Hot Damn

[callistra]

I just discovered I am about 400 gs short of the dried fruit for my pudding. I'll admit though, I'm not so crash hot on the sultanas and raisins in pudding, since most of the puddings I have had would have very little else in them. So thankfully, Grocery Zone can fulfil that lack for me.
:-)

This is the recipe I used last year to rave reviews. We had three puddings out of that batch, one was a bit burnt on the bottom but I had two large pots and one smaller pot, so I guess we can see why that happened! This year I am going to make one big one, since I said I would do the pudding for Mum's side of the family, and I have enough big pots for that. I hope. :-)

Flamin' Chef's - Christmas Pudding

Chef: Steve Milton

Degree of difficulty: Low
Cooking time: 1 pudding = 8 hrs, 2 puddings= 4 hrs,
You need:

350gms plain flour
500gms sultanas
500gms currants
500gms raisins
200gms mixed peel
150gms fresh bread crumbs

..or you may use 1.8kg of mixed fruit

350gms margarine
550gms brown sugar
8-9 eggs
1.5 tsp bi-card soda
3 tbs o.p. rum
mixed spice
Method:

1/ Cream margarine and sugar together gradually, add eggs and mix until light and fluffy.

2/ Add bi-card soda and rum and mixed spice.

3/ Mix fruit, bread crumbs and flour together in a large bowl and fold through sugar and egg mixture.

4/ Traditionally sixpence are added here.

5/ Using washed calico cloth, tear cloth into a large square, grese flour and place mixture in centre.

6/ Using butchers twine or string lift the flour corners together and twist and seal ingredients within the cloth. Tie off with buthers twine.

7/ Place into deep boiling water and boil steadily for six to seven hours.

8/ Remove from water and allow to cool for approximately 1 hour, undo cloth and tip onto saucer/plate.

9/ Serve with brandied butter or custard

10/ To re-heat pudding steam or boil appro. 1 or 2 hours in cloth

* NB Cooking time *
I'll admit, the main reason why I picked this recipe was the line "...or you may use 1.8 kilos of dried fruit." Which meant last year I raided Kakulas Sister and grabbed handfuls of random dried fruit and weighed them all up until I had about 2 kilos ish. (I like dried fruit, OK? *grin*) and definitely NOT 500gs of raisins, sultanas or currants. There's so much better out there for goodness' sake! And dried figs. There has to be dried figs. This is not an OR option. And glace ginger. But anyway. 1.8 kilos of dried fruit. And it was the best damned pudding I have ever tasted.  Oh, and 200grams of mixed peel? WTF's with that? Who actually enjoys eating mixed peel?? Yuck. I figure if you don't want to munch on it before, why would you want to munch on it after it's been boiled for hours in a sack?

Oh, and I am completely slack on the "fresh" breadcrumbs, too. Fresh? It's going to be BOILED for EIGHT HOURS in a SACK. If it doesn't get enough moisture then, well.... So anyway. I used dried last year. And guess what? I'll be using dried again this year. Nyer.

:-)

Comments

[anniejs.livejournal.com]

I'm fascinated by this and would like to make it. How do you store it? How far in advance do you make it? Is it like fruitcake, where you douse it with rum now and then to keep it moist?

[callistra.livejournal.com]

It's a lot like a christmas cake, (though I don't like christmas cakes much! They tend to be too rich and one note flavour). There are recipes where you soak the fruit in rum/brandy/sherry, and then make it, or else you can add it during cooking as above, or else you can also open the calico and add rum occasionally to the pudding while it is hanging. So your answer to question one if "If you feel like it!" I didn't last year.

You hang it to keep it for a few months. Hanging improves the flavours. You need to hang it so it remains dry on all sides, and out of reach of mice etc. I think I failed in this too, and just stuck it in a dry cupboard. I will have to go and see if I took notes. :-) I promise to take lots of photos this time. By hanging, we literally mean hanging from the ceiling, a cupboard shelf, the pantry ceiling...

Some recipes I have seen recommend storing for no longer than 3 months. Some you can use on the same day.

Have fun with it! If you're worried, you can easily divide it into a half batch or something for experiments.

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

My Mum has just started to collect the ingredients for her fruit mince recipe, which has been published in a humerous "how to survive Christmas" book in the UK and described as "delightfully boozy".

It does not contain the secret ingredient beef suet (hello vegans, surprise!) nor does she use rice flour to make the pastry. Therefore, whilst enjoying the fruits every year, my father cannot resist the annual line "but it's not like my Mum's". Clearly the complaint has not been a fatal one, for their 50th wedding anniversary is in a couple of weeks.

[callistra.livejournal.com]

I'd have killed him one christmas.
:-)

One year I will do the ones where you mince the steak and let the fruit mince sit for about 3 or 6 months before use. However I have got my hands onto a friend's fruit mince pie recipe which has mutton in them, so one year I will make that too.

Not to get too enthused or anything, one year at a time...

[fred-mouse.livejournal.com]

personally, I do eat the candied peel. And I likes it. Especially coated in dark chocolate!

and fresh breadcrumbs=not mouldy in this house...

[callistra.livejournal.com]

!!

Gosh

!!

:-)