“But it’s January”, you say. “Who wants to think about Christmas now?”
Exactly.
Those of you that know what Christmas pudding is, just skip ahead to find a recipe. For those of us in the US, here goes. It’s fruitcake.
Don’t run off, this isn’t the brightly colored stuff that rots your teeth. It’s got real fruit in it. And booze. Lots of booze. Everyone likes that, right?
So here’s the deal. Make this now, then put it on a shelf wrapped in cheesecloth for the rest of the year. Come next Christmas, take it out, steam it again for a few hours, and enjoy.
Christmas Pudding
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
- 1 cup of golden raisins
- 1 cup of dried currants
- 1 cup of chopped prunes (aka dried plums)
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1½ cups AP flour
- 2 tbps baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp ground allspice
- ⅔ cup butter
- ½ cup brown (of if you can find it, turbinado/raw) sugar
- 4 eggs
- Cognac
Instructions
- A week before making this, soak the fruits in cognac and give them time to soak up all that alcoholic goodness. A few hours before starting, take out all the ingredients and bring them to room temperature.
- Put the eggs, butter, and sugar in a bowl and beat until creamy.
- Drain the fruits, reserving the leftover cognac and then coat the fruits in the breadcrumbs.
- Sift together all of your remaining dry ingredients (the fruits aren't dry!) in a separate smaller bowl. Once combined, add to the egg mixture and stir a few times until combined.
- Add the fruits to the mixture and fold to combine.
- Pour the mixture into a greased and floured bundt-style pan.
- Cover the bundt pan with aluminum foil and poke a hole in the center to allow steam to escape from underneath.
- In a much larger pot, add water and bring to a boil. There should be enough water to come a few inches up the bundt pan without allowing the pan to float.
- Once it reaches a boil, add the bundt pan, lower the heat to a simmer and cover.
- Cook for 3 hours, checking every 30 minutes to add water if needed.
- Remove from water, allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan.
- Pour reserved cognac from before over the cake. Cover with cheesecloth and put in a cool dry place. Periodically pour more cognac over the cake. When ready to eat, Put back in bundt pan (without foil lid) and boil for 3-4 hours or until moist and hot. Slice and eat with custard. Yum!