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What? Talking about Christmas already? We’ve not even had Hallowe’en yet, and I’m guessing Americans don’t start thinking about Christmas until after Thanksgiving. However, there is one thing that needs to be made at least a couple of months in advance: Christmas pudding. If you’ve had a shop-bought Christmas pudding before, I think I know what you’re thinking: "Oh no, not Christmas pudding, it’s like a block of concrete sitting in your stomach after a heavy meal." But let me correct you. Christmas pudding can be delicious, light, fruity, spicy and actually the perfect thing to eat after a big plate of roasted things and too much booze. To begin, I assembled my ingredients:  300g mixed fruit (a mixture of raisins, currants, sultanas and candied peel) 150g prunes, drained and roughly chopped 200ml decent medium dry sherry 100g plain flour 125g breadcrumbs 150g suet 150 dark brown sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground clove 1 tsp baking powder Zest of 1 lemon 3 eggs 1 cooking apple 2 tbsp golden syrup To begin, I soaked the dried fruit and prunes in the sherry overnight. In the past, I have also had success with Madeira and masala wine. When the children were really young and I was an excessively cautious parent, I also managed it with a mix of apple juice and vinegar, but it wasn’t quite as good. The next day, I instructed my various kitchen staff that we would making our pudding, and assigned them their roles: Scientastic major (who can read numbers and add things up) was in charge of weighing out ingredients, and Scientastic minor was given the important job of throwing ingredients in and stirring (both of which are very much in her wheelhouse).  We began by sifting the flour into a large bowl, which is physically unnecessary, but very much a requirement in the ritual of making a Christmas pudding. Then, the other ingredients were added with various degrees of success, some mess was made as things were spilled, but this is all part of the overall experience. Major was given the critical job of cracking and whisking the eggs, which he carried out with great aplomb, and completely confounded my eggspectations of having to pick egg shell out of the pudding. Once all the ingredients were in the bowl we came to the most important part: the stirring of the pudding. It is absolutely critical that every member of the family gets a stir, regardless of ability or competence.  It’s about at this point that you would traditionally add things to the pudding, so that on Christmas day, if you fish them out, you have some prediction for the year to come. You know the sort of thing: “break your teeth on a coin in a pudding, you’ll be rich before the year is out”, “accidentally swallow a dried raw bean, you’ll never want for food”. We don’t do this, because I’ve broken enough teeth in my life to not want to deliberately put metal in my food, but you can if you’re feeling mega-traditional.  After both children had their turn, it took someone with a bit of brute strength and muscle to finish the job. In the absence of anyone like that, I did my best to stir into a relatively uniform mixture. The mix was then poured into a greased bowl.  Then I got a sheet of greaseproof paper and a sheet of foil and pleated them together, tied them round the top of the bowl and trimmed the edges so that they wouldn’t be dipped into the water while steaming.  This then steamed for five hours. Yes, you read that right. Five hours. And it’s not even done. Once it has cooled, you then put it in a cool dark place (without removing your paper/foil lid) and wait for Christmas day. On Christmas day, se the steamer up again, and steam it for another three hours. After a total of eight hours cooking time, it is done, at which point you turn it out onto a plate, cover with brandy and set on fire. There may or may not be pictures of this to come in an update later in the year... Finally, once the children have lost interest and you have done all the tidying up, tradition dictates that you have a glass of sherry to celebrate a job well done on maintaining a wonderful annual tradition. So what if it’s still the morning, it get you in the Christmas spirit!  I have done this every year for about a decade now, and it’s always great. The pudding is light, airy and delicious, and as my harshest critic said this year, “Dad, your Christmas pudding is much better than the school dinner one”.
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Oct 13, 2019 12:16
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| # ? May 4, 2024 19:52 |
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I came back from the uk with some little pudding basins, i got suet in the freezer and a few packs of dried fruit to use up. I've even got a sixpence somewhere.
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Oct 13, 2019 19:31
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Do it, it’s amazing. I would never buy a Christmas pudding now
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Oct 13, 2019 19:52
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A cousin is married to an English woman and she I think adds a splash or three of brandy to her Christmas pudding every day for like months. Is this is a thing and would you alter the recipe at all if that was your plan?
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Oct 17, 2019 01:43
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:A cousin is married to an English woman and she I think adds a splash or three of brandy to her Christmas pudding every day for like months. Is this is a thing and would you alter the recipe at all if that was your plan? It is a thing. Also a thing with Christmas cake, which is different.
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Oct 17, 2019 01:47
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It is a thing, but I don’t do this for two reasons: Firstly, my dad used to do this, and always added too much brandy and the resultant pudding was always just horrible. Secondly, my children are five and seven, and are only in the early stages of developing a taste for brandy.
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Oct 17, 2019 09:36
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Christmas pudding is one of my favourite things in the world, but being in Australia where Christmas day generally involves 38c heat and so much humidity that stepping outside is like stepping into a sauna; nobody in my family ever wants to eat one. I'm condemned to buying the little individual ones they sell in the supermarket I work at and eating them during my tea breaks.
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Oct 28, 2019 15:04
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I approve of this thread and also please mail me a pudding.
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Oct 28, 2019 20:47
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feedmegin posted:It is a thing. Also a thing with Christmas cake, which is different. Oh god my aunt does this, and while I am sure the cake is improved by the flavour, I am also fairly sure you could use it as a weapon by the time December rolls around. Just light the sucker up and huck it through someone's window.
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Oct 29, 2019 05:28
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| # ? May 4, 2024 19:52 |
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mmm pud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8mt9Ogzi_Y
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Oct 30, 2019 23:12
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