When I first made this dish I couldn't quite get my head around the idea of a steamed suet pudding with a lemon in the middle. But when you've made it once there's no looking back; it's just delicious. The lemon serves two purposes: it holds up the pudding and adds a flavour that filters into the buttery sauce and the pastry as the pudding cooks. Ingredients 9 ounces self-raising flour 4 1/2 ounces shredded beef suet or vegetable suet 5 ounces whole milk 9 ounces unsalted butter softened 7 ounces soft light brown sugar 1 large lemon clotted cream or double cream for garnish

Instructions
Mix the flour and suet together in a bowl. Pour in the milk and mix to a dough that is soft but firm enough to roll into a 35cm circle. Cut a quarter out of the circle and set aside -- this will become the lid. Butter a 1.5 litre pudding basin and line it with the ¾ circle of pastry, flattening it at the bottom, and joining the edges where the slice was taken out.

Lightly mix the butter and sugar together and press it into the lined basin. Prick the lemon all over with a fork or skewer so that the juices can escape, then push it into the butter mixture. Form the remaining pastry into a ball, then roll it out into a circle to fit the top of the pudding bowl. Lay it over the filling and press the edges of the dough together to seal. Take a piece of foil big enough to fit over the basin, with at least an extra 5cm all round. Make a pleat down the middle of the foil, place it over the top of the basin and tie it tightly with string, making a handle so it can be lifted easily.

Bring a large pan half-filled with water to the boil and lower in the pudding. Cover and simmer for 4 hours. Don't let the water stop boiling, and if the level drops, lift up the basin and top up the pan with more boiling water.

To serve, lift out, remove the foil and loosen the sides of the pudding with a sharp knife. (With the foil lid on, it will keep hot for another hour or so until it's needed.) Put a deep dish over the basin and quickly turn the whole thing upside down. Serve each person a slice with a spoonful of clotted or double cream.

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Yields: 6 Servings
     Waitrose Food Illustrated


notes:  One English classic deserves another. The steamy suet richness and sweet, lemony ooze it surrenders is perfectly pointed up by the pungent, firey complexities of this traditionally brewed ginger beer: Fentiman's Traditional Ginger Beer.

Cuisine:   English

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