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RE: Christmas Pudding

Posted 808 days ago

I found this on the net. Maybe it will help


This is my mother's mother's mother's recipe. Some years other pudding recipes have been tried but we have always returned to this one because it is so damn good.

185 g butter
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
pinch salt
grated rind of one orange
4 eggs
1/2 cup brandy
2 cups breadcrumbs from day-old bread
1 granny smith apple, peeled and grated
1 carrot, peeled and grated
500 g raisins
750 g mixed fruit (see note)
1 pack glace cherries, quartered
1 cup self-raising flour
4 heaped teaspoons mixed spice
1 heaped tablespoon cocoa (or a splash of Parisian essence), to darken the colour

Cream the butter and the sugar. Add the salt and the rind. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the brandy, breadcrumbs, apple and carrot, and blend well. Stir in raisins, mixed fruit and cherries. Sift in the flour, spices and cocoa and mix thoroughly. At this point, if you are my mother or me, you taste the mixture and decide to add a bit more brandy, and just top up the flour if it gets too sloppy. And then maybe you add another handful of raisins and a splash more brandy. You get the idea.

Grease well two three-pint pudding basins, or some other combination of sizes. Fill them with the pudding mixture to about an inch from the top. If you are using those super-convenient plastic basins, just grease the inside of the lid and pop them on. If you are using glass or china basins, cover them with two layers of greaseproof paper, greased on the inside, and then a layer of alfoil, all tied on tightly with string. Put each pudding in a saucepan, and fill the pan with water to about 2/3 of the way up the side of the basin. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer, adding more water as necessary. For a three-pint pudding, boil for about 4 hours; for a two-pinter, about 2 1/2 - 3 hours; and for a 1-pinter or indeed a coffee cup if you have really planned things badly and got just a dribble left over, 1 1/2 - 2 hours. My mother says that you cannot spoil a pudding with too much brandy or too much cooking, so if in doubt cook it a little longer rather than the other way around.

Puddings should be made at least a month before christmas, and then left to mature. On the day you plan to eat them, have them at room temperature, then boil them again follow the instructions above, splitting the time in half, so for example a three-pint pudding will be boiled for two hours. Serve hot.


Note: I don't know that this is really necessary, but it is traditional: when using packaged dried fruit mixture, we always sit down for half an hour or so and pick out about half of the peel and discard it, before weighing out the 750 g. It's the sort of job you give to the children to do, if you can get some interested.
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It's true..... WA soil is rubbish but at least its easy to dig!!

RE: Christmas Pudding

Posted 808 days ago

or type 'Christmas Pudding' into the Fact Sheet search field and you'll get the one that was on the show.

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It's true..... WA soil is rubbish but at least its easy to dig!!

RE: Christmas Pudding

Posted 808 days ago

mariloo could send me the repcipe please to my e-mail address as above robertfrancis2009@livew.com.au
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r.graham

RE: Christmas Pudding

Posted 806 days ago

Geez , Maril00, that looks like a lot of trouble to go to when I only have to drop the hint to my ma-in-law once a year, and she comes up with the best ever pud. Every Xmas. For the last forty years. People who can make a REAL Christmas pud. have my total respect. 'Cause it takes patience. I'll leave you with this little thought...."Patience is a virtue, catch it where you can; seldom in a woman, never in a man"
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Experience is what you get when you dont read the instructions first.I'm a LEO.I am experienced!

RE: Christmas Pudding

Posted 805 days ago

I'll tell you a little secret Hutcho. Years ago I realised the many hours spent in the kitchen didn't equal the 30 seconds it takes the family to scoff it down and I'm left with the clean up too. I found that recipe for cd1007 online but I'm not wasting my time cooking a Christmas Pud either. :)
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It's true..... WA soil is rubbish but at least its easy to dig!!

RE: Christmas Pudding

Posted 805 days ago

would you like to add anything more to that Maril???...lol...

RE: Christmas Pudding

Posted 805 days ago

by the way i posted that. something happened no joke

it has happened in other posts as well
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No gardener is really good before he has killed one or two plants.

RE: Christmas Pudding

Posted 795 days ago

I do mine in the microwave. Takes 7 minutes as against 4 or 5 hours boiling for a traditional one.

RE: Christmas Pudding

Posted 795 days ago

A micro-waved Christmas Pud??? Shame, pomolo, shame!!
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Experience is what you get when you dont read the instructions first.I'm a LEO.I am experienced!

RE: Christmas Pudding

Posted 792 days ago

Hmmm, maybe its just me, but I make our xmad pud every year, using my grandmothers recipe, and I think the time and effort is well worth it. I love the smell of the xmas pud, its gets me into the xmas mood every time. Yes it does take 3hrs of boiling per pud, then hanging time, and then another hr of boiling, but it is worth it.

Wouldn't be xmas with out it.
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RE: Christmas Pudding

Posted 787 days ago

I get great results and a cool kitchen by cooking my Christmas Pudding overnight in slow cooker, it turns out perfect every time.Only 1/2 hour re-heating on high.
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Christmas Pudding

Posted 782 days ago

Love cooking the traditional pudding, especially now that our mothers are no longer with us, I like to keep it up for the next generation.

I do the boiled in the cloth and hang it up etc. Slow cooker sounds great, think I will try that one.

Last year my daughter-in-law suggested I use up some port she had instead of the brandy. It was magnificent.

I don't mindif the family do eat it up in a few mins - they sure enjoy it. I want them to feel that they are valued and cared for.

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Of all the wonderful surprises in life, none is better than seeing that first shoot tear out of the earth and form into a wonderful plant and vegetable.. .