To Make The Dukes Pudding

The recipe comes from the mid-18th century, authored by Jane Webb, who was active between roughly 1725 and 1750. This was a period when English country house kitchens embraced luxurious boiled or steamed puddings, thick with costly ingredients like suet, eggs, and dried fruit, reflecting the affluence of the gentry and nobility. Such puddings, named after noble patrons like the "Duke," were status symbols and centerpiece desserts at great tables, blending medieval traditions with newly fashionable ingredients like refined sugar and brandy. The use of suet shows both thrift (using all animal parts) and the beginnings of what would become the classic British steamed pudding tradition.

Historically, this pudding would have been made by finely chopping suet with a heavy kitchen knife on a broad wooden board, then pushing it through a fine sieve. The mixing was done by hand in large earthenware bowls. The pudding would be boiled in a cloth, tied securely and suspended in a cauldron or large iron pot over an open hearth. Alternatively, it might be made in a mould and placed in a water-filled pan to simmer gently for several hours. Long-handled wooden spoons and strong string were essential tools.