Christmas Pudding

The secret to a delicious Christmas pudding is simple, the earlier it is prepared – the better! Making it earlier allows the flavors from the spices to deepen & the fruits to soften giving you a well-rounded mature Christmas Pudding.

Ingredients:

75g Self Raising Flour

175g Dark Muscovado Sugar

175g Butter

3 Eggs

½ Teaspoon Cinnamon

½ Teaspoon Nutmeg

1 Teaspoon Mixed Spice

Pinch of Salt

225g Raisins

225g Sultanas

125g Mixed Peel

100g cherries

100g Ground Almonds

175g Breadcrumbs

300ml Stout

METHOD

Step 1. Cream butter & sugar together until light & fluffy.

Step 2. Add the lightly beaten eggs & mix well.

Step 3. Stir in the sieved flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, & mixed spice.

Step 4. Next add the raisins, sultanas, mixed peel, cherries, & ground almonds. Mix well.

Step 5. Finally, add the breadcrumbs & stout. Stir well, cover & leave to stand overnight.

Step 6. Grease your pudding bowl with butter & cut out a small circle of grease proof paper buttered on one side. Place the circle butter side up into the pudding basin. Transfer your pudding mix to your 1 ½ litres (3lb) greased pudding bowl. Packing the mix in firmly & fill it to 2cm (approx.) from the top of the basin.

Step 7. Now we must create a lid for the basin that forms an airtight seal for steaming. Cut out a square of grease proof paper & a larger square of tinfoil. Fold a pleat into the two squares & place the cover over the pudding bowl foil side up. The pleat on the lid will expand if the pudding expands allowing the mixture to breathe when steaming.

(Steps 7-9 can be tricky so revert to our How To Guide below to see how it's done! )

Step 8. Using string, Tie the lid around the foil rim of your pudding basin as tight as possible & trim the protruding pieces of grease proof paper below the seal if needed. Now fold the tinfoil under the grease proof paper to form the airtight seal. Make a handle for your basin by threading a piece of string under the string already tied to the basin at one end & thread the other end through the other side. Then tie two ends together to form a handle.

Step 9. Place pudding in a saucepan with water halfway up on the side.

Step 10. Cover the saucepan with a lid & steam for 6 hours. The more the pudding cooks the richer & darker it becomes

STEP 7-9: HOW TO GUIDE

Final Step !

Top up saucepan with boiling water when needed & never let water levels drop below halfway in the saucepan. Otherwise, your Pudding will fry rather than steam.

HOW TO SERVE