Peter’s Christmas Pudding
For Peter Valder, Christmas just isn’t Christmas without a traditional, homemade pudding, and the same recipe has been used in the Valder family for generations. The good news is that Peter has decided to share his recipe with Burke’s Backyard viewers. For best results, make your pudding three weeks before Christmas.
Ingredients
- 225g white sugar
- 225g soft white breadcrumbs
- 25g plain white flour
- pinch of salt
- 7g (3 level teaspoons) ground nutmeg
- 14g (6 level teaspoons) ground cinnamon
- 225g butter
- 4 eggs
- 150ml brandy
- 225g seeded raisins
- 225g currants
- 225g sultanas
- 125g chopped mixed peel
- extra brandy to flame the pudding
Method
- Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl (sugar, breadcrumbs, flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon) and mix together well.
- Add the butter to the bowl and mix in well.
- Beat together the eggs and brandy, add to the bowl and mix well.
- Finally add the fruit and mix well by hand.
- Put the mixture into a bowl (or bowls) lined with greased paper. Cover with foil and tie securely around the top.
(Tip: if you cover the foil with a piece of calico it is easier to tie down firmly. Calico can be purchased from Lincraft stores – 90cm x 90cm costs around $2). - Stand the bowl in a large saucepan half-filled with hot water. Boil for about 4 hours (checking the water level from time to time and topping it up with more boiling water, as needed).
- Leave the pudding somewhere safe until Christmas Day. To reheat, place it in hot water again and boil for 1 to 2 hours, depending on the size of the pudding.
- Turn the pudding onto a serving plate. Pour some extra brandy over the pudding and light. Serve with ice-cream, cream or custard.