While organizing the garage for the first time in the six years since we have lived here, I unearthed a box that had been unopened since we packed up and moved after too many storms forced us to flee to higher ground. In fact, it had never been opened since my sister sent it me after our parents died 4 years before that. Inside was “stuff” no one else in the family had any use for, so after 10 years what could possibly interest me?

But since it was finally time to get rid of the carton, I blew off the dust, struggled into rubber gloves, and started to dismantle the contents. Wow! Some of my mother’s cookbooks. One of the most fascinating books I found is a little book, Winter Puddings, that I remember an English friend sending to my mother when I was growing up. So how many pudding recipes can there be? As I skimmed through it, I realized that the Brits refer to any dessert as “Pudding.” This thin, dusty volume is crammed with some of the most unusual and mouthwatering pudding (dessert) recipes. Of course, I’ll pass some of them on to you!

As with most non-U.S. recipes, I had a lot of conversion to do, in this case from weight in ounces and pounds to volume as in teaspoons, tablespoons, cups and ounces. Unfortunately the conversions cannot be exact, so I carefully estimated so as to not change the basic recipes. Fortunately, my mother had already penciled in some conversions, so that simplified my task. The first one I tried was Sticky Toffee Pudding that turned out to be a very moist, buttery cake served with toffee sauce. And just in time for the holidays, I found a Christmas Pudding recipe that can be made now and frozen until serving time.

Too, I think I unearthed the flan recipe my mother used whenever she made what she use to call “torte.” I can’t wait to put the Apple Flan together.

Does Marmalade Batter Pudding sound intriguing? It’s a fluffy upside-down cake with marmalade, and delicious served warm with cream.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

1 package (18 ounces) pitted dates

1/4 cup raisins

1 1/4 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups self-rising flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Whipping cream, whipped to serve

Caramel Sauce (recipe follows) to serve

Grease and line an 8-inch square baking pan with bakers’ parchment.

Placed dates and raisins in a saucepan with water and baking soda. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. Fold ion sifted flour and ginger.

Coarsely chop dates and raisins and fold into batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Turn out on a platter; peel off parchment. Cut into squares. Top with whipped cream and serve with Caramel Sauce. Makes 8 servings.

Caramel Sauce

1 cup whipping cream, unwhipped

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon dark corn syrup

Place all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Serve with Sticky Toffee Pudding

Christmas Pudding

1/2 pound suet (I’ll use unsalted butter instead)

12 ounces unseasoned dry bread crumbs

1/2 pound brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 pound EACH raisins, golden raisins and currants

4 ounces mixed candied peel, chopped

1/3 cup brandy or rum

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

4 eggs

1 large apple

Nuts as desired

Put suet, if used, through meat grinder and place in a large bowl. If butter is used, cream in a large bowl. Add sugar, salt, and bread crumbs. Mix thoroughly. Add raisins, and currants.

Mix candied peel with rum or brandy and add. Drop in eggs, one at time. Season with nutmeg

Peel and chop the apple and add with nuts, if used. Mix thoroughly until firm.

Distribute mixture evenly between two well-greased 1-quart pudding bowls. (I inherited these from my mother, but any small, deep mixing bowls will do.) Sprinkle surface with flour.

Cover with a layer of waxed paper and then grease-proof paper that is large enough to overlap the sides of the bowls. Secure with string. Place bowls in a deep pot large enough to hold both bowls and plenty of water to cover them.

Bring water to a boil and then simmer for 3-4 hours. Remove from water immediately.

Unmold on a plate to serve. Serve with whipped cream or brandy sauce.

To freeze, freeze puddings right in their containers. Before serving, boil for 1 hour before unmolding. Or, if microwave-proof bowls (ceramic or plastic) were used, they can be microwaved until heated through, about 10 minutes each.

Apple Flan

Pastry: 1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

1 stick butter or margarine, at room temperature

Filling: 4 teaspoons apricot jam

2 tablespoons water

Juice of 1 lemon

1 1/4 pound eating apples, peeled and sliced (I use McIntosh)

2 tablespoons sugar

Stir together the flour, baking powder and sugar. Rub in the butter. Mix to a soft but pliable dough, adding a bit of cold water as needed. Kneads a few times on a floured board.

Roll out and line a 9-inch loose-bottomed fluted flan tin or a 9-inch pie plate. Boil together the jam and water for 2-3 minutes. Cool and spread half over pastry base.

Squeeze lemon into a medium bowl. Place apple slices in juice, and toss to coat with juice.

Arrange apples in the pastry. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately spread remaining apricot mixture over. Serve with whipped cream. Serves 8.

Marmalade Batter Pudding

3 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

5 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

1/2 cup orange marmalade

Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in sugar, creaming well. Stir together flour, salt and ginger; add to egg yolk mixture alternately with water, stirring well after each addition Stir in vanilla and lemon rind.

Beat egg whites (at room temperature) until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter. Spray with pan spray a 9-inch cake pan. Spread marmalade evenly in the bottom. Spoon batter on top of marmalade. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until a pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm with cream poured over, or whipped cream. Serves 8.