English Christmas Pudding

It is a McKay tradition before Christmas to spend a weekend morning making and steaming a Christmas Pudding. We start after breakfast when our girls enthusiastically roll up their pyjama sleeves and find a spot at the dining room table to help, while Graham oversees the recipe steps. This year was no exception and the outcome is a dense, fruit packed pudding which Charles Dickens describes in a scene from A Christmas Carol in 1843,

…”Mrs. Cratchit entered – flushed, but smiling proudly – with the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quarter of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.”

There are many ingredients, all of which can be pre-measured the day before to streamline the assembly process, and everyone gets to add an ingredient, stir it up and make a wish. So this year we enhanced our tradition and while our pudding steamed in the slow cooker, we headed downtown to watch The Joffrey Ballet’s “Nutcracker.”

While this recipe does exceed our usual 20 minutes or less prep time, we think its worth it especially on a rare occasion like this.

We also recommend that you rest the slow cooker on a heat proof mat or counter top because this cooks for a long time on high.

Ingredients

Makes 1 x 2 litre or 2 x 1 litre puddings

5oz sultanas 5oz currants 5oz raisins 4oz dried cherries, stoned and chopped 4oz dates, stoned and chopped 4oz dried cranberries 4oz mixed peel 9oz soft brown sugar 4oz ground almonds 1 1/4 cups or 300ml brandy

3 small eggs, beaten 1/3 cup or 85ml stout

1 1/2 tsp baking powder 4oz plain white flour, sifted 2 tsp mixed spice 2 tsp ground nutmeg 2 tsp ground cinnamon 7oz vegetable shortening 5oz breadcrumbs

brandy, to light the pudding

aluminium foil, parchment paper, string

Step 1 Overnight – In a bowl, combine the sultanas, currants, raisins, cherries, dates, cranberries, mixed peel, sugar and ground almonds. Pour over the brandy and leave to soak in the fridge overnight. Step 2 The next day – Remove the fruit from the fridge and allow to come up to room temperature. Step 3 – Preheat the slow cooker to high and add boiling water to a depth of about 4cm. Cover and allow to heat up while you make the pudding. Step 4 – In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the stout then pour over the fruit and nut mixture and mix with your hands. Step 5 – In a separate bowl, sift the baking powder, flour and spices. Step 6 – Using your fingertips, lightly mix the shortening into the flour and spices then add the breadcrumbs. Mix well using the back of the spoon if the mixture is sticky. Step 7 – Using a large wooden spoon, work the flour mixture into the fruit mixture, ensuring that there are no lumps or pockets of flour. Step 8 – Grease a 2Litre / 8 cup ceramic pudding bowl or two 1Litre / 4 cup pudding bowls. Cut out a circle of baking parchment to fit in the base of the bowl then place that into the bowl and spray with non stick spray. Step 9 – Transfer the pudding mixture to the prepared pudding bowl and pat down to ensure that there are no air pockets.

Step 10 – Lay a large piece of tin foil on the counter top, then lay a piece of baking parchment on top of the foil. Make a 3cm wide pleat with the two sheets then place over the pudding bowl, tin foil on the outside, with the pleat crossing the middle of the bowl. Secure tightly with kitchen string around the rim of the bowl and then tie a sturdy string handle for ease of lifting the bowl in and out of the hot water. Trim any excess foil or baking parchment leaving about a 3cm overhang. Step 11 – Ensure that the water in the slow cooker is simmering then lower the pudding bowl into the water, ensuring that the water comes only half way up the side of the bowl. Adjust if necessary. Cover and cook on HIGH for 8 to 9 hours. The water will maintain the even temperature in the slow cooker and ensure that the pudding does not burn. Remove from the slow cooker and if making ahead allow to cool. Remove the foil and baking parchment and cover with fresh foil and parchment, again securing with string. Store in a cool dark place for up to a year. If using the same day, invert over a serving plate and serve with cream.

This recipe was adapted from Allrecipes, UK & Ireland, Geneviever.

Zen Moment “Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.”