Grandma Houston’s Plum Pudding

Even a flood almost to her back door didn’t stop Valmai Hood entering cooking in her local show. Valmai lives in western Victoria on the banks of the Wimmera River, which floods occasionally, with the water rising halfway up the hill towards the old Duchembegarra farmhouse that has been her home since she married in 1963.

About 30 years ago, the flooding coincided with the Horsham Show so Valmai put her collection of cakes, puddings, scones and biscuits into a small