Jam roly-poly: The pudding that time forgot
Post categories: baking
| 11:11 UK time, Friday, 18 November 2011
When did you last bake a suet pudding? Despite the recent revival of interest in traditional British food, the iconic Jam roly-poly has not really caught on. There are those – Mrs Beeton is one of them – who would argue that this is a truly seasonal pudding as it makes good use of summer fruit jamÌý ‘when fresh fruit is not obtainable’. Being hot, filling and sweet it is perfect comfort food for the cold, wet evenings that lie ahead of us. If you’re currently developing an austerity menu – this certainly fits the bill.
Jam roly-poly features strongly in memories of my 1970’s childhood. Every Saturday evening my grandmother would lay out a steaming pudding surrounded by jugs of custard, 1940’s , and old fashioned cutlery. A Roly Poly would always elicit appreciative noises from my father, along with remonstrations aimed at my non-suet pudding making mother and her modern ways in the kitchen. These fluffy pastry and jam concoctions, known delightfully as Dead-Man’s Arm, were a hit in the mid-nineteenth century and a regular on the nation’s dinner tables into the 1960s, and then they disappeared.
Soft, but not sticky, roly-poly dough.
The technique for making these puddings does seem off-puttingly unfamiliar, involving cotton cloths, kitchen string, large steamers, and the key ingredient suet is hardly a regular on our shopping lists. I realised that it had been an incredible twenty years since I last made this – in a school friend’s kitchen using a tea towel, hairbands, and guesswork in place of a recipe – remembering how we devoured it, I couldn’t wait to revisit this pudding from the past.
I scoured old cookbooks and experimented with a few versions before settling on a simple, modern approach that is a little lighter and less calorific than the Victorian version. The main source of ready shredded suet today is Atora, they’ve been selling it since 1893 and still sell an astonishing 2,300 tons of it each year. Where once only beef suet was available, they now offer 'Light' vegetable suet.
I tried the traditional steaming method, where you roll your poly up in greaseproof paper or a cloth (messy but makes for a better texture) and cook it in a steamer. But I found the oven method easier and I preferred the look of the end result: lightly browned with an appealing cracked surface, gently oozing dark red jam.
As for the filling, I first tried with the usual raspberry jam, and then with a quick home-made plum jam (8 stoned, chopped plums, 4-5 tbsp sugar, and 25 minutes simmering). The strength of flavour and the intense colour complimented the pastry brilliantly.
Roll out the dough to about 1cm/½in thickness, and spread liberally with jam.
My children adored this new addition to the household pudding repertoire. I’ve never seen anything disappear so fast. We had discussions about sweetness and the texture of the pastry: they like it soft and steamed; I preferred it a little crisp on top and baked. It’s important that the pastry roll is cooked immediately to keep it light and fluffy. We all agreed that adding sugar to the pastry made it all too sweet and that individual mini versions were great fun. I'm left wondering about a savoury version. What's your jam roly-poly top tip?
Plum Jam Roly Poly
(serves 4-6)
150g/5½oz self-raising flour, sifted
75g/3oz vegetable suet
100ml/3½fl ozÌýcold water
pinch salt
5 tbsp plum jam (or raspberry, damson)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
- Mix the sifted flour, suet, and salt together in a large bowl. Add enough water to make a soft dough, but not sticky.
- Knead lightly on a lightly floured board for a few minutes before rolling out to a 1cm/½in thickness and a rough 20cm/8in square shape.
- Spread a thick layer of jam over one side of the dough, leaving 1cm/½in border, which you dampen with a little water.
- Roll up loosely, pinching the ends together as you go to stop the jam escaping.Ìý Place the roll on a large lightly buttered piece of silicon baking parchment, sealed edge down.
- Join the ends of the paper and make a pleated join along the top to allow for the pudding to expand, then twist the ends like a sweet wrapper.
- Put the pudding into a large loaf tin or a brownie tin. Fill a roasting tin with boiling water and place on the base of the oven. Then put your roly poly on the top rack for 35-40 minutes.
- Serve a single thick slice, with homemade custard.
Ìý
Comment number 1.
At 18th Nov 2011, Mrs Whipple wrote:My mum used to make bacon roly-poly, served with parsley sauce. (As far as I remember, she always steamed her suet puddings, including a plain version which was served with warmed Golden Syrup).
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Comment number 2.
At 18th Nov 2011, suelofthouse wrote:My Mum used to make a bacon pudding too, steamed, with bacon 'bits' and lots of sage as I remember.
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Comment number 3.
At 20th Nov 2011, lyndanik wrote:My mother used to make a leek pudding in a pudding clout which we usually had with micemeat and veg. It was delicious. My husband often laments the fact that we dont have it anymore.
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Comment number 4.
At 20th Nov 2011, zexzaz wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 5.
At 20th Nov 2011, Katharine Reeve wrote:I love all these savory roly-poly suggestions.
Really surprised by Mrs Whipple and suelofthouse’s memories of bacon and herb roly-polys – good way to make meat go further and possibly a bit like a giant sausage roll? Are either of you tempted to revive this?
And lyndanik the leeks are nice idea – can you remember any other ingredients mixed in with the leeks?
There was a real difference in texture between the steamed and baked roly-polys – to be honest, the baked version seemed a lot easier – but the steamed version had a lovely soft texture – and was better heated up a second time.
I’ll try out possible mushroom and herb versions I think.
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Comment number 6.
At 21st Nov 2011, bellehelene wrote:I use cylindrical metal sleeves which tends to do a nice job of cooking but also adds essentially for me a little colour as I dislike the bland looking steamed version. "What differenece does that make?" one could ask as it will be doused in custard sauce anyway but the time and effort to get that nice spiral effect is a waste of time, so I put the custard in the dish first then the slice of pudding on top to show it in it's full glory.
In the past I had issues with the jam leakage but if I put a much thinner roll in the sleeve also wrapped (not too tightly) in baking parchment, the extra room lets the suet mix expand so not pushing the jam out.
For a savoury version I do a very similar thing with leek, parsley and thyme and when cooked place the spiral dumpling on portions of steak and ale casserole or sage and onion flavoured suet with pork casserole.
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Comment number 7.
At 21st Nov 2011, Katharine Reeve wrote:Bellehelene - Good tips! Yes the cylindrical metal sleeve is the 'Mermaid Pudding Sleeve' - you can buy these easily and I even found a vintage one online. Agree about the nicely browned colour you get when baking it - not to mention the slight crispy outside layer (v nice).
Had plenty of jam escaping in first few attempts, but then kept a little more space along edge jam-free before rolling (and pinching as you go helps keep it in).
Love idea of those spirals - they must look great (and very unusual!).
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Comment number 8.
At 23rd Nov 2011, Kara Rennie wrote:That looks so delicious! I might have to make it this weekend. Savory option could include spinach, mushroom, and courgette, perhaps?
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Comment number 9.
At 25th Nov 2011, Katharine Reeve wrote:Kara - yes, good idea. I'm thinking of the savoury version as being along herby dumpling lines - possibly parsley and thyme in the pastry and then mushrooms with something else - spinach would be good - pinenuts?
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Comment number 10.
At 1st Dec 2011, GeezerMacaw wrote:Food of the gods mmmmm
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