Darker than most

I was glancing through a little recipe book, subtitled ‘cottage housekeeping 1900-1920′, and came across a chapter on regional puddings. I rarely if ever have a pudding after a meal, and certainly not an actual pudding – a baked or steamed sponge or suet, but I really enjoy making them.

Some of the recipes have regional names, Leicester pudding made with butter or nice dripping (not sure many people would fancy dripping however nice, Coniston pudding with added breadcrumbs and raisins, Felixstowe tart which is a cake made with cornflour and filled with jam when cooked. There’s also a recipe for Snowdon pudding with raisins and marmalade, Derbyshire bread and butter pudding also with raisins, and Welsh pudding  – like a custard tart with jam and lemon zest.

Then there is Tansy Pudding, and nowhere in the instructions does it say, maybe poisonous – which is strange…

tansy’s dark side is darker than most – it’s literally a killer. Despite historically being commonly used as a flavouring, bitter-tasting tansy contains a toxic essential oil that can cause liver and brain damage and even kill humans and other animals. On a less lethal level, it can also prompt an allergic reaction in some individuals when touching the leaves.
https://www.growveg.co.uk/guides/why-you-should-and-shouldnt-grow-tansy/

I don’t advise you to try this, however, this is the recipe which appears in “Tuppenny Rice and Treacle” by Doris E. Coates:

Tansy Pudding
This north country recipe is interesting in its use of herbs in a sweet pudding.
I dessert sp chopped tansy leaves
½ pt milk
½ oz butter
2 eggs
1 tbsp sugar
2 oz breadcrumbs
Soak the crumbs for half an hour in the boiled milk. Add the well-beaten eggs, sugar and tansy; beat thoroughly. Add butter. Put into well-greased pie dish and bake in a moderate oven for half an hour till set.

Please think carefully before attempting this!

Thanks for the image to  krzys16