Cynthia Wong's Steamed Pudding with Vanilla Custard
A Christmas Eve tradition.
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When I was a child growing up in South Carolina, I was always turning fruit and other produce into baked goods. So, later in life, I followed the path I loved and attended a culinary school called École Lenôtre on the outskirts of Paris.
While traveling through Europe, I met my husband, John David Harmon, a fellow Southerner, at a free Spanish class in Barcelona. We returned to the States after a very meaningful stint in London, where I worked for restaurants in various leadership roles. While I enjoyed it, the grueling schedule was not the life I wanted, especially with two toddlers in tow. I quite literally needed a life raft to get out, and that was when Life Raft Treats, my specialty ice-cream business, was born.
I've always loved the process of inventing, and that's likely why this English pudding means so much to me—it was unlike anything I'd ever made. I remember seeing the recipe for the first time when we lived in London with our first newborn son and thinking to myself, "I've never steamed a whole cake before!" It's quite remarkable how it bubbles along on the stove, with its gooey, buttery texture taking form to resemble a hot and fluffy pound cake.
Although this pudding isn't traditionally made for the holidays in England, I make it for my family every Christmas Eve. The way it comes together still has me rapt all these years later. I serve it with a marmalade made from pink grapefruits off our backyard tree in Charleston. The dessert reminds us of the first Christmas we spent together as a family across the pond. It's the most delicious keepsake of the joy that slowing down brings, especially during the holidays.
Cynthia Wong is the chef and owner of Life Raft Treats in Charleston, SC (@life.raft.treats)