recipes@decwrl.UUCP (12/19/86)
XMAS-PUDDING(D) USENET Cookbook XMAS-PUDDING(D)
NANA MOON'S CHRISTMAS PUDDING
XMAS-PUDDING - Old-fashioned Christmas boiled pudding
This recipe was first written down by my great-grandmother.
It's an old-fashioned boiled pudding, and was always a spe-
cial part of Christmas in my family. Nana Moon's family
came from Sofala, the site of the 1851 gold rush in New
South Wales, Australia, where they raised sheep (before the
gold rush). It's probably based on an English recipe.
This recipe differs from others I've seen in that it uses no
spices-just dried fruit and brandy. Perhaps spices were too
difficult to get-it tastes great anyway.
INGREDIENTS (Makes two puddings)
3 cups flour (unbleached)
1/2 lb suet (see note below)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup bread crumbs
3/4 lb raisins
3/4 lb sultanas (or golden raisins)
1/4 lb currants
1 cup brandy (or orange juice, or a mixture of both)
1 Tbsp golden (cane) syrup
5 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp milk
PROCEDURE
(1) Combine the suet, flour, sugar, breadcrumbs, fruit
and brandy.
(2) Cover, and allow to stand overnight.
(3) Add the syrup and beaten eggs.
(4) Dissolve the baking soda in the milk, and add to
mixture. Stir until everything's combined. (The
mixture will be fairly thick. My mother used to
get help at this stage by telling us that if we
stirred it three times and made a wish, the wish
would come true. This only works with Christmas
puddings.)
(5) Place in two 1 1/2 quart pudding basins, cover
with paper and several layers of aluminium foil,
and steam for 4 hours.
(6) When you're going to eat it, steam it for a
further 2 hours. Serve by turning it out of the
bowl, and pouring flaming brandy over it (see
below). Serve with brandy butter (hard brandy
sauce).
NOTES
This pudding needs time to age between when you cook it and
Christmas. My mother generally makes it about a month
before. Keep it in the refrigerator until the day you will
be eating it.
Each pudding will serve about 8-10 people. If you halve the
recipe, use 3 eggs. You can also add cherries, figs,
almonds, and so on when you're adding the fruit.
The suet can be replaced with some other form of shortening.
The packaged suet we used to be able to get in Australia was
only about 35% suet, the rest was cornflour (cornstarch).
Avoid that at all costs. For a few years, we bought suet
from the butcher and grated it ourselves (ok, we used a
blender), but no one should have to do that (at least, not
during an Australian summer).
If you decide to go for authenticity and use a pudding bag,
here's how:
Get a large piece of calico (it must have a tight weave),
and boil it for a few minutes. Rub flour into the inner sur-
face. Place 1/2 the mixture on it, and bring the corners
together, leaving room for the mixture to rise. Tie with
string. Cook by immersing in boiling water-when you add
extra water, it must be already boiling, or the pudding will
get soggy. The pudding will be rounder, and have a better
crust than one steamed in a pudding bowl. A good crust
means that the brandy won't soak in when you light it, so
it'll burn for longer. Age the pudding by hanging it in a
cool, dry place. The problem with using a pudding bag is
that it tends to grow mold if the climate is too humid.
To light the pudding, heat about 1/4 cup of brandy in a sau-
cepan. Light it, then pour over the pudding and carry it to
the table.
RATING
Difficulty: moderate. Time: 1 day waiting, 30 minutes
preparation, 4 hours cooking, 1 month aging. Precision:
approximate measurement OK.
CONTRIBUTOR
Kathy Morris
Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., USA
sun!navajo!morris morris@navajo.stanford.edu