Steamed Blueberry Pudding

By Hklbrries

A meeting of the Haines Women's Club at the Sheldon home usually meant chicken salad and Boston brown bread.

"Mother would not waste fuel by steaming only two or three cans of her brown bread," Hakkinen recalls, "so the night before the meeting we usually had Boston baked beans, Boston brown bread and steamed blueberry pudding. Those three dishes always arrived together at our table and were delicious."

Today, the Sheldon Family's Collection of memorabilia and photos is at the heart of the Sheldon Museum and Cultural Center in Haines.

"Eventually this material will be part of a book I am working on," says Hakkinen, who recently moved to the Lower 48 after living most of her 81 years in Haines."

Related article in this collection: The Bride Couldn't Cook.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup shortening
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 3/4 cups sifted flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 cups blueberries
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3/4 cup sugar

Details

Servings 8

Preparation

Step 1

Cream together the 1/3 cup shortening and sugar. Add the beaten eggs. Mix the baking powder, salt and flour, and add these dry ingredients to egg mixture alternately with the milk.

Roll out on floured board to make a 16- to 18-inch circle. Butter a 2- or 3-quart, lidded casserole or mold. Center the circle of dough in the casserole. Put in the blueberries, which have been mixed with the flour and sugar. Fold up edges of the dough into the center like a big dumpling, pinching the edges together at the top. Pudding should fill mold about two-thirds full. Top with greased casserole lid.

Steam on a rack for 3 hours in a steamer or large kettle that has been half filled with boiling water. Add boiling water as needed to retain this level throughout steaming.

When done, remove from water, remove lid, and dry a few minutes in a slow oven.