Due to the epic nature of my last post, I felt the Christmas Pudding would not receive the kind of attention it deserved. And so, the pudding get’s its own post.

My Dad has been making our pudding the last few years (before that, his mother and my grandmother did the work). But he was nice enough to give me the recipe to share :) Dad’s pudding recipe is an amalgamation from three different sources: Margaret Fulton, The Invergowerie Cook Book, and a third source of which I’m not entirely sure.. The pudding needs to be made about a month in advance (Dad usually does it over Cup day weekend) to allow the flavours to develop fully.

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CHRISTMAS PUDDING

Begin this recipe the day before. Make pudding at least a month in advance.

250g raisins
250g sultanas
250g currents
100g mixed candied peel
100g glace cherries
3 tbsp brandy
250g butter
250g brown sugar
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tbsp treacle
60g blanched almonds, chopped
170g suet mix, chopped finely with a little of the flour
115g breadcrumbs
1 cup plain flour
2 tbsp self raising flour
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

1. Mix together raisins, sultanas, currents, candied peel and glace cherries. Sprinkle over brandy and leave overnight.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar.
3. Add eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition.
4. Add milk and treacle and mix together.
5. Stir in fruit, almonds, suet and breadcrumbs.
6. Add sifted flours, spices and salt and mix well.
7. To cook, transfer mix to a well-buttered pudding tin lined with a circle of grease-proof paper at the base. You may choose to line the tin with the traditional cloth, but we don’t bother. Cover with greased aluminium foil, secure with string and boil in a large pot of water for 4 hours.
8. Keep in a cool, dark place until Christmas day.
9. To reheat, reboil for 2 hours.

Serves 10-12

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WHIPPED BRANDY BUTTER

To serve along side the pudding, I instructed dad to make Whipped Brandy Butter, a recipe from Gourmet Traveller that I spied on “…it pleases us” (love your blog guys!). This year (for reasons I will never fathom) he decided to make it with caster sugar instead of icing sugar. Don’t. It ends up gritty when it should be soft and silky.

375g softened butter
500g pure icing sugar, sieved
1/2 tbs ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or use 1 vanilla bean)
50ml brandy
1 eggwhite

1. Beat butter in an electric mixer until light and very fluffy (6-8 minutes).
2. Add icing sugar in batches, beating well to combine (10-15 minutes). Add spices and vanilla and continue to beat until the mixture is well combined (4-5 minutes).
3. While the electric mixer is running, pour in the brandy in a thin stream and continue beating until incorporated.
4. Finally, beat in eggwhite until light and very fluffy (4-5 minutes).
5. Transfer to sterilised jars and refrigerate until required.

Makes 1kg / Serves 10-12