As promised here is our family Christmas Pudding Recipe – it’s wonderful – nearly as good as our Macarons!

If Christmas arrived in our family and I hadn’t made these little beauties there would be trouble. I have been making them for over 30 years now and often gift them to friends as well.

I can’t take credit for the recipe, it comes from a very old Marks & Spencer British Cooking cookery book by the fabulous Caroline Conran published in 1978. Trust me there is not a better Christmas Pudding recipe to be found!

This Royal Christmas pudding is supposed to date from the days of George 1st and to have been in the possession of the Royal Family since then. Recipe makes 2 x 2lb puddings. It’s amazing! I always double up – they will keep until next year – just keep feeding in the brandy!

Ingredients:

225g fresh breadcrumbs
225g flour
350g suet
225g demerara sugar
225g ordinary raisons
225g large stoneless Malaga raisons or equiv
100g sultanas
225g mixed candied peel
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs Med
150ml milk
1 large wineglass brandy

Method:

In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs thoroughly until they are frothing, add the milk and brandy and stir the liquids into the fruit, flour, suet mixture. Cove the bowl and let it stand at room temperature for 12 hours – this is important to give the flavours a chance to mellow.

Share the mixture out between two buttered 1-litre pudding basins.

Leave at least 3 cms headroom for the puddings to expand. Cover with a double sheet of greased greaseproof paper and then a layer of foil, tie with string, crossing the string across the top to make a handle for lifting.

Place an upturned saucer in the bottom of a large pan of water and bring it to the boil. Lower in the puddings – the water should come to within 3cms of the top; bring it back to the boil, cover the pan and simmer steadily for five hours. Check the water level from time to time and fill up with boiling water as necessary.

When the puddings have had five hours they should be covered with clean covers and put in a cool place to mature for at least a month. I also add further brandy a couple of times before December 25th!!

On Christmas Day boil them for at least 2 hours before serving – my preference is with a wonderful home-made Armagnac Sauce.

Enjoy and Happy Christmas!

PS. Don’t forget to flame it!