Christmas Pudding Recipe

If you have never made a Christmas pudding before, start now! They are so easy to make, and there is nothing better or more festive than filling your house with the delicious smells of nuts, fruits and spices.

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The last Sunday before Advent and of November and is Sunday, which gets its name from the beginning of the collect for the day in the Book of Common Prayer, which begins with the words, "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people". But it has become associated with the custom of making the Christmas puddings on that day, where everyone in the family gets a stir and makes a wish. This special occasion includes the pleasure of choosing which fruits, nuts and tipple go into your pudding, playing the traditional Christmas CD full of seventies classics on loud, smelling the delicious nutmeggy fumes, and the excited faces with eyes squeezed shut as they stir the pudding and make a wish!

If you don’t already make your own puddings, start now. Christmas puddings are extremely easy to make, you just need scales, pudding basins and the best ingredients you can get your hands on. This recipe makes two good sized puds, one for Christmas Day and one to give.

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You will need:
Ingredients:
225g golden caster sugar 225g vegetarian suet 300g sultanas 300g raisins 225g chopped prunes 100g chopped figs 110g chopped candied peel 110g self-raising flour 110g fresh white breadcrumbs 55g chopped walnuts 1 lemon, zest only 1 naval orange, zest and juice 5 medium eggs, lightly beaten 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp mixed spice 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 1 tsp ground ginger pinch of salt 150ml brandy

1

Lightly butter 2x 2-pint pudding basins. In a large mixing bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients and fruit. Add the eggs, orange juice and brandy and mix well, making a wish as you do so!

2

Spoon the mix into buttered basins. Place a circle of baking paper and foil over the top of each basin with a pleat down the centre and tie securely with string. Make a string handle from one side of the basin to the other to help with lifting from the steamer. Steam for 5-6 hours, topping the boiling water up when needed.

3

After the pudding has cooled, replace the paper and foil lids with new and restring.

4

Store in a cool place until Christmas day. Steam for 2 hours to reheat and serve with brandy butter, custard, vanilla ice cream or all three.

5

Variations: feel free to change the fruit and nut rations just keep to the overall weight. The same goes for the alcohol content, rum and stout work beautifully too. You can also make these in individual puddings, just reduce the cooking time to 1 hour.

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