Serve it with brandy butter or custard.
Traditional English Christmas Pudding
Dessert
Custards puddings creams
Medium
Your note
Edit
A dense, moist, spiced fruit pudding steamed for hours and matured for several weeks, then reheated and served with brandy butter or custard. Makes 1 large pudding in about 8 hr 45 min.
Prep
45 min
Cook
480 min
Total
8 hr 45 min
Yield
1 large pudding
Ingredients
Adjust yield
large pudding
Scales from a half to a double batch; give a bigger batch a little more time.
- 5 ½ oz (150 g)currants
- 1 cup (150 g)raisins
- ¾ cup (100 g)golden raisins
- 2 oz (50 g)mixed candied peel
- ½ cup (120 ml)brandy, divided
- 7 tbsp (100 ml)dark ale or stout
- 4 oz (110 g)beef suet or vegetarian suet
- 1 cup (110 g)fresh white breadcrumbs
- 7 tbsp (55 g)all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (110 g)dark brown sugar
- ¼ oz (5 g)mixed spice
- 1 ¼ tsp (3 g)ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp (2 g)salt
- 1tart apple, peeled and grated
- 3 (150 g)eggs, beaten
- 1 tbsp (6 g)orange zest
- 1 tbsp (15 g)butter, for the basin
Fresh ingredient guides
Baking tools for this recipe
Instructions
- The night before, soak the dried fruit and peel in 60 ml brandy and the ale. Cover.
- Mix suet, breadcrumbs, flour, sugar, spices and salt. Stir in the soaked fruit with its liquid, the apple, zest and eggs. Give everyone in the house a stir for luck.
- Butter a 1.5 L pudding basin and fill with the mixture, leaving 2 cm of headroom. Press down.
- Cover with a pleated layer of parchment and foil (the pleat allows for expansion) and tie with string under the rim.
- Set the basin on a trivet in a large pot with boiling water halfway up its sides, cover and simmer gently 6 hours, topping up with boiling water.
- Cool, replace the covering with fresh parchment and foil, and store for 4 to 6 weeks. Feed with a little brandy every week or two, if desired.
- To serve, steam another 2 hours. Turn out and decorate. Warm the remaining brandy, pour it over, then light it carefully with a long match and carry to the table flaming.
Tips
- Do not let the water boil dry during steaming.
- Pleat the cover to allow the pudding to rise.
- Serve with brandy butter, cream or custard.
- Reheat the pudding until steaming hot throughout (at least 165 F / 74 C); eggs inside are cooked by steaming. Take care with flaming brandy and keep sleeves and decorations away from the flame.
Made this?
Log it to keep your bakes, ratings and notes together in My Kitchen.
Be the first to share one.
How did it turn out?
Recipe FAQ
How long does it take to make traditional english christmas pudding?
Plan on 45 minutes of prep and 8 hours of cooking. The recipe makes 1 large pudding.
How should I store traditional english christmas pudding?
Keep matured pudding cool and refrigerated; use within 2 months or freeze up to 1 year. Reheat until steaming hot throughout.
Can I make traditional english christmas pudding ahead?
It is at its best the day it is made; prepare it a few hours before serving.
Estimated · per serving
Nutrition
Per serving = 1 of 1 serving this recipe makes.
394
Calories / serving
13.7g
Fat
60.7g
Carbs
5.0g
Protein
41.3g
Sugar
Whole recipe (1 serving): ~394 cal · 14g fat · 61g carbs · 5g protein · 41g sugar
Estimated values per serving, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not verified Nutrition Facts; actual values vary with brands, measurements, and preparation.
Made with VanillaGoods
Recipe Rating
0 commentsNo comments yet — be the first to share how this turned out for you.
Leave a comment