Baked Apple Roly Poly

Ingredients

10 oz (275g) self-raising flour
pinch of salt
5 oz (150 g) shredded suet
some cold water
1 lb (450g) cooking apples
3 oz (75g) Demerara or soft brown sugar
2 level tsp ground cinnamon
3 oz (75g) sultanas
Milk and sugar to glaze

Method

1. Turn on the oven to moderately hot, 400ºF, 200ºC, Gas mark 6.
2. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and mix in the suet.
3. Add just enough cold water to mix to a soft but not sticky dough.
4. Roll out your pastry on a floured board, to a rectangle about 12x14 inches (30x35 cms).
5. Trim the edges and then cut off a strip about 2 inches wide from the shorter side. (What exactly does this mean? I suppose it means that you now have a square 12x12 inches, and a strip 12x2 inches—but see further below for counter evidence to this theory).
6. Peel core and chop the apples (NB chop them small!)
7. Spread the chopped apple over the pastry to within 1 inch of the edge.
8. Mix the brown sugar and the cinnamon together and sprinkle over the apples.
9. Scatter the sultanas over the apples.
10. Fold the pastry edges over the apples on the long sides. (humph, I thought there was no long side any more?)
11. Brush these and both ends with water. 
12. Roll it up from the shorter side like a swiss roll, and seal the ends.
13. Place the roll, join downwards, on a sheet of foil on a baking tray. Push up the sides of the foil to hold the pastry roll in shape. (Hmm I think it is more recommended to put it in a tin with sides, such as a very large loaf tin or an oblong tin).
14.  Gather up the trimmings with the pastry strip, roll into two thin sausage shapes and twist them together. 
15. Brush the roly poly with milk and sprinkle with caster sugar.
16. Place the twist down the centre of the roll and brush with milk. 
17. Make four slits in the pastry on each side of the roll to allow the steam to escape.
18. Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown. If the pastry twist browns too quickly cover it with a strip of foil to protect it. (I am beginning to wonder why we bother with this twist of pastry?)

Serve hot with custard or cream, or a hot sweet white sauce. This can be dairy free if you don't glaze it with milk. 

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Pudding

Ingredients:

1 oz butter
Soft brown sugar
8 oz self raising flour
1 tsp salt
3 oz suet
1/4 pint water
1 1/2 lbs of young rhubarb
1 oz chopped candied peel
2 oz currants
rind and juice of half a lemon
4 oz sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon
3 fl oz water

Method:

1. Choose a very large glass or china pudding basin (2 pint basin is not really big enough for this quantity of stuff).
2. Butter the basin thickly with the butter and shake plenty of brown sugar about in it so that it sticks to the butter (or spread them both together).
3. In a mixing bowl, make suet pastry with the flour, salt, suet and the 1/4 pint of water.
   
4. Form the dough into a ball and cut off one third of the ball to reserve for the lid.
5. Take the larger piece and put it into the pudding basin. Pummel it out thin so that it lines the bottom and sides of the basin up to a bit short of the brim. Make sure there are no holes.
6. Wash and trim the sticks of rhubarb and slice them into 1 inch pieces.
   
7. Put half the pieces of rhubarb into the pudding shell.
   
8. Sprinkle over the peel, currants, lemon rind and juice, half the sugar, and the cinnamon.
9. Add the rest of the rhubarb and the rest of the sugar.
10. Pour in the water.
11. Take the remaining piece of suet pastry and knead it out to make a round lid. Put the lid on the pudding and stick the edges of the pastry together.
12. Cover the pudding with a circle of greaseproof paper as if for steaming, tied on with string.
13. Bake at 350º F, 180ºC, Fan oven 160º, gas mark 4, for 75 minutes.
14. Remove from the oven, take off the paper top, turn out into a dish with sides.
15. Serve piping hot with cream or custard.
    

Whole lemon pudding

Ingredients:

1 lb plain flour
8 oz shredded suet
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1 egg mixed with milk (or plain cold water)
1 lemon
4 oz Demerara sugar
pinch of grated nutmeg
pinch of ground allspice
1/2 tbsp of cold butter, cut into bits (not obvious how you measure this in tablespoons mind you).

Method:

1. Grease a large pudding basin before you get your hands in the flour.
2. Put a large saucepan of water on to heat.
   
3. Tip the flour gently into a mixing bowl and add the suet. Grate a bit of the lemon rind into this, and add 3 teaspoons of the sugar. Mix these ingredients with a knife and then add the liquid (egg and milk, or water). Add enough liquid to mix to a soft dough with the knife and/or your hands.
4. Put the blob of dough into the pudding basin and dig a hole in the middle of it. Continue to dig it out and pull it up the sides of the basin until you have a big cavity in the middle of the dough.
5. Into the hole, place the lemon (cut in quarters), the rest of the sugar, the spices and the butter.
6. Close up the hole by dragging the sides together and make sure it all seals across the top with no cracks or holes.
7. Put a lid on the basin or tie it up with greaseproof paper and string.
8. Put the basin in the pan of water (water should come two thirds up the basin) and boil over a low heat for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
9. Lift the pudding basin out of the pan, remove the lid and turn the pudding out onto a serving plate (use a dish with sides, e.g. a flan dish because the juice will flow out when you cut it).
10. Serve with custard, lemon sauce, golden syrup or cream.