real rum or brandy, not a “flavoring”.
Yes Jane, you can certainly use real rum or brandy if you so choose.