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Home » Recipes, Religious Feasts, Sugar, Desserts and All things sweet, information

Christmas Pudding Perfect

Submitted by J @ JFN on Monday, 1 December 2008 Print this article Print this article View Comments
Christmas Pudding Perfect

Christmas pudding originated in England and is traditionally made 5 weeks before Christmas, on or after the Sunday before Advent – the day upon which the pudding was made was known as Stir-up Sunday and every member of the family would give the pudding a stir and made a wish. The puddings were very heavy and very rich and consisted of a mixture of dried fruit, nuts and even suet or fat of some kind. Nowadays vegetarian suet is preferred – the  pudding almost black in colour and substantially laced with brandy. They are boiled or steamed in a pudding cloth or a special basin made for the purpose.

Some families stir in coins or lucky charms for good luck.

Ingredients

  • 225g golden caster sugar
  • 225g vegetarian suet
  • 240g sultanas
  • 240g seedless raisins
  • 225g glazed cherries
  • 100 glazed figs
  • 100 g pecan nuts
  • 110g candied peel, chopped
  • 110g plain flour
  • 110g fresh white breadcrumbs
  • 55g flaked almonds
  • 3 lemons, zest only
  • 5 eggs, beaten
  • 5g (1 tsp) ground cinnamon
  • 5 g (1 tsp) mixed spice
  • 5g (1 tsp) freshly grated nutmeg
  • pinch of salt
  • 150ml brandy

Method

  • Lightly grease two 1 ½ pudding basins.
  • Mix together all the dry ingredients.
  • Stir in the eggs and brandy and mix well.
  • Spoon the mix into basins.
  • Put a circle of baking parchment and foil over the top of each basin and tie securely with string, making a string handle from one side of the basin to the other so it is easier to pick the basin out of the pan after cooking.
  • Put the basins in a large steaming pot of boiling water and cover with a lid.
  • Boil for 5-6 hours, topping up the water up from time to time, as it evaporates (if you don’t have a steaming pot, put the pudding dishes in a large pot on top of inverted saucers on the base – my mother did that throughout her life and it worked perfectly.
  • Pour in boiling water to come a third of the way up the sides of the pudding bowls and cover and steam as I explained before.
  • Allow to cool and change the baking parchment and foil covers for fresh ones and tie up as before. Store in a cool cupboard until Christmas Day.
  • On the day that you serve the pudding, steam it for 2 hours and serve with brandy sauce and cream.

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