Yesterday was ‘Stir Up Sunday’ which is traditionally the day that Christmas puddings are made, approximately five weeks before Christmas. It is the last Sunday before Advent begins.
Early Christmas puddings actually contained meat, together with spices, dried fruit and wine. It was Prince Albert who introduced the traditional Christmas pudding to the Victorians, which we know today.
Christmas would not be the same without a Christmas pudding to ‘light’ and serve after a hearty Christmas dinner. I have a lovely memory of my Grandad lighting a pudding one year when I was just a little girl and the memory has always stuck with me. When our daughters were young we too lit our Christmas pudding and now it’s a family tradition for us.
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Christmas Pudding Traditions:
- A Christmas pudding is tradionally made with thirteen ingredients, to represent Jesus and his twelve disciples.
- A Christmas pudding is tradionally stirred from east to west in honour of the three wise men that visited baby Jesus.
- Each member of the family traditionally stirs the pudding mixture and makes a wish secretly.
- A silver coin was tradionally placed in the mixture and the person who finds it is supposed to find wealth. A ring was sometimes also placed in the mixture to foretell a marriage and a thimble for a lucky life.
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The photo above shows the Christmas pudding I made last year using my eldest sister’s recipe, which you can find here. It really tastes lovely and it can be made anytime leading upto Christmas day.
This year I decided to have a change and make a pudding that needs time to mature as it contains alcohol. Here is the recipe:
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Xmas Pudding
475g dried mixed fruit with candied peel
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped small
Grated zest and juice of ½ an orange
Grated zest and juice of ½ a lemon
4 tablespoons of brandy, plus a further tablespoon for soaking at the end
55g self-raising flour
1 level teaspoon ground mixed spice
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
110g shredded suet
110g soft dark brown sugar
110g white fresh bread crumbs
25g flaked almonds
2 eggs lightly beaten.
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Put the dried mixed fruit, apple, grated zest and juice of the orange and lemon, into a bowl.
Add the brandy and mix well.
Cover and leave to marinate overnight.
In the morning, lightly grease a 2 ½ pint pudding bowl.
In a separate large bowl, sift the flour, mixed spice and cinnamon together.
Add the suet, sugar, breadcrumbs and flaked almonds and stir together until they are well combined.
Add the marinated mixed fruit and stir again.
Stir the eggs into the mixture.
Call all your family together and take turns to stir the pudding mixture from East to West, making a secret wish as stir.
Spoon the mixture into your greased pudding bowl and press it down lightly with the back of a metal spoon.
Cut out two large circles of greaseproof paper, the size of a large dinner plate.
Cover the pudding with both pieces of the greaseproof paper and top these with foil. Tie them onto the dish with string.
Steam the pudding for 7 hours.
Remove the pudding from the steamer and let it cool completely.
Remove the paper and prick the pudding with a skewer and add a further tablespoon of brandy.
Cover with a new piece of greaseproof paper and tie it again with string. Then wrap it in foil to keep it fresh.
Store in a cool place until Christmas day.
On Christmas day, steam again for 1 hour.
Enjoy!
Thank you for reading my blog today.
I will be back on Friday at my usual time.
I could have done with this recipe yesterday! Lovely to read the traditions behind the pudding, had no idea about the thirteen ingredients.
Hi Southbourne Gardens, I thought I was a bit late posting this recipe, as I didn’t realise it was ‘Stir up Sunday’ until Saturday (my mind has been a blur with the building work). What recipe did you use yesterday and did it turn out ok?
I didn’t in the end. I’ve got three cakes to make so I soaked the fruit for those and did some other baking.
Must admit I prefer a sponge pudding or even rice pudding to Christmas Pudding. It’s a taste that I have never been able to acquire. I don;t like Christmas cake either – not the traditional very dark coloured one that is. I like a lighter cake with fruit and nuts and definitely no candied peel.
My husband won’t eat Christmas pudding or Christmas cake either Sue, so I make him a chocolate sponge and custard instead on Christmas day.
Lucky him much much nicer.
My grandmother who was a Glaswegian, made a fruity pudding when I was a wee one. She passed away when I
was six so I do not have that recipe. After Christmas, one way she would use it was to saute slices of it in a little butter
for breakfast. Is that something that can be done with your pudding? Marion
Marion, I haven’t got a clue. I wonder if anyone else reading this has tried to do that? I can’t quite imagine doing this as I do so love it with custard or brandy sauce lol
This was about 70 years ago so my memory is a bit cloudy on the subject but I seem to recall it being
nicely toasted and crunchy with lots of chewy fruits and great flavor. I loved it but cringe now when I know it has suet in it plus the butter for frying. M.
Lol, we ate all sorts of things when we were younger didn’t we and we never gave any thought to how bad things were for us….my dad would feed me and my sisters raw sausages while he was cooking Sunday breakfast when I was little and we loved them (though I would do it now).. but we are still all here to tell the tale lol
Mmm.. I love Christmas pudding. If only as a vehicle for the sauce..
I love the pudding and the sauce lol
I just love christmas pudding, have yet to make mine as i have had problems getting currents and raisins in large packets, i make 4 pudds and a cake, so tomorrow i am off to a larger town and hopefully will be in luck so they can be made by the weekend. Yours looks lovely, i use a margarite pattern recipe my nanna and mum use.
Sue
Hi Sue, that sounds lovely.
Just in case anyone reading this hasn’t heard of Margarite Pattern, she was an incredible woman. She first became known during the food rationing days of WWII as she joined the Ministry of Food, advising families on how to manage rations and gain the maximum nutritional value from what little food there was. If anyone is interested there is a good article about her here: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/foodanddrink/Marguerite+Patten-230.html
Her Christmas Pudding recipe is included in the article….Is it the one recipe you use Sue?
This is the recipe, it is the best christmas pudding, all my family use it, i alter mine only because i dont like peel, but replace it with cherries.
Sue
Sounds lovely with cherries Sue.
That looks mad! I HAVE to try it!! My husband will go nuts! Thankyou so much for sharing!