Sunday 20 November 2011

It's Christmas Pudding time!

As you may or may not be aware, today is 'Stir up Sunday' which is traditionally the day to start preparing your Christmas pudding :) I made mine a little prematurely (on Thursday, to be precise) so that I could share my recipe with you today (see, sometimes I AM organised and prepared! Sometimes...)

Like my Christmas Cake recipe the recipe mostly comes from a really old book (published in 1985... 3 years before I was born!) with some additional bits from the same care worn recipe book my Christmas Cake came from. These are the two recipes that have always been used in my house, it would feel wrong and completely unChristmassy to use a different recipe, or (shock horror) go out and buy one...

This actually a really really easy recipe, although it does require some overnight soaking- so I guess it could count as time consuming (though it's not really; the whole process takes about an hour (including cooking time- but not including overnight soaking...)


You will need:

Part A:
325g dried fruit (I used about 200g of currents and 125g sultanas- you can use whichever fruit you prefer)
15g glace cherries (chopped)
6 tablespoons of brandy or sherry (or a mixture if you wish)
100g dark muscovado sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon mixed spice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional, but we love cinnamon!)
1/2 a carrot (grated)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon black treacle








Part B:
75g butter
75g granary breadcrumbs
2 eggs
25 plain flour











Method Part A:
1) Mix together all of the part A ingredients in a large bowl. Firmly seal the bowl with a lid or cling film and leave it to soak in its deliciousness overnight. (This smells SO good)


Just mixed
After marinating overnight


Method Part B:
1) Place the butter into a large bowl and melt it in the microwave (only microwave until just melted, there's no need to boil the butter!)



2) Add the breadcrumbs, eggs and flour to the melted butter, mix thoroughly. (to make breadcrumbs, blend a couple of slices of bread in a food processor!)



3) Gradually add the fruity mixture (add a couple of tablespoons at a time, mixing thoroughly)

4) Place the mixture into a well greased pudding basin (we have plastic ones- they originally came with Christmas pudding inside from a hamper- that we use every year, but oven proof glass will work just as well) and cover with cling film.










5) Prick a few holes in the cling film and place in the microwave for 25 minutes on medium low; the pudding is cooked when the top becomes dry on top.


Yep, the microwave is also considerably older than I am...
but it still works perfectly!

6) Once the pudding is properly cooled, wrap in cling film and then tin foil, and store in a cool dry place until Christmas day.




7) On Christmas day you can either gently steam your pudding in a pressure cooker for about 2/3 hours, or reheat in the microwave (probably about 5 minutes, though I'm not sure as I always steam)

I really cannot wait until I can eat this lovely pudding with some white sauce; it's my absolute favourite part of Christmas dinner! :)

Are you going to make your own Christmas pudding this year? I really think you should!


                                                                                             xGretalRabbitx

5 comments:

  1. Hehe nom indeed, it's 35 whole days until I can eat it, and it smelled soooo goood- can't wait!
    xGretalRabbitx

    p.s. you should totally make one, or three!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks good, thanks so much for sharing <3

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  3. This is awesome!!

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  4. I'm glad you like it, you should totally make one (way better than shop bought) Only 34 days left until I can eat it now!
    xGretalRabbitx

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