This is a great traditional Christmas pudding recipe, and is quite quick and easy to make (although steaming the Christmas pudding will take some time), with no fiddly steps involved.
It has been adapted from Stephanie Alexander’s grandmother’s (Emily Bell) recipe, and is absolutely delicious. I find that the fruit content is just right, and the grated apple and almonds balance the richness in the finished Christmas pudding.
Makes enough mixture to fill a 2 litre pudding basin (I use 1 x 1 litre, 1 x 500ml and 2 x 250ml pudding basins, as I give some for gifts), which should serve around 8-12 people.
Easy Traditional Christmas Pudding Recipe Ingredients
135g plain flour
135g brown sugar
135g fresh breadcrumbs
270g raisins
270g currants
135g sultanas
100g candied peel (also marketed as mixed peel)
250g butter, grated
Grated zest 1 lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Large pinch salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup brandy
450ml milk
1 granny smith apple, peeled and grated
1/3 cup slivered almonds (or roughly chopped macadamias)
Easy Traditional Christmas Pudding Recipe Method
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and brown sugar together. Add breadcrumbs, raisins, currants, sultanas and candied peel. Stir thoroughly to coat fruit in flour mixture (this will help stop it sinking to the bottom of the pudding).
Add all remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly to distribute evenly. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and stand overnight in the fridge to allow the fruit to absorb the liquid and plump up.
Taste the pudding mixture and adjust the flavourings if necessary; if you prefer a ‘spicier’ pudding, add more cinnamon/nutmeg etc.
Trace the top rim of each pudding basin onto baking/greaseproof paper, and cut out the circles (slightly smaller than your tracing). Grease the pudding basins well with butter, then pack the Christmas pudding mixture into the pudding basins and fill almost to the top. Top the puddings with the circles of baking/greaseproof paper, ensuring the paper fits quite snuggly on top of the pudding mixture.
Cover the tops of the pudding basins with foil, then trim the excess foil using scissors (don’t use your best kitchen scissors for this, as cutting foil will blunt the scissor edge). Tie the foil securely around the rim of the pudding basins with kitchen twine/string/wool.
Place the pudding basins in a large saucepan/stockpot (with a lid) and fill with enough water to come 2/3 of the way up the sides of the pudding basins. Place on the heat and bring to the boil with the lid on. Allow to simmer for 4-6 hours, topping up the water level every hour or so. You might like to place an old small tea towel or something similar under the pudding basins while they are cooking in the saucepan/stockpot, as they can make a rattling sound.
Once cooked, remove from the saucepan/stockpot and allow to cool. Refrigerate until Christmas. These puddings keep very well, I usually make the 4-8 weeks in advance, but I have even had one after about 8 months in the fridge and it was fine!
One Christmas day (or whenever you serve it), boil again, following the steps above, for about 1 hour or so until hot. Turn out onto a serving plate and flame with brandy. To ensure that the brandy flames, warm it gently first, pour quickly onto the pudding, then light.
Serve with brandy butter, icecream or (my personal favourite) white sauce spiked with brandy.
This is the perfect rich, lush desert for cold winters nights. It is quite a heavy pudding, but somehow you won’t be able to resist seconds (or thirds!), with lashings of the caramel butterscotch sauce and ice cream.
Easy Sticky Date Pudding Recipe Ingredients
170g pitted dates, roughly chopped (or you could snip with scissors)
300ml water
1 tsp bicarb of soda
60g butter
170g caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten with a fork
170g self raising flour
1/2 tsp vanilla essence or extract
200g brown sugar
6 tbsp pure cream
115g butter
1/2 tsp vanilla essence or extract
Easy Sticky Date Pudding Recipe Method
Place the dates and water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil over high heat. Once boiling, remove from the heat and add bicarb of soda (the mixture will fizz up quite rapidly, so be careful). Stir quickly, then leave the saucepan to stand while you make the pudding mixture.
Preheat your oven to 180ºC. Grease a cake tin (I use a square one approx 20cm x 20cm x 6cm) well with butter. You could also grease 6 individual (approx 1 cup capacity) ramekins if you wanted to serve individual puddings instead.
In a mixing bowl cream the butter (it is easier if the butter is room temperature) and caster sugar together with electric beaters until light and creamy (you could do this step with a wooden spoon, but you will be there for a while). Add the beaten egg, a little at a time, mixing well after each addition (the mixture may look slightly ‘split’ at this stage, but don’t worry, it will come back together). Fold in the flour, dates (including the date liquid) and vanilla and stir to combine. Pour into greased cake tin or ramekins and bake for approximately 40-50 minutes (20-30 minutes for ramekins), until cooked (when you test it, it should be quite moist, so may leave some crumbs on the cake tester/skewer, but it shouldn’t be wet).
Whilst the cake is cooking, place the brown sugar, cream, butter and remaining vanilla in a small saucepan (you can use the one you used for the dates to save washing up, just give it a little rinse, doesn’t need to be spotless). Bring to the boil over medium heat and simmer for approximately 3 minutes until sugar has dissolved.
When the pudding is cooked, remove from the oven and pour approximately 1/3 of the caramel butterscotch sauce over the cake. Pop it back in the oven for 2 minutes until has absorbed into the cake.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Serve warm with additional caramel butterscotch sauce spooned over the top and creamy vanilla ice cream. If you have left overs (yeah right!), simply allow them to cool completely, then wrap (un-sauced) in cling wrap or place in a airtight container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. Reheat the pudding and sauce separately to serve.
The way to a man’s (or woman’s) heart is most definitely through their stomach, particularly if they love chocolate! I have decided to post this recipe for all of you cooking for the one you love on Valentines Day, giving you a chance to show off your cooking. You can even use heart shaped cupcake [...]
