Cloutie Dumpling

Wherever you travel on the islands cloutie (usually written as clootie, but always known in my family as cloutie!) dumpling is made for celebrations such as birthdays, weddings and Christmas. There are many variations, including adding marmalade or carrot, or soaking the fruit in tea. This is my version of many island recipes, and is easy to make. But you do need an extra-large cotton cloth or tea-towel. Most modern tea-towels are too small; I bought three huge ones when my mum’s old clout gave up the ghost - and they do the job very nicely.