Steamed Onion Pudding

Onion Pudding is a lightly sweetened savoury pudding generously studded with chopped onions. 

This is an onion ♥ lovers recipe.  If you and your family don't like onions (I'll pray for you) this is not the recipe for you.  But if you love onions, read on...

Newfoundlanders love a pudding served with cooked dinner.  Peas Pudding or Figgy Duff are probably the most famous but there are other puddings that make a Newfoundlander's mouth water, as well.  Some puddings made with soaked bread can be quite dense and wet.  I like them, but they're not my favourites as I like a drier pudding.  With this in mind I searched and experimented until I came up with the perfect (for me) Onion Pudding to serve with Christmas Dinner.   
Dinner puddings are usually boiled in a cotton pudding bag or cloth, right on top of the vegetables and meat but this pudding is steamed separately in a bowl or pudding mould.  This results in a drier but moist pudding, which I like.  

Onion Pudding is a lightly sweetened savoury pudding generously studded with chopped onions.  The sugar only enhances the natural sweetness of the cooked onions but you may decrease the sugar if wish to have a less sweet pudding.   Serve this pudding as one of the side dishes with your Christmas dinner.  It takes to gravy just wonderfully.

The pudding can be made in advance and reheated in the microwave or re-steamed before serving.

Printable recipe at end of post.

Onion Pudding

• 2 cups flour
• ¼ cup sugar (you may decrease this to 2 tablespoons if you wish a less sweet pudding)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Pinch black pepper, optional
• ½ cup butter
• 2 large onions, chopped, about 2 cups
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk

How to make it:
Grease a 6 cup pudding mould or heat-proof bowl.  Have a stock pot or dutch oven large enough to hold the mould or bowl ready with 3 inches of simmering water.  Place a trivet or jar lids in the bottom of the pot.  

Sift or mix together flour, sugar, baking powder salt and pepper.  Cut in butter until crumbly and butter is about the size of peas.  Mix in the chopped onions, tossing lightly.

Beat the egg into the milk and pour over the dry mixture.  Gently mix until just moistened.  Do not over beat.   

Scrape the pudding batter into the prepared bowl or mould.  Cover with the mould cover or if using a bowl cover with parchment paper and tie in place or use an elastic band. The mould is ready to place in the pot but the bowl will have to be wrapped in foil before placing in the pot.   

Cover the pot and bring the water to a gentle boil.  Steam the pudding for 1½ hours.   Turn the heat off and let the pudding sit in the pot until it is safe enough to remove without scalding your hands.

Serve hot with gravy with your Christmas Dinner (or any cooked dinner).

Makes about 8 servings.

I like to use a pastry cutter to mix the butter into the dry ingredients. Mix the chopped onion in with the flour mixture. Mix the egg and milk together and gently mix into the dry ingredients until just moistened.

Scrape the pudding batter into the prepared mould or bowl.  I don't have a mould so I use a heat-proof bowl.  Once the parchment paper has been fitted an elastic band secures it in place.  Place the pudding in the simmering water, cover and let gently boil for 1½ hours.  Once cooked let it sit until it can be safely removed from the pot.  No one wants a burned hand at Christmas.

The cooked pudding.  See the lovely pieces of onion.  Mmmm...soft and sweet.

Serve the Onion Pudding with Christmas dinner and give it a good ladleful of gravy.

You'll have no tears with this Onion Pudding.

To print click on arrow upper right side.⇩