Christmas Pudding Recipe
Posted on Nov 16, 2006 in Christmas, Desserts | 80 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.
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FD
Hello! I decided to make my christmas puds this coming weekend and decided to check if you had a nice recipe Fi . . . yes!! And thank you, it looks delicious and straightforward.
I am so pleased I found your Blog!!
We will let you know what the puds are like on December 25th! Happy Christmas – soon
I wonder if anyone can advise me on making round puds! I only have one round mould, is it possible to make shape the mixture into a ball and wrap it in greaseproof and muslin do you think? I thought I may make 3 or 4 smaller puds this way. Also I can steam them all at once (I can only get one pudding basin in the steamer at a time).
I would be pleased of any advice!
Hi Mildred,
I am glad that you are going to try our Christmas pud! It is much lighter than the traditional one but gets darker as it matures.
I have never made a round pudding but I think your idea of muslin and greaseproof paper would work. A circle of each tied at the top. I’d love to hear how you get on!
Hi Fi, thanks!! I was drawn to your pud because it IS lighter . . . . our ‘Christmas’ cake is a lighter kind of cake too. I use the same cake recipe for Simnel / Easter cakes. I am a big marzipan fan! Just made some ready to wrap around a Battenburg cake, baking as I type! I use the egg whites left over from the marzipan for meringues . . . gosh, it is a wonder we are not tubby!
Thanks again! I will let you know how the round puds work out.
I just wanted to add the puds turned out really well. I lined a big teacup with a large piece of greaseproof paper, filled it with the pud mix, and tied the ends of the paper up. Then I put that into one of those roasting type poly bags and tied that up. It made 3 nice sized puddings which fitted into the steamer nicely.
They are now re wrapped in clean greaseproof and a piece of muslin, safely hidden away for Christmas!
Thanks!!
Hi Mildred,
Thanks for the update and the method. Very canny using roasting bags!
Hi Mildred,
I was delighted to find yor site and all the beautiful recipes. I hadn’t made Christmas Pudding for some years so I was looking for guidance. I followed your recipe for the Christmas Pudding and they turned out absolutely beautiful. I used my electric steamer to cook these and it was a great success. I am now preparing to start my Christmas Cake, will let you know how it turns out.
Once again, Many thanks
Mary
Hi Mary,
Glad that you are enjoying the site.
I’m delighted that the pudding cooked well in your electric steamer. Thanks for dropping by and leaving this tip.
Mary, what a Good Idea using an electric steamer for your puds. It is something we keep thinking we should buy. It always feels wasteful having the lid up on the range for ages when steaming, and also in summer when the range is off a steamer would be so useful. I am going to look out for one now! I need to make sure the steamer sections are deep enough for pudding basins, I would be grateful if anyone can recommend a particular make.
Hi Fiona,
Glad you liked my idea. The one I have is a Kenwood and it has three stackable compartments. I was able to put two small pudding basins in each compartment, so you could cook six puds at a time, if you wish, or 1 lge pud bowl in one compartment & two small in the other. This is what I done. Hope this is of some help to you.
Hi Mildred,
I reckon that steamers are a great idea. Particularly if you have an Aga.
Hi Mary,
Thanks so much for dropping by again and leaving your tips for steaming Christmas puddings in an electric steamer. Very useful.
I made more of your puds today, for gifts this time! I used old teacups instead of basins to make ’2 portion’ puds. They have turned out really nicely and such a super shape!
The mixture made 5 puds. They are wrapped in paper and muslin, and tied with a red check bow, ready for giving to friends next month.
I love Christmas
Hi Mildred,
What a good idea to make 2 portion puds as presents. With the muslin and ribbons they must look so sweet.
Thanks so much for this update. I haven’t made our puddings yet so I’ll make a bit more of the mixture and try these.
I love Christmas too!
Hi, excuse my ignorance but I have never made a Christmas pudding and would really like to try. When I was a little girl I had a Christmas story book that showed round plum puddings with holly leaves on top and I always thot they looked so yummy. So now I want to try to make my own, when u r talking about putting the mix into a tea cup with all the paper, r u using the cup as amold and then do you take it out to steam or do u leave it in the cup??? Also how do u cut a pudding and serve it? Couldnt I use little single serving metal jello molds so they look pretty on the plate?
Hi Shelley,
I think that Mildred is using the cup as a mould and she would steam the pudding in the cup (the pudding mixture is usually contained in a basin for steaming). When the pudding is cooked it is firm and can be cut like a cake. If you use very small moulds you would need less cooking time – as I haven’t tried this myself I can’t advise you on this.
Perhaps Mildred will read this comment and respond.
Hi Fi and Shelley! Yes, I steamed the puds IN the cups, for about 7 hours (very gently). I think a jelly mould would work great! Remember to grease the container before you fill it with pudding mixture, leave a gap at the top (5 to 10mm) then wrap the whole lot with greaseproof and tinfoil.
When they are cooked, turn them out and wrap them again to store until Christmas, then re steam as Fi explains above, for about 2 hours.
Half a teacup pud per person served with cream makes a delicious end to Christmas Dinner!
Hi Mildred, I finally got all my stuff together, with 2 baby girls ages 3 months and 14 months its been a bit of a chore. My little molds I was talking about r so pretty,they rfluted and will make a lovely presentation I believe. they r about the size of a muffin tin maybe not quite. Do I steam them for 7 hours? And why do I have to tie string around? Maybe I wont be able to use the molds becus of the fluting I was going to wrap the whole thing in tinfoil individually but makbe I should use a baking bag, cuz thats to keep the water out, right? If u have amoment would u mind commenting on this adventure Im about to embark upon, Im so excited to try this, but I know I need to get going on it 4 aging.Also may I use rum?
Hi Shelley, you sound as if you are busy!
The little moulds sound great, I would wrap them in greaseproof paper then either tinfoil OR your bags. The string is usually used on bigger basins to make it easier to lift them out the steamer pan.
I wouldn’t steam them for quite as long . . . they sound as though they are a bit smaller than my teacup puds. My instinct says 6 hours . . . then steam for just an hour when you are going to eat them.
And yes! Rum makes a lovely flavour . . . you could make rum sauce to serve with your puddings then! In the UK this would be a simple white sauce made with butter, flour, sugar & milk with the addition of a nice drop of rum!
Maybe Fi will add her opinion as to the cooking time . . . . . please!!!
Hi Shelley and Mildred,
I think that your cooking times sound right Mildred. But, not having made smaller puds, I can’t be sure.
Rum would be good in the puds. I love the idea of rum sauce too.
Best of luck Shelley. I’d love to hear how the puddings turn out.
Help! I mad the pud, put it on to steam, had forty winks and found the pan had boiled very dry indeed. is the pud completely ruined?
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.
I hate suet – is it ok to use butter instead ??
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.
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 Lissie
Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving the useful information. I had no idea that butter could be substituted for suet!