Jan in de Zak

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large pot, 5-liter or larger
• •Clean cotton pudding cloth or unscented tea towel
• •Kitchen string
• •Small saucepan for stroop

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the fruit

   Put the currants and raisins in a bowl, cover them with warm water, and leave them for 10 minutes. Drain well and pat dry. This small kindness keeps the fruit from stealing moisture from the dough, which is how a boiled pudding turns from tender to sulky.

2. 2

   Make the dough

   Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add the lukewarm milk, egg, and melted butter, then stir to a soft, sticky dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes, just until it becomes elastic and pulls in strands from the bowl; this is not bread for slicing thin, it is pudding with backbone.

3. 3

   Add the currants

   Fold the drained currants and raisins through the dough until they are evenly scattered. Cover the bowl and let it rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, until puffed and nearly doubled. If your kitchen is cold, give it time rather than heat; yeast likes patience better than bullying.

4. 4

   Prepare the sack

   Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Dip a clean cotton pudding cloth or tea towel into the hot water, wring it out, and dust the centre generously with flour. Scrape the dough into the middle, gather the cloth above it, and tie it with kitchen string, leaving several centimetres of space for swelling.

   Do not tie the cloth tight against the dough. Jan needs room in his sack, for obvious reasons, or the centre will stay heavy while the outside turns firm.
5. 5

   Boil it slowly

   Lower the tied pudding into the pot, keeping the knot above the water if you can, and reduce to a steady simmer. Cover and cook for 2 hours, topping up with boiling water when needed so the pudding stays mostly submerged. Turn it once halfway through. When done, it will feel firm and springy through the cloth, not loose or sloshing.

6. 6

   Make the stroop

   Warm the stroop with the 50g butter in a small pan until glossy and pourable. Do not boil it hard; you want a dark, smooth sauce that runs into the slices, not a sugar trap for the teeth.

7. 7

   Slice and serve

   Lift the pudding from the pot, let it stand for 5 minutes, then untie the cloth carefully. Slice the Jan in thick rounds while warm and spoon the buttery stroop over the top. Serve at once, with extra syrup on the table, because restraint has no historical claim here.

Chef Tips

• •Use a plain, clean cotton cloth with no fabric softener scent. If the cloth smells like laundry perfume, the pudding will too, and no amount of stroop can argue with that.
• •Keukenstroop, the dark Dutch table syrup, gives the right deep bittersweet note. If you cannot find it, use dark golden syrup mixed with a spoon of molasses.
• •The pudding slices best warm, not blazing hot from the cloth. Five minutes of rest lets the crumb settle so the knife gives you rounds instead of rubble.
• •Leftover slices are excellent fried next day in a little butter until browned at the edges, then served with more syrup. Dutch frugality always leaves itself a second breakfast.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be mixed and given its first rise in the refrigerator overnight; bring it back toward room temperature before tying it in the cloth.
• •Cooked leftovers keep covered in the refrigerator for 3 days. Reheat slices gently in a covered pan with a spoon of water, or fry them in butter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 230g)