Christmas Pudding

Hi everybody, How was your Christmas celebrations? Hope you all had a lovely Christmas with family and friends! We had a cosy Christmas just three of us. This time my son asked me to grill a full chicken for Christmas lunch! He really enjoyed the food of his choice and for dessert I made the British Christmas Pudding. I always wanted to try the Christmas Pudding but never desired to buy it from the shop, especially the non-alcoholic version we get here. Every year I kept postponing due to the non-availability of suet here, until recently I read somewhere that I can use butter instead. The butter should be cold enough to grate it. I made half the amount of pudding with the left over soaked fruits after making the ChristmasCake. The pudding is a dark, sticky and dense sponge. The pudding tastes better if you make it ahead of time and allow to mature and then reheat on Christmas Day. Traditionally the Christmas pudding has to steam for a total 6 to 7 hours in a steamer and you guessed it, I made it the traditional way! You can also make it in a pressure cooker in around 2 hours, without weight and if you are brave enough, you can make it with weight in just half an hour. Flambé or flame the pudding was really fun and all of us really enjoyed seeing and photographing the flaming pudding!! 

Christmas Pudding Recipe

(Recipe Adapted from here) Serves 8 – 10

Ingredients:
450g dried mixed fruit
1 small cooking apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped

Grated zest and juice of ½ large orange and ½ lemon
4 tbsp brandy, plus a little extra for soaking at the end
2 oz / 55 g self-raising flour, sifted
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
4 oz / 110 g shredded cold butter (If you get suet, go for it instead of butter) 

4oz / 110g soft, dark brown sugar
4 oz / 110 g white fresh bread crumbs
1 oz / 25 g whole shelled almonds, roughly chopped
2 large, eggs
Lightly butter a 2½ pint/1.4 litre pudding basin/17cm
125 ml Brandy, rum or vodka (to flame the pudding)

Method:

• Place the dried fruits, apple, orange and lemon juice into a large mixing bowl. Add the brandy and stir well. Cover the bowl with a lid and leave to marinate for a couple of hours, preferably overnight.
• Stir together the flour, mixed spice and cinnamon in a very large mixing bowl. Add the cold shredded butter, sugar, lemon and orange zest, bread crumbs, nuts and stir again until all the ingredients are well mixed. Finally add the marinated dried fruits and stir again.
• Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl then stir quickly into the dry ingredients. The mixture should have a soft consistency.
• Spoon the mixture in to the greased pudding basin, gently pressing the mixture down with the back of a spoon. Cover with a double layer of greaseproof paper or baking parchment, then a layer of aluminium foil and tie securely with string.
• Place the pudding in a steamer and steam the pudding for 5 hours. Make sure you check the water level frequently so it never boils dry.
• Remove the pudding from the steamer, cool completely. Remove the paper, prick the pudding with a skewer and pour in a little extra brandy. Cover with fresh greaseproof paper and retie with string. Store in a cool dry place until Christmas day. 
• On Christmas day reheat the pudding by steaming again for about an hour. 
• To unmould the pudding, take off the parchment paper, put a plate on top and turn it upside down.
• To Flambé / flame the pudding, heat the brandy/ rum/ vodka in a small pan till it is hot, but turn off the heat before it boils, light the pan of brandy using a gas lighter or matchstick, then pour the flaming brandy over the pudding and enjoy the pudding with Brandy Sauce or Custard. 
• Left over Christmas pudding can be reheated and served.