Traditional Christmas pudding has always been a favorite of mine during the festive season. It brings back fond memories of my childhood and I remember that my grandma added 5 cent pieces to hers and as kids we looked forward to slicing it in the hopes of finding some.
When my grandma passed away; my mom then started making the Christmas pudding and although no 5 cent pieces were added to hers; the taste remained delicious. When my mom passed away; I thought I would uphold the tradition and this past Christmas I made my very first traditional Christmas pudding.
The authentic traditional Christmas pudding recipe that my grandma and mother use contained alcohol and I wasn’t going to deviate from not adding any. To me a Christmas pudding needs to be made at least 3 – 4 weeks before Christmas, it must be moist, fruity, nutty and a little boozy. The alcohol preserves the cake for longer and as the pudding matures; it becomes more flavorful. Besides the alcohol content; properly wrapping and storing the pudding will also ensure that it will keep for several weeks. I wrap the pudding in clingwrap and aluminum foil and store it in a cool dry place.
This pudding is so easy to make; the only part that is time consuming is steaming it. The steaming process also contributes to the overall flavor of all the ingredients in the pudding. I watched a YouTube video on how to wrap and steam the pudding. The steaming time will differ as per the size of the pudding and this can be anything from 4 – 8 hours. I don’t have a pudding basin and therefore used a 1L heatproof Pyrex bowl to steam the pudding that I made. The longer the pudding steams, the darker it will be.
How to steam a traditional Christmas pudding?
- Before steaming the Christmas pudding; ensure that the heatproof bowl has a watertight seal. This will prevent water from seeping into the bowl during the steaming process and make the pudding soggy.
- To make the seal; cut a large piece of aluminum foil and the same size parchment paper. Lay the parchment paper on top of the aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray. Pick up both sheets and fold a pleat down the middle of the two sheets which will allow the pudding to expand as it cooks.
- Turn the sheets around with the foil facing to the top and wrap it around the top of the heatproof bowl. Tie string tightly around the rim of the bowl and then make a string handle going across to help lift the pudding out of the water. With a scissor, trim away the excess string and paper and tuck the remaining overhang underneath the rim.
- Place a upturned saucer in the middle of a pot. Place the heatproof bowl bowl on top of the saucer and fill with water halfway up the sides of the bowl. Make sure that the water does not reach the top of the bowl. Cover the pot with a lid.
- Gently simmer and resist from lifting the lift for the first 30 minutes as the temperature will drop and the pudding will collapse.
- After the first 30 minutes; check that the water level does not drop by filling up with boiling water if necessary.
- Steam for 4 – 8 hours depending on the size of your pudding. I steamed this pudding for 5 hours.
- When it has steamed for the set hours, carefully remove the pudding bowl from the pot.
- Allow it to cool, remove the foil and parchment paper and rewrap with fresh ones.
- Store in a cool dry place.
- On the day of serving; steam again in similar fashion for 2 hours.
Traditional Christmas Pudding
Ingredients
- 500 g fruit cake mix
- 50 g almond slivers
- 50 g wallnuts (chopped)
- 1 small apple (peeled, cored and grated)
- 1 medium orange (zest and juiced)
- ½ tsp lemon zest
- 4 tbsp brandy (you can also use sherry)
- 80 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 2 xl eggs
- ¼ cup molasses
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¾ cup cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp fine cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- ¼ tsp fine nutmeg
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Place the fruit cake mix in a mixing bowl and add the grated apple and nuts. Add the orange juice and brandy. Stir through and let it rest for 1 hour.
- Place the butter, sugar, molasses, orange and lemon zest in a separate mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and mix well.
- Sift in the dry ingredients and then add the bread crumbs. Fold all the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients scraping the sides and bottom on the bowl.
- Finally add the soaked fruit cake mixture and stir to combine thoroughly.
- Grease the a heatproof bowl or pudding basin with butter.
- Spoon the mixture into the bowl and press the it down with a spoon or spatula.
- Follow the steps indicated in my post on how to wrap and steam the pudding.
- Steam for 5 hours then carefully remove the pudding from the pot and allow to cool.
- Gently unwrap the foil and parchment cover and replace it with fresh ones.
- On the day of serving steam in similar fashion for 2 hours.
- Serve with custard or cream.
