It’s hard to believe but Christmas is less than 2 months away. There is so much to do around Christmas, presents to be bought, friends and family coming home and Christmas dinner to prepare, so now is the perfect time to get a head start. Traditionally, Christmas pudding was made four or five weeks before the big day to help develop the rich distinctive flavours. I have tried many versions and recipes over the years, but this is my favourite. I got this from my grandmother the first Christmas after I had qualified as a chef, and it is as good now as it was then.
For a 2lb bowl, you need
2oz plain flour
1/2 tsp. mixed spice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
2oz breadcrumbs
5oz suet or butter
4oz brown sugar
6oz raisins
6oz sultanas
1oz mixed peel
1oz ground almonds
1oz flaked almonds
2 eggs
1 orange, finely shredded zest only
1/2 tsp. treacle
1 tsp. brandy
1 tsp. sherry
1 tsp. whiskey
1/4 pint Guinness
Method
The hardest part about this recipe is weighing up all the ingredients. Making the pudding is easy, first mix all the dry ingredients together, whisk up the eggs and add all the liquids to the dry and mix well. Spoon the mix into the pudding bowl. Put a circle of baking parchment and foil over the top of the bowl and tie securely with string. Make a string handle from one side of the bowl to the other so it is easier to pick the bowl out of the pan after cooking.
Get your biggest saucepan and put two inverted saucers on the bottom of it. This stops the bowl from sticking to the bottom and makes sure that the pudding cooks evenly.Put the bowl on top of the saucers and pour in boiling water to come halfway up the side of the bowl.
Cover and steam for three to four hours, topping the boiling water up from time to time, if necessary. Cool. Change the baking parchment and foil covers for fresh ones and tie up as before. Store in a cool cupboard until Christmas Day. Serve with brandy butter, rum sauce, cream or homemade custard, on the day. That’s one job knocked off the list, next week I will share my Christmas cake recipe with you, until then, happy cooking.
