Clootie Dumpling
A rich, spiced Scottish fruit pudding boiled in a cloth until it forms its famous dark skin.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 3 hr
- Serves
- 10
- Level
- Medium
A clootie is the cloth the pudding is wrapped in. Dusting it with flour creates the chewy skin that everyone fights over.
It's traditional at Christmas and Hogmanay, served warm with custard or sliced and fried the next morning.
Clootie Dumpling
3 hr 30 min total · approx. 390 kcal per serving
Ingredients
Servings
Method
- Mix the flour, suet, breadcrumbs, sugar, spices and fruit in a large bowl.
- Beat the treacle, eggs and milk together, then stir into the dry mix to make a soft, dropping dough.
- Scald a large cotton cloth in boiling water, wring it out, lay it flat and dust generously with flour.
- Spoon the mix into the middle, gather the cloth up and tie tightly with string, leaving room for it to expand.
- Sit it on a saucer in a large pan of simmering water, cover and cook for 3 hours, topping up the water as needed.
- Unwrap carefully and dry in a low oven for 15 minutes to set the skin. Serve warm with custard.
Cook's noteLeftover slices are delicious fried in butter alongside bacon and eggs.
Calories are an estimate per serving. Diet tags are a guide only: always check ingredient labels for allergens, and see our food safety note.
