Christmas Pudding Story and Recipe

Ingredients

  • 8 oz (240 g) currants
  • 8 oz (240 g) sultanas
  • 1 lb (480 g) seedless raisins
  • 4 oz (120 g) mixed candied citrus peel|citrus peel
  • 8 oz (240 g) bread crumbs
  • 8 oz (240 g) suet
  • 8 oz (240 g) soft brown sugar
  • 4 oz (120 g) plain flour
  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 oz (30 grams) ground almonds
  • ½ tsp mixed spice
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tbsp black treacle
  • 2 tbsp golden syrup
  • ½ tsp grated nutmeg
  • grated rind of 1 lemon
  • 4 fl oz brandy
  • 8 fl oz stout
  • pinch of salt

Directions

  1. Use a large mixing bowl or very clean washing-up bowl and a wooden spoon.
  2. Start by mixing all the dry ingredients together.
  3. Make sure that the fruit is clean and the sticky peel is separated.
  4. Peel and grate the carrot and add to the mixture.
  5. Beat the eggs well and add, along with the treacle and golden syrup.
  6. Pour in the brandy.
  7. Add enough stout to make sure that the mix is moist without becoming too 'runny'.
  8. Give the pudding a final stir, make a wish and leave to stand for a short while.
  9. Meanwhile, grease the pudding basin.
  10. Put the mixture into the basin and cover with either greaseproof paper or cooking foil.
  11. Two good tips for you:
  12. * Make a fold in the foil to allow plenty of room for the mixture to expand without the foil splitting.
  13. * Use household string to tie the foil in place and make a 'handle' with it at the same time. This way you can more easily lift the cooked pudding out of the pan when completed.
  14. There are two alternative ways to cook the pudding, steaming (the traditional way) and with a pressure cooker (much quicker and less vapour in the kitchen).
  15. ==
  16. Bring a large pan of water to the boil.
  17. Gently lower the basin into the pan, taking care that the liquid doesn't come over the top.
  18. Set your timer clock for 8 or 9 hours and admire the wonderful smells after about 3 hours.
  19. Check every couple of hours to make sure that the water hasn't boiled dry and top up when necessary.
  20. If you have made your string handle you should be able to lift the pudding out after the cooking time by using a wooden spoon.
  21. Be careful though, a steam burn is very painful!.
  22. ==
  23. Place the basin in the pressure cooker and fill with water up to just under the lid.
  24. Place the pressure cooker lid on and use only the 5lb weight.
  25. Bring up to pressure, lower the heat and time for 2.5 hours.
  26. Reduce the pressure slowly by running the cooker under the cold tap, remove the lid and use the wooden spoon to lift out the pudding.
  27. ==
  28. If you used greaseproof paper, remove it and replace with fresh.
  29. Foil covers can be safely left if they are intact.
  30. Place the pudding in a cool, dark place until Christmas day.
  31. If you steamed your pudding you will need to allow another hour of steaming before serving the pudding.
  32. If you used the pressure cooker method you can pop the pudding back in and cook for a further half hour.
  33. Just fire it up when you serve the main course and it will easily be ready.
This article uses material from the "Christmas Pudding Story and Recipe" article on the Recipes wiki at Wikia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License