Tradition, Tradition

• Steamed puddings began as steamed meat dishes in Medieval Europe during the early 15th century. Because not everyone could afford meats, they were made with fruit instead, and this creation evolved into a classic Christmas dish eaten by everyone from the king on down. Like fruitcake, steamed puddings incorporate a variety of individual variations, from the fruit used to the flavor of the hard sauce, or dense icing. Families pass on the tradition, and home and commercial bakers keep the dessert alive.

A Matter of Taste

• Whether it's the hard sauce, in boozy or lemon flavors, the moist, plump raisins or the spicy, dense cake itself, it's the taste that keeps bakers and families continuing the steamed pudding tradition. Bakers use their favorite ingredients to update recipes, making cakes with dried cherries and peaches, ripe, winter persimmons and those with marmalade, wild blueberries or candied ginger.

Fun With Food

• The impulse toward using kitchen gadgets may be one reason cooks still make steamed puddings. Once a home or commercial baker has had a cake become soggy from an ill-fitting cover and invested in an antique or modern mold with a tight-fitting hinged-lid, that person wants to use the device at least once a year at Christmastime. For bakers and cookware collectors, a steamed cake mold -- or two, five or 10 -- injects fun into cooking.

You Can Do This

• Steaming offers bakers a challenge and a satisfying sense of mastery. Steaming a pudding typically requires a mold that is positioned on a rack in a pot of boiling water. The water reaches a few inches up the side of the mold, and the whole contraption simmers for 1 1/2 to 3 hours. The most difficult part is covering the mold tightly enough with foil to keep water from getting in. You must open the foil periodically to check the pudding for doneness, then carefully replace the foil each time. The pudding is done when a toothpick comes out clean. Unmolding the dessert and flaming the cake at the table are other skills for a baker to master.