I love citrus-y desserts (citrus anything, really).  And I love easy, old-fashioned desserts, like crisps and slumps and grunts and cobblers.  Steamed puddings were one of the only desserts that ever appeared on the table, back in the day before ovens were the norm in family households.  Colonial American cookbooks have many recipes for them, using apples and persimmons and cranberries or blueberries; they’re really just steamed quick breads or cakes. The most familiar examples for modern diners are Christmas plum pudding and the famous Boston Brown Bread — also a kind of steamed pudding.  For my final baking project in culinary school, I devised individual Steamed Chocolate Puddings with Coconut Creme Anglaise and Crushed Praline; they’ve been a favorite ever since.

(more…)