The most amazing Christmas Pudding… ever!

I know I’m a little late to post this but both Christmas and January were crazy times in our household. We had a stream of people staying with us, the kids weren’t in childcare, plus I had to spend time working on the family business. But despite the craziness, I still want to share with you all this decadent Christmas plum pudding that is truly out of this world.

We had a 12 people over for a late Christmas lunch so I was busy in the kitchen for a few days before the big day. Those who really know me, know that I’m not a fan of either raisins or sultanas in food. I honestly can’t think of anything worse than eating these. I don’t know why I feel like this but I always have. While growing up, Mum made a wonderful apple strudel. It was delicious but I’d pick out all the sultanas she had added before I ate it. So for me eating Christmas cake is torture. Like most people, I have expections to the rule – fruit loaf is one of them.

While I’ve never ate a Christmas Pudding before, I always was intrigued by whether this was the same as Christmas Cake. When I asked Daniel about this, he told me they were quite different. The cake is quite dry, the pudding more moist.

Making the pudding

After a little hunting online, I found this recipe by Nigella Lawson and have slightly adapted it. Nigella’s recipe had raisins in it and well of course, I have a particular dislike for them in food so have substituted them for cranberries. I also seem to like my alcohol more than Nigella as I’ve added more to the fruit than she did. Plus I also added more spices than the original recipe.

I was also quite sceptical about the inclusion of suet in the recipe. Fancy that… beef fat in a sweet dish! I had no idea how this would work or if it would ruin the dish. So again I questioned Google about whether butter or another fat could be used. I learnt that the result isn’t the same and doesn’t have the same high melt point as what suet has considering you have to steam the pudding for a total of 8 hours. Yes, you read right – 8 long hours! But the result is worth it. There were many rave reviews when presented on the Christmas dinner table.

There are a couple of ways you can cook a steamed pudding – using a metal pudding basin with lid is one. I bought mine from Target (Australia) for $10 which I thought was reasonable. The other way is you can wrap the pudding in muslin cloth but thought that would be messy. If you want to try this method then I suggest you Google how best to do this.

The suet I found isn’t readily available at all butchers so give them a call first before you take a trip there to buy it. The cost isn’t much – only about $1 for 200gm.

Decadent Christmas Plum Pudding

I found making any steamed plum pudding recipe for Christmas to be a gamble since a lot of effort goes into it. I can say that this recipe was worth the risk! All the flavours blended together to make a rich and devine dessert to finish off Christmas festivities.

Celebration, Dessert, Pudding

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 8 hours hrs

Total Time 8 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings 12 people

Ingredients

 

• 150 g currants
• 150 g cranberries
• 150 g prunes, chopped roughly
• 1 cup spirit alcohol, (1/2 port and 1/2 sherry is what I use)
• 110 g plain flour
• 110 g fresh breadcrumbs
• 150 g suet
• 150 g dark brown muscovado sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3 large large eggs
• 1 medium cooking apple, peeled and grated
• 2 tablespoons honey

Instructions

 

• You will need a 1.7 litre heatproof pudding basin with a lid.
• Put the currants, cranberries and roughly chopped prunes into a bowl with the sherry/port (actually almost any type of spirit would do), mix together then cover with cling film and leave to steep overnight or for up to 1 week.
• When the fruits have had their steeping time, put a large pot steamer with water on to boil, and butter your heatproof plastic pudding basin, remembering to grease the lid too.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine all the remaining pudding ingredients.
• Add the steeped fruits, scraping in every last drop of liquor with a rubber spatula, and mix to combine thoroughly.
• Scrape and press the mixture into the prepared pudding basin, squish it down and put on the lid. If you're using a conventional steamer, you won't need to do this but it is recommended you wrap the basin with a layer of foil so that the basin is watertight. Put the basin either in the pan of boiling water (to come halfway up the basin) or in the top of a lidded steamer and steam for 5 hours, checking every now and again that the water hasn’t evaporated.
• After 5 hours, remove carefully and, when manageable, unwrap the foil, and put the pudding in its basin somewhere out of the way in the kitchen or, if you’re lucky enough, a larder, until Christmas Day.
• On the big day, rewrap the pudding (still in its basin) in foil and steam again, this time for 3 hours. Eight hours combined cooking time but it is required.
• To serve, remove from the pan or steamer, take off the lid, put a plate on top, turn it upside down and give the basin a little squeeze to help unmould the pudding. Then remove the basin.
• Serve with heavy thickened cream.

Notes

• Make the Christmas pudding up to 6 weeks ahead. Keep in a cool, dark place, then proceed with the recipe on Christmas Day to steam for extra 3 hours.
• Make and freeze the Christmas pudding for up to 1 year ahead. Thaw overnight at room temperature and proceed as recipe on Christmas Day.
• Experiment with different spirits - try Jim Beam or Jack Daniels for something a little different.
• While I originally substituted the sultanas for cranberries, you can substitute them back if you prefer sultanas.

Keyword Celebration, Dessert, Pudding