Christmas Pudding Recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Christmas, Desserts | 83 comments
Everyone wants to make the perfect Christmas pudding. The pressure is on from November 1st. Even if you make yours then, you are bound to hear of someone’s cousin’s friend who makes the pudding to die for, just after Easter.
Don’t worry. We have the recipe for a perfect pud. We’ve made this the week before Christmas and it still tasted great. It is better if it has a few weeks to mature.
Our recipe was initially inspired by Myrtle Allen’s recipe from The Ballymaloe Cookbook
A bit lighter than the traditional English Plum Pudding, this pud is always a hugely enjoyable finale to any Christmas feast.
Christmas Pudding Recipe
Ingredients:
- 170g beef suet
- 2 tablespoon of self raising flour
- 170g of soft brown sugar
- 200g of soft, fresh white breadcrumbs
- 150g of currants
- 150g of raisins
- 150g of sultanas
- 110g of crystallised cherries chopped in half
- 2 flat teaspoon mixed spice
- half teaspoon of salt
- 3 eggs
- 75ml of the baked flesh of a cooking apple
- Zest of one large lemon
- 75ml of Irish whiskey
Method:
- Take a large bowl and add all the dry ingredients, one at a time and mixing well before adding another.
- In a separate bowl beat the eggs together and add the apple flesh and the whisky.
- Stir this into the dry ingredients and stir very well. Remember to make a wish.
- Grease a couple of 1.5 pint pudding bowls and divide the mixture between them.
- Cover the top of each pudding with a round of greaseproof paper tying it under the rim with string and making a handle across the top of the bowl.
- Steam the puddings for eight hours, a large saucepan of water (the water level half the depth of the bowls).
- Be careful not to let the water boil over the top of the bowls or boil dry. After the first half hour, I check the puddings every hour or so and top up with boiling water if necessary.
- Store the puddings somewhere cool and dry. Steam for a further couple of hours before you want to eat them.
Serve with Brandy butter, fresh cream or home made egg custard (or all three).
Tips and Tricks:
- I make the puddings first thing in the morning, on a weekend, so that they can bubble away all day whilst I am around to keep an eye on them.
Leave a reply
Hello Sue
These puds are different from the traditional Christmas pud. They are lighter in colour and texture but after 3-4 months will mature to a pud similar to the trad Christmas one.
They really have to be made last minute. Although that last minute could be up to a month before Christmas max. We were disappointed when we saved one for Easter, it has lost it’s delicacy and youth!
I’m sure that they could be made in a microwave. We don’t have one so I’ve no hands on experience – follow the microwave cooking method for an ordinary Christmas pud and I’d imagine all would be fine.
Is it possible to make the puds in a microwave? I have orders for some christmas puds for shops and was hoping not to have to steam them for so many hours
Hi Catherine
This pudding should be made just a week or so before Christmas. We made two one year so as to have one at Easter and the pudding had darkened and matured and tasted just like a conventional pud.
Hi Mildred
Thanks for the link. Never the early bird I am making my Christmas pudding this afternoon!
Just found this, re using butter in Christmas puds, on a blog running today. (www.blogs.guardian.co.uk/food and go to the Dan Lepard link):
‘Making a English Christmas pudding without suet, yes. Replace the suet with the same weight of ice cold butter chopped up into tiny pieces and stirred in at the end’.
Might be helpful!
I would like to use your receipe to make a pudding for christmas 2008…what is the earliest date I can make it.
Hi Lissie
Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving the useful information. I had no idea that butter could be substituted for suet!
Hi Melanie
i cant find suet where i am so have been told by a friend (who is fantastic baker) that you can substitute equal amounts of butter for suet – or even sunflower oil … i am about to make mine tomrorow with butter, but of course wont know what it tastes like until christmas! i guess it will taste a bit richer.
Hi Melanie
I don’t know the answer. When the pud is cooked you don’t taste or see suet. Leaving it out could be disasterous. Might be worth checking on the web for a Christmas pud recipe without suet – one might exist.
Hope that this helps.
If you do go with just butter I’d love to hear how you get on.
I hate suet – is it ok to use butter instead ??
Hi Jacqui
This happened to me once and the pud was fine. It just depends on how long you snoozed for. Mine was dry for about 20 mins.