Christmas pudding

Hello guys, how r u?

December has just arrived and I can smell and taste the Xmas pudding.Christmas pudding is a type of pudding traditionally served on Christmas Day (December 25^th). It has its origins in medieval England, and is sometimes known as plum pudding or plum duff, though this can also refer to other kinds of boiled pudding involving dried fruit. Despite popular belief, Christmas puddings must always contain actual plum flesh to be called a plum pudding.

Here is the recipe if you got really interested in it:

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Marinating Time: 12 hours

Total Time: 20 hours, 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Serves 8 - 10

·         1lb /450g dried mixed fruit (use golden raisins/sultanas* , raisins, currants)

·         1 oz /25 g mixed candied peel, finely chopped

·         1 small cooking apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped Grated zest and juice

·         ½ largeorangeand½ lemon

·         4 tbsp brandy, plus a little extra for soaking at the end

·         2 oz /55 g self-raising flour, sifted

·         1leveltspground mixedspice

·         1 1/2 tspgroundcinnamon

·         4 oz /110 g shredded suet, beef or vegetarian

·         4oz /110g soft, dark brown sugar

·         4 oz /110 g white fresh bread crumbs

·         1 oz /25 g whole shelled almonds, roughly chopped

·         2large, fresheggs

Preparation:

·         Lightly butter a 2½ pint/1.4 litre pudding basin. 

·         Place the dried fruits, candied peel, apple, orange and lemon juice into a large mixing bowl. Add the brandy and stir well. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave to marinate for a couple of hours, preferably overnight.

·         Stir together the flour, mixed spice and cinnamon in a very large mixing bowl. Add the suet, sugar, lemon and orange zest, bread crumbs, nuts and stir again until all the ingredients are well mixed. Finallyaddthemarinadeddriedfruitsandstiragain.

·         Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl then stir quickly into the dry ingredients. The mixtureshouldhave a fairly soft consistency.

·         Now is the time to gather the family for Christmas Pudding tradition of taking turns in stirring, making a wish and adding a few coins.

·         Spoon the mixture in to the greased pudding basin, gently pressing the mixture down with the back of a spoon. Cover with a double layer of greaseproof paper or baking parchment, then a layer of aluminum foil and tie securely with string.

·         Place the pudding in a steamer set over a saucepan of simmering water and steam the pudding for 7 hours. Make sure you check the water level frequently so it never boils dry. The pudding should be a deep brown color when cooked. The pudding is not a light cake but instead is a dark, sticky and dense sponge.

·         Remove the pudding from the steamer, cool completely. Remove the paper, prick the pudding with a skewer and pour in a little extra brandy. Cover with fresh greaseproof paper and retie with string. Store in a cool dry place until Christmas day. Note: The pudding cannot be eaten immediately, it really does need to be stored and rested then reheated on Christmas Day. Eating the pudding immediately after cooking will cause it to collapse and the flavours will not have had time to mature.

·         On Christmas day reheat the pudding by steaming again for about an hour. Serve withBrandy or Rum Sauce, Brandy Butter or Custard. 

v  Left over Christmas pudding can be reheated by wrapping tightly in aluminum foil and heating through in a hot oven.

Sources:http://britishfood.about.com/od/christmas/r/xmaspud.htm   andhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_pudding

Have fun guys and MERRY XMAS!!!! =)

Teacher Andreza Ferro.