Sharing the Joy: Regan Walker's Twelfth Night Wager - Guest Post and {Giveaway}

Christmas Plum Pudding in Regency England

Christmas dinner in Regency England often ended with wonderful desserts, including marchpane (what we call marzipan), gingerbread, mince pie and Christmas pudding, which was more like a cake than what Americans call pudding. In both my Christmas novella The Twelfth Night Wager, and my short story The Holly & The Thistle, Christmas Plum Pudding is served on Christmas Day.

I thought you might like to see the recipe for the Plum Pudding they made when the Prince Regent ruled England (1811-1820), and then I’ll offer you my own recipe for a plum cake that always draws compliments and is much easier to make.

First, the traditional English Christmas Plum Pudding:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lb. Suet
1 lb. Demerara (cane) sugar
1 lb. raisins
1 lb. sultanas
4 oz. citron peel
4 oz. candied peel
1 tsp. mixed spice
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 lb. breadcrumbs
1/2 lb. sifted flour
1 lb. eggs (weighed in their shells)
1 wineglassful brandy
1/2 pint milk

Prepare all ingredients, well whip the eggs, add to milk, and thoroughly mix. Let stand for 12 hours in a cool place, add brandy and put into well-greased basins and boil 8 hours or longer. Sufficient for twenty people.

I know. I know. Who would go to all that work, right? Not me. And then there’s the suet. Not doing.

So, here is my recipe for Regan’s Plum Cake:

Ingredients

1 cup oil (I use organic Canola oil)

2 cups granulated sugar (I used organic cane sugar)

3 eggs (I use extra large organic eggs)

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour (I use organic pastry flour)

1 teaspoon each: nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice

24 pitted prunes

1-2 cups diced walnuts

Powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Oil and flour a large Bundt pan (I'm using a silicon one)

Cut up 24 prunes into small pieces and set aside

Measure out 1-2 cups diced walnuts and set aside

Sift 2 cups baking flour with 1 teaspoon each of nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice and set aside

In an electric mixer combine:

1 cup oil

2 cups sugar
3 eggs (1 egg each time beaten w/fork before being added)
1 cup buttermilk mixed with 1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix well, then add in the flour mixture, the prunes and the nuts and mix with a large spoon to evenly distribute. Then pour into your prepared Bundt pan.  

Bake for 60 minutes and check to see if done. Check for doneness with toothpick and by pressing your finger slightly to the top to see if it “bounces” back. If not done then, leave it in for another 5 minutes (it usually takes 65 minutes for me).  

Once cooled, take out of the pan. Cool another 15-30 min. before dusting with powdered sugar. Store in foil in the refrigerator. It will keep for 2 weeks if not eaten before!

Here’s another option—and it’s my son’s favorite dessert for Christmas—Persimmon Pudding. You can see the recipe here: http://www.reganwalkerauthor.com/regans-persimmon-pudding.html

I hope your kitchen is full of wonderful Christmas smells and that all your desserts are confections enjoyed by all!

About the book
Boroughs Publishing Group
eBook; 134 pages
ISBN: 978-1-938876-83-7



THE REDHEADED RAKE

It was a dull day at White’s, the day he agreed to the wager: seduce bed and walk away from the lovely Lady Leisterfield, all by Twelfth Night. This holiday season, Christopher St. Ives, Viscount Eustace, planned to give himself a gift.

THE INNOCENT WIDOW

She was too proper by half—or so was the accusation of her friends, which was why her father had to find her a husband. But Lord Leisterfield was now gone a year, and Grace was at last shedding the drab colors of mourning. The house felt empty, more so during the coming Christmastide, and so tonight her coming out would begin with a scandalous piece of theater. The play would attract rogues, or so promised her friend the dowager countess. It would indeed. The night would bring about the greatest danger—and the greatest happiness—that Grace had ever known.

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About the Author
Bestselling author Regan Walker loved to write stories as a child, particularly those about adventure-loving girls, but by the time she got to college more serious pursuits took priority. One of her professors encouraged her to pursue the profession of law, which she did. Years of serving clients in private practice and several stints in high levels of government gave her a love of international travel and a feel for the demands of the “Crown” on its subjects. Hence her romance novels often involve a demanding sovereign who taps his subjects for “special assignments.” And in each of her novels, there is always real history and real historic figures. Regan lives in San Diego with her golden retriever, Link, whom she says inspires her every day to relax and smell the roses. For more information please visit Regan Walker’s website and blog. 

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