Christmas pudding recipes (2024)

FAQs

What alcohol is best for Christmas pudding? ›

Christmas pudding is traditionally soaked with alcohol, preferably brandy, for flavour maturation. However, many people prefer rum and whisky spirit with high alcohol content.

It's best not to. Suet is a very hard fat, which melts slowly through a mixture during the cooking, whereas butter melts very easily and quickly through a mixture. They are different types of fats and shouldn't be substituted for each other.

Make sure you cover the basin well with the parchment and foil, if the water gets in then your Christmas pudding will be soggy. And be sure to make a pleat in your lid to give the pudding space to rise.

We would also mention that after the first steaming the pudding may look a little lighter in colour than you may expect. On the second steaming the pudding will darken in colour. As it re-heats it will also become slightly softer in texture and should be easy to cut once it has been turned out from its basin.

We would tend to err on the side of using a spirit with a higher alcohol content (such as rum or whisky) but a fortified wine with a long shelf life, such as a sweet Marsala or Madiera could also be used.

Conclusion: Christmas puddings contain ethanol that does not all evaporate during the cooking process. However, the rise in BAC after ingestion of a typical slice of Christmas pudding was negligible and unlikely to affect work performance or safety or impair a health care worker's ability to make complex decisions.

For the pudding, the most likely cause of mould is moisture. If it's steamed for 8 hours, left to cool completely and then you replace the paper and foil.

Our answer. It is possible to make Nigella's Ultimate Christmas Pudding using vegetable shortening (such as Crisco, Trex, Flora White, Cookeen or Copha) instead of suet (which is made from beef fat). You use exactly the same quantity in vegetable shortening but it needs to be coarsely grated before you use it.

Luscious Christmas pudding comes with a mixture of chopped nuts, like walnuts, pecan nuts, almonds and hazelnuts. These nuts are very rich in protein, vitamin E and dietary fibres. Almonds consumption, for instance, can significantly bring down LDL cholesterol levels and decreases the risk of heart diseases.

Ideally we would suggest that when the pudding is made it is steamed for 8 hours (the combined time of the first and second steamings) as the steaming is important for the flavour of the pudding. The pudding can then be microwaved to reheat it on Christmas Day.

Why put breadcrumbs in Christmas pudding? ›

Use a mixture of flour and breadcrumbs, not just flour. Though in older times the choice was more to do with economy, breadcrumbs give the pudding a much lighter texture. And again, use just enough flour to hold the mixture gently together.

Some Christmas puddings, made with dried fruit in the traditional way, are fine to be eaten as much as two years after they were made. "Bear in mind if the pudding is alcohol-free, of course, it will last a good while with the sugar content, but it will not last as long without alcohol to preserve it," stresses Juliet.

Superstitions say that Christmas pudding must be prepared with 13 ingredients, which are said to represent Jesus and his twelve disciples. It is also said that the mixture should be stirred in turn from east to west, by each family member, to honour the disciples' journey.

The pudding is ready when it's slightly puffed and dark brown. Remove the pudding from the steamer by the handle. Set on a rack until completely cool. Remove the paper, and prick the pudding with a skewer or a fork in several places.

A sweet marsala or Madeira wine are good alternatives but if you only have a bottle of rum, whisky or brandy on hand then one of these could also be used.

Once turned out of its basin, decorated with holly, doused in brandy (or occasionally rum), and flamed (or "fired"), the pudding is traditionally brought to the table ceremoniously, and greeted with a round of applause.

Whip 250ml cream until it holds a figure eight shape and stir it into 250ml of cold custard. You can make this yourself or buy it pre-made. Pour in 35ml (one shot) of Irish Whiskey (or brandy) and add a pinch of grated nutmeg and stir until smooth.

Use gluten-free white flour and breadcrumbs made from gluten-free bread, and replace the stout and barley wine with the same amount of sherry.