It’s that wonderful time of the year again. Christmas is upon us, which means gatherings with friends and family and plenty of scrumptious food to eat. What better way to get excited about the holidays than making this festive Christmas pudding, also a great winter-warming dessert.
Christmas Pudding is a staple in households across the UK, and no British Christmas would be complete without it. It’s nothing like American pudding, the British version is more like a cake. It’s made from a combination of nuts, dried fruit, candied fruit peel, and citrus zests in a dense, sticky sponge cake and often flavored with cinnamon, brandy, rum, or other spices for moisture and taste.
A Little Bit of History
Christmas Pudding is also known as plum pudding and figgy pudding. This traditional dessert dates all the way back to English medieval times. The earliest forms were more savory than sweet and made with a mixture of meat and root vegetables. Eventually dried or candied fruits were added, hence the name plum pudding, since “plum” was considered a generic term for dried fruit.
In the mid-1600s, it became a customary Christmas dessert. When Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans came to power, it was banned. They considered Christmas merriments such as Yule logs and caroling, to be idolatry. When King George the 1st came along, it was rumored that he requested plum pudding at his first English Christmas banquet. Therefore, he was dubbed the “pudding king.”
During the Victorian era, it became custom for families to prepare Christmas pudding on the last Sunday before Advent, also known as “Stir-Up Sunday.” Family members would take turns stirring the ingredients together with a wooden spoon while making a wish. Historically, silver sixpence was added to the pudding, granting the finder a year of good luck.
How to Make
Christmas pudding is the perfect make-ahead dessert as the flavors only get better over time. The ingredients meld together and develop their rich, sweet, and hearty flavors. The alcohol serves as a preservative to prolong the shelf life of the pudding, absorbing the moisture of the fresh fruits and soaking the whole pudding.
- The pudding can be made with any combination nuts: almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, cashews, pistachios.
- Combination of dried, candied, or fresh fruits: apricots, cherries, cranberries, dates, figs, prunes, pineapple, cherries, raisins, apples. or mangos.
- Combination of citrus zests: orange, lemon, grapefruit
- Alcohol: typically made with whiskey, brandy, or rum for added depth and a festive kick.
This recipe below is just one of many Christmas Pudding variations to try.
Special Equipment Needed:
- Pudding Mold
- Parchment Paper
- Aluminum Foil
- Kitchen Twine
- Steamer Set
Ingredients:
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 12 dates, pitted and chopped
- ½ cup raisins
- ¼ cup dried currants
- ¼ cup candied mixed fruit peel, chopped
- 1 orange, zested
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup brandy, more as needed
- Softened unsalted butter, for the bowl
Instructions:
- Liberally grease a pudding mold with softened unsalted butter.
- Combine sugar, butter, milk, dates, raisins, currants, mixed fruit peel, and orange zest in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil.
- Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda.
- Sift in the flour, cinnamon and salt. Gently mix until blended. Pour the mixture into the prepared pudding mold.
- Wrap and tie: Cover with a double layer of lightly buttered parchment paper and a layer of aluminum foil. Tie securely with string, wrapping around the basin, then looping over the top and around the bowl again. This forms a handle for removing the pudding from the steamer.
- Steaming: Place the pudding in a steamer over a saucepan filled with simmering water. Steam for anywhere from 2 to 8 hours, depending on recipe recommendations. Check the water level in the steamer frequently and add extra boiling water if necessary. It is very difficult to over-steam, just keep steaming until your pudding is a rich, dark color.
- Remove pudding from the steamer by the handle. Set on a rack until completely cool. Remove the paper and prick the pudding with a skewer or a fork in several places. Drizzle with a little brandy.
- Try to resist eating the pudding immediately after steaming! That will cause it to collapse.
How to Store
Cover with clean parchment paper and retie with string. It’s best to be stored in a cool, dark place after the pudding has cooled down. If you do not have a cool dark place, make sure it’s well-wrapped with double-layered aluminum foil and stored in the refrigerator. If wrapped properly, you can refrigerate the pudding for up to a year or more.
Reheat and Serve
After the pudding has matured and you’re ready to serve, unwrap, place back in the pudding mold, cover and re-steam for 30-60 minutes or until heated through. You can also cover and reheat in the microwave. Slice thinly and serve with brandy butter, or custard. For the young ones, add scoops of ice cream on top! If there happens to be leftovers, wrap pudding tightly and store.
In Closing
Traditional British Christmas pudding is usually made 5 or 6 weeks before Christmas. But, if you want to make Christmas Pudding at the last moment for the perfect dessert with all the classic flavors, here is an easy last minute recipe! Just prepare it at least 24 hours in advance and you’ll be enjoying a well-crafted, beloved Christmas Pudding in no time!