Christmas Pudding

No traditional Christmas dinner in England is complete without turkey followed by a generous helping of Christmas pudding and brandy sauce. Originally the puddings were made during the last weekend of November, giving everyone a stir on 'Stir Sunday' - to be eaten the following year (it actually keeps well for up to 2 years). Nowadays it is more usual to make the puddings 3-6 months in advance, although you can, of course, make them at the last minute if you have to. The recipe below is for a pudding which does not need time to mature, in fact, it is best made just two days before Christmas and comes from the recipe book, The St Michael All Colour Cookery Book (Marks and Spencer), which was a cookery book someone bought me when I first left home many years ago. It has some great recipes in it, all are pretty easy, and gives illustrated details about how to prepare different cuts of meat, different kinds of fish, vegetables and salads.

If you don't have time for any cooking but would still like the pudding, simply go to Williams Sonoma and buy their ready made Christmas pudding and brandy butter. Both are made in England using traditional recipes and ingredients. I have not tried them myself but most of their food is yummy, so I'm sure these are good as well.

So here's the recipe to make it yourself, there's a lot of ingredients involved, but the end result is worth it. I have omitted the foil covered coins which are traditionally hidden in the pudding, but you can of course add these if you like.

Ingredients

1/2 lb dark molassses sugar
14 ounce fresh white breadcrumbs
1/2 lb shredded beef suet
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mixed spice
3/4 lb sultanas
3/4 lb raisins
1/2 lb currants
4 ounce candid peel
2 ounce blanched almonds, finely chopped
2 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
Finely grated rind and juice of 1/2 lemon
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 pint Guinness or milk stout
approx. 1/4 pint milk

1. Put the dry ingredients, dry fruit, candied peel and chopped almonds in a large mixing bowl and stir well to mix.
2. Add the apples with the lemon rind and juice, eggs and Guiness or milk stout. Stir well to mix.
3. Stir in enough milk to make a soft dropping consistency.
4. Pour the mixture into two greased one and a half pint pudding basins. (Here one silver coin would be buried in each pudding). Cover the tops of the puddings with circles of greased greaseproof paper, then with foil. Fold a pleat in the center and tie string around the rim. Leave overnight.
5. Place the basins in the top of a steamer or double boiler, or in a large pan of gently bubbling water, and steam for 4 to 5 hours, topping up the water level from time to time during cooking.
6. Remove the basins carefully from the pan and leve until quite cold. Discard the foil and greaseproof paper and replace with fresh greaseproof paper and foil before storing.
7. Steam again for about 2 hours before serving.

Note: before serving it is common to pour brandy over the top and light it. When the alcohol has burned off, serve the pudding immediately with brandy butter or sauce.