How To Have The Perfect Christmas Pudding

Have you ever prepared a dish five weeks before you were planning to eat it? And did you by any chance use a cloth to make that particular dessert in? Then there’s a huge chance that you are not only British but were also making a famous seasonal specialty: the Christmas pudding.

Prepare in Advance!

You read it right: the traditional Christmas pudding is prepared five weeks before Christmas, on the last Sunday before the start of the Advent, which is for that reason known as “Stir-up Sunday”. It is customary for all the members of a household to help make the pudding: everyone takes their turn stirring the pudding mixture, and gets to make a wish for doing so.

Christmas puddings are usually made with dried fruits, nuts and lots of brandy, but almost every family in the United Kingdom and Ireland has their own recipe for “plum pudding” (as Christmas pudding is also often called). They are traditionally cooked in pudding cloths, though bassins have been gaining in popularity over the last hundred years. Another “pudding custom” is the insertion of a “sixpence” (a small silver coin – nowadays most people use £2 coins) in the pudding. The person who finds it in their portion gets to keep the coin, which is a symbol of good fortune and wealth for the next year.

DIY Pudding

We’ve mentioned before that most families have their own pudding recipes, but here is one for a great “standard” Christmas pudding nonetheless. Have fun!

Ingredients:

• 8 oz of self-raising flour,
• 1 lb of suet,
• 1 lb of brown sugar,
• 1 lb of bread crumbs,
• 8 eggs,
• 24 oz of raisins,
• 12 oz of currants,
• 12 oz of sultanas,
• 6 oz of mixed peel,
• 2 oz of ground almonds,
• grated rind of 2 lemons,
• ½ grated nutmeg,
• 1 grated carrot,
• 1 grated cooking apple,
• 1 grated baking potato,
• 1 teaspoon of allspice,
• 2 cans of Guinness,
• 1 measure of brandy,
• the juice of three oranges,
• 3 tablespoons of black treacle.

Preparation:

• Take a big bowl and put all the grated and dry ingredients in there, mix them together and make a well in the middle.
• In a separate bowl, mix the eggs with the treacle and whisk until smooth.
• Pour the mixture into the well.
• Knead with your hands.
• Now add the liquid ingredients and beat until smooth.
• Taste to see if you like the pudding, and let soak for at least 12 hours.
• Then add a teaspoon of baking powder and another measure of brandy and some more Guinness.
• Grease a basin and put the mixture into it.
• Allow some space for the pudding to rise!
• Cover with two layers of greased greaseproof paper and a layer of aluminum foil.
• Secure with a rubber band.
• Steam for 10 hours, allow to cool and store for five weeks.
• On the day of serving steam the pudding for an additional five hours.
• Place on a plate, douse with brandy and light.
  bon appétit!
  
  
  
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