Black pudding scotch eggs

After scoffing some great black pudding scotch eggs at Sheffield's 40th ale festival, I thought I'd try and make my own. I read seven or eight different recipes, and settled on something based on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's basic scotch egg recipe. After this, I collected black pudding from a local butcher and also in sausage form from a delicatessen. The sausage form black pudding wasn't nearly as good; it's been sealed and boiled for durability, and this really impacted flavour - the butcher's square pudding was redder, squidgier, and had a much more rounded and noticeable flavour.

I made seven or eight eggs, measuring the ratio of meat in the mixture each time. There were at least four tasters, including me, James Walmesley, Steven Turner, Matthew Wintle. We settled on the recipe below.

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Scotch eggs are the sort of thing you might not consider making yourself, but they're really not difficult. DIY means you can use a good, organic sausagemeat, and season it the way you like. Kids will love making these, though a grown-up should do the deep frying. Serves four.

• 5 large tasty eggs, not from caged birds, something with flavour
• 320g organic pork sausagemeat, or fresh minced shoulder
• A few sage leaves, finely chopped, or failing that, half a spring onion (again finely chopped)
• A good pinch of ground mace or nutmeg
• 3 teaspoons Cayenne pepper (very important; give up if you don't have this)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• A mixture of 1 part peanut oil, 2 parts sunflower oil for deep frying. Chinese supermarket is good for extra-cheap peanut oil.
• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• 100g white breadcrumbs (at least a day old, or you can buy them pre-made)
• 160g fresh, unboiled unskinned black pudding - or the closest to this you can get

Make sure the eggs are at room temperature. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, lower in four eggs and simmer for ten minutes after you've reached a good boil; we want very cooked eggs! Take them out of the water when they're done. When the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel them.

Add to the sausagemeat the sage, mace and cayenne, along with plenty of salt and pepper, and mix well with your hands. Break up the black pudding over this mixture and keep kneading it in, bit by bit. Then, divide the mixture into eight equal pieces (about 60 grams each) and shape each piece into a flat patty.

Take two patties and use to encase one egg, moulding the meat smoothly around the egg and making sure it's sealed all over. Make sure you really mix up the joins - any seams will split when you're cooking. Repeat with the others.

Pour the oil mixture into a deep pan (10cm / 4 inches at least) pan to a depth of at least 7cm and bring up to 170C (or until a cube of white bread, when dropped in, turns light golden brown in about one minute).

Spread the flour on a plate. Beat the remaining egg in a shallow dish. Spread the breadcrumbs on another plate. When the oil is up to temperature, dust each sausagemeat-encased egg in a little flour, then dip it in beaten egg and roll it in breadcrumbs. Lower one by one into the hot oil and fry for eight to 10 minutes, turning from time to time, until deep golden brown all over. If you don't turn them, they won't cook evenly, and they'll split.

Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot! If you plan a larger batch, be sure to change the oil every so often.

Here's a picture of a really meaty and delicious plain scotch egg from the above recipe, to get you motivated!