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.