Discover Aunt Lulu's Australian Pudding Recipe

Aunt Lulu's Australian Pudding Recipe
Welcome back to Sunday morning and the Old Cookbook Show! Today, we're diving into a 1919 Australian church cookbook, "Auburn Methodist Tested Recipes" from Melbourne, to try a historical dessert called Aunt Lulu’s Pudding. This recipe is a layered jam pudding made with simple ingredients like flour, butter, and milk, but it's a bit tricky to perfect. Along the way, we’ll compare cooking traditions between Australia and Canada, both shaped by British colonial roots but influenced by unique climates. If you have tips on perfecting the jam-to-cake ratio or know the family behind this recipe, let us know! Watch as I experiment with this classic dessert, and stay tuned for more vintage recipes from around the world.

Aunt Lulu's Pudding.
Mrs. Tuckfield.
Half lb. flour. 1/4 lb. butter or dripping, 1 egg, 1/2 pint milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, & teaspoon soda. Mix well together, then add egg and milk.
Beat well for a few minutes.
Butter pie-dish put in layer of mixture and layer of jam alternately until dish is full.
Bake in brisk oven for 20 minutes.
Turn out and sift with sugar.

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[GlenAndFriendsCooking]

I guess since I touched on this in the video I should flesh it out a bit... "A Pint's a pound the world around" is something you hear from Americans all the time (at least in the cooking world) - but it isn't. Cups aren't the same either; through Geography or time. Here's a refresher:

American Pint: 16 US fluid ounces or 473 mL
Imperial Pint (used across the Commonwealth / British colonies) 20 Imperial ounces or 568 mL
A knock on effect of this is that the Gallon is different for both systems as well.

As for the measuring cup:
American measuring cup: 8 US fluid ounces or 236 mL (however a legal cup is defined as 8.2 US fluid ounces or 240 mL just to confuse things)
Canadian measuring cup: Pre - Metric 8 Imperial ounces 227 mL, Post-Metric 250 mL Commonwealth Cup or Metric Cup
UK measuring cup: 10 Imperial Ounces 284 mL

My question is what did Australia and New Zealand use pre Metric?

[markdenney]

Piping the jam may help spread the jam better.

[TheDriftwoodlover]

I vote for warming the jam and pouring it on. Looks like worth playing with this one.

[Karlhuna]

Merch idea: Glen uses his cooking history knowledge to translate old recipes for a modern audience. I would buy that cookbook.

[SarahWalker-Smith]

Maybe add some vanilla or lemon zest to the sponge, keep the jam a little from the edge and swirl a cocktail stick through before baking to make it marbled .

[carolynwhetter]

I think the reason Australian cookbooks focus on cakes and desserts rather than savoury main meals is that, until we began to embrace European foods post war, our diet was pretty much meat and three veg with the odd shepherds pie or beef stew in the mix.

[MrAlFuture]

This looks like a classic, simple but delicious pud!My 2 cents, as an Aussie: serve it straight from the pie dish rather than turning it out, and custard! Lots of custard! :)

Thanks for another excellent video!

[damonroberts]

Glen, since you say you don't have much in the way of Australian and other Commonwealth cookbooks, I thought you may find the following recipe interesting. I found it in an old church fundraiser cookbook I inherited from my grandmother. It was published in Toowoomba, Queensland. I have _no idea_ if the recipe is authentically "Canadian" at all, but when I read it I was reminded of your video about the origin of Sticky Toffee Pudding.

"Canadian Lumberjack Cake" (all measures British/Imperial)
2 medium apples
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
4 oz butter + 2 oz (extra)
1 egg
1 1/2 cups plain (all purpose) flour
1/3 cup milk
6 oz dried dates
1 cup boiling water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
2 oz shredded coconut

Combine peeled, cored and chopped apples, dates, bicarbonate of soda and boiling water. Allow to cool until lukewarm. Cream 4 oz butter with granulated sugar until fluffy, then beat in egg and vanilla extract. Sift flour with salt, and beat it into the creamed mixture _alternately_ with the cooled fruit mixture. Pour the batter into a greased and paper-lined 8" cake tin. Bake in a moderate oven for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until cooked when tested.
Combine 2 oz butter, brown sugar, milk and coconut in a pan, stirring over low heat until the butter and sugar have melted. Spread this mixture over the hot cake and return it to the oven for a further 20 minutes or until the topping is brown.

A quick search finds several versions of this recipe (with updated measures) on Australian or NZ websites, but at least one of them alleges that the recipe is either unknown, or not well-known, in Canada and the US.

[quantumbacon]

First set room temperature to "melbourne", then the jam wont be a problem

[matthewhuxtable]

Thank you for using 4 teaspoons for 1 tablespoon instead of 3 teaspoons for Australian recipes. No idea why we do it, but we do it.

[BrianWright]

I seem to remember making this or something very alike 30 years ago in Scotland only it was called Queen of puddings.

[nicolegardiner]

I would try putting the room temp. jam inside a piping bag (or more accurately, a ziplock with the corner cut off) and squeeze it into close ribbons across the batter for the jam layer.

[midhudsonmarketing]

Glen, you attract very intelligent, helpful commenters (see below) who addressed both the jam and rabbit issues. Since I'm from NY and not Australia, I can't improve on what they recommended. But I agree with your idea of microwaving/heating the jam or as others said, piping it on. As usual, I enjoy your groping through the recipe to try to interpret what is meant without actually having any clarifications. I expected "pudding" to be more like custard/mousse in a cup than a cake-like dessert. Thank you for your always-entertaining videos. – Marilyn😁

[SuperOrcy]

My grandmother was born around the time this book came out. she couldnt even look at a rabbit as an adult. when she was a child the only meat on the table was what her father could shoot on the way home from work. normally rabbit. even when I was a kid in the 80's, rabbits were on sale at the butchers for a couple of bucks a pair. and dessert items were abundant because they were uplifting, and cheap calories easily made from rations of sugar and flour.

[zenmaster]

there was and still is, a rabbit problem in australia.
that looks like it would be great with some custard!

[brissygirl]

What I do when I want commercial jam to be more spreadable is just give it a stir in the jar. Just enough to spread on whatever I want it for. It releases some liquid as well over a few days, but since it hasn't been heated, it doesn't lose its consistency in the jar.

[callabeth]

You should get a “Day to day cookery book” it used to be used for home economics in australian schools. It’s been updated quite a few times but all the good recipes are in there: anzacs, steamed pudding wth golden syrup, basic cake and biscuit recipes, lamingtons.

[randallthomas]

You can microwave the jam for a few minutes, stirring every minute, and melt it into a syrup consistency. I use this technique, and use the melted jam to glaze berry or apricot topped cheesecakes.

[emmaprophet]

As I was watching you fight with the jam trying to get it to spread I immediately thought that heating the jam would make it spread easier. That’s the only thing I can think would make it easier

[maryhennen]

I think adding berries into the batter layer would be a good addition too.