Well, it’s that time of year again. - time to steam the plum pudding and put it
away until Christmas day!
My very favourite recipe for pudding comes from Avoca. It’s fool proof and delicious – everyone who
tastes it agrees that it is the best Christmas pudding they’ve had.
I shop around for my ingredients, using Aldi and Lidl to get
as much as possible at the best value before going to Dunnes or Tesco for the
rest. I actually had to go to the Health
Store for the currants, as they were in short supply in supermarkets!
The recipe below makes one 6 pint pudding or several smaller
puddings. If cooking one large pudding,
steaming it overnight for about 8 hours is advised. Smaller puddings take between 4 and 5
hours.
To steam the pudding, make sure that the pudding bowl is
sealed using greaseproof paper, doubled and folded over the top of the bowl,
secured with twine and held in place with either a lid (which comes with a
plastic pudding bowl) or foil paper if the bowl is ceramic. Put a plate face down on the base of a pot
large enough to accommodate the pudding bowl, and put the filled and sealed pudding
bowl on top. Fill the pot three-quarters
of the way to the top of the pudding bowl with boiling water, put the lid on
the pot and place on a very low heat or in a very low oven for the required
amount of time (advised above), making sure to top up the water as
necessary. The steam will cook the
pudding and the water should be bubbling slightly throughout the entire cooking
process.
When the required time has elapsed, remove the pudding from
the heat, allow to cool, pour the whiskey over the top and re-cover with fresh
greaseproof paper secured with twine and sealed with lid/foil paper. The pudding should be stored in a cool, dry
atmosphere until Christmas day when it can be steamed once again for 1-2 hours
to reheat.
Thanks Avoca for the wonderful recipe!
Christmas Pudding
450g Sultanas
450g Currants
450g Raisins
110g Glace Cherries (halved)
450g Brown Sugar
275g Breadcrumbs
2 Teaspoons Mixed Spice
1 Teaspoon Freshly Grated Nutmeg
225g Nibbed Almonds
110g Chopped Mixed Peel
350g Butter, Melted
6 Eggs
Grated Zest & Juice of 2 Oranges
1 Small Can Guinness
A Little Milk (optional)
After Cooking
2 Tablespoons Whiskey
Method
Wash the fruit
Mix the dry ingredients together with the fruit
Mix in the wet ingredients and the orange zest
Cover and leave to sit overnight in the fridge before
steaming as per instructions above.
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