When it comes to Christmas, one of the absolute staples is the Christmas pudding. Whether you eat it with custard, brandy butter, cream or whatever takes your fancy, no Christmas dinner is complete until everyone is completely stuffed with Christmas pudding.
In this blog we will take a look at some of the different Christmas pudding recipes available, from traditional puddings, a vegan pudding, Gluten free, to a quick cheat recipe and a more modern take on the Christmas pudding.
Traditional Christmas pudding
This recipe will take you about 25 mins to prepare and then nearly 5 hours to cook, but then all the best things are worth waiting for.
Ingredients:
- 200 g (7oz) dried mixed fruit
- 500 g (1lb 2oz) soft prunes
- 150 ml (5 fl oz (¼ pint)) dark rum
- Butter, to grease
- Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 100 ml (3 ½ fl oz) apple juice
- 75 g (3oz) suet (can be vegetarian if you need)
- 75 g (3oz) dark brown sugar
- 75 g (3oz) plain flour
- 2 tsp. mixed spice
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 50 g (2oz) white breadcrumbs
- 50 g (2oz) mixed nuts, roughly chopped
- 1 large egg
Add the dry fruit and half the prunes to a pan and mix with a generous dash of the rum.
Heat this up and let it gently simmer for 3 minutes to infuse the rum into the fruit. Once done, set this to one side and allow it to cool.
Put the remaining prunes into a food processor with the apple juice and the lemon juice and whizz it to a chunky paste. Tip this into a mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients mixing them all thoroughly. Prepare a heat proof pudding basin by putting some grease proof paper in the bottom and greasing the sides with the butter. Spoon the mixture into the bowl and smooth off the top. Cover the top of the bowl with some more greaseproof paper with a layer of tin foil over the top. Make sure the top cover is large enough to overlap the sides of the bowl to create a good seal. Tie the cover on to the bowl to create a secure seal as you don’t want water getting into the pudding. Place the pudding bowl into a large deep pan and pour hot water into the pan so that it covers half of the bowl. Bring this to the boil and then turn the heat down so the water is only simmering. Cook the pudding in the simmering water for 4.5 hours, topping up the water as required. Once cooked allow it to cool and remove it from the pan. Keep it securely tied and covered until you are ready to eat it. To reheat the pudding simply place it back in a pan with simmering water and cook for an hour.
Easy Cook Microwave Christmas Pudding
This pudding recipe takes about 15 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook. It is super simple and quick and tastes delicious.
Ingredients:
- 100 g (3½oz) butter, softened, plus extra to grease
- 100g (3½oz) ready-made cranberry sauce
- 2 tbsp. golden syrup
- 100 g (3½oz) dark brown soft sugar
- 2 medium eggs, beaten
- 100 g (3½oz) plain flour
- 1 tbsp. mixed spice, heaped
- 300 g (11oz) mixed dried fruit
- 1 medium apple, peeled and grated
Stir together the cranberry sauce and the golden syrup and spoon 2/3 of this into a 1.2 ltr pudding basin. Make sure to grease the insides of the basin beforehand. Mix together the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, mixed spice, dried fruit and the grated apple until well mixed and then spoon the mixture into the basin. You are now ready to cook, how easy was that? Cover the surface of the mixture with parchment paper and cook in a microwave on medium power for about 9 minutes until the mixture is firm. Leave the pudding to sit for around 10 minutes before turning out on to a plate and spooning on the rest of the cranberry mixture. This recipe tastes delightful with an Amaretto or Cointreau sauce.
Vegan Christmas Pudding
This delicious vegan recipe is not one to be missed, even if you aren’t vegan. It can be prepped in about 20 mins and is cooked in 3 hours
Ingredients:
- 125g dairy-free margarine, plus extra for greasing the bowl and paper
- 375g dried figs
- 75ml rum
- 350g mixed sultanas and raisins
- 1 large eating apple, peeled, cored and grated
- 85g light brown soft sugar
- 85g dark brown soft sugar
- 100g breadcrumbs
- 100g self-raising flour
- ½ tbsp allspice
Grease a 2-litre pudding bowl with dairy-free margarine, then line the base with a circle of baking parchment. Roughly chop 125g of the figs and set them aside for later. Put the remaining figs, the dairy-free margarine and the rum into a large food processor and whizz until reasonably smooth. Spoon this mixture into a large mixing bowl. Tip in the chopped figs, sultanas, raisins, grated apple, sugars, breadcrumbs, flour and allspice. Stir everything together. Once all mixed, place a piece of parchment paper into a pudding bowl and grease the sides, then spoon the mixture into the bowl and smooth the surface with a spoon. Place another piece of parchment over the top of the mixture with a layer of foil on top, making sure to overlap the sides and tie the parchment in place. Lower into a large saucepan, then fill the pan with enough boiling water from the kettle to come halfway up the sides of the bowl. Cover with a lid and simmer for 3 hrs, topping up the water as needed. Remove and leave to cool.
Gluten Free Christmas Pudding
For those who are gluten intolerant, this gluten free version is perfect. It does take a long time to cook, but it’s well worth it
Ingredients:
- 100g currants
- 100g raisins
- 100g mixed candied citrus peel
- 100g glacé cherries, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- generous grating of nutmeg
- 1 orange, zested and juiced
- 1 lemon, zested
- 50ml brandy
- flavourless oil, for the basin
- 50g flaked almonds
- 1 large cooking apple, peeled, cored and grated
- 50g ground almonds
- 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
- 100g gluten-free plain flour
- 50g gluten-free breadcrumbs
- 100g dark brown soft sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
Mix the Currants, raisins, candied peel, glacé cherries, mixed spice, nutmeg, orange zest and juice, lemon zest and brandy all together in a large bowl cover with a towel and leave the mixture to soak overnight. This will allow all those beautiful flavours to mature together. After the mixture has soaked, mix in the flaked almonds, apple, ground almonds, baking powder, flour, breadcrumbs, sugar and eggs into the fruit mixture. Once well mixed place a piece of parchment paper into a pudding bowl and grease the sides, then spoon the mixture into the bowl and smooth the surface with a spoon. Place another piece of parchment over the top of the mixture with a layer of foil, making sure to overlap the sides and tie the parchment in place. Place this whole bowl into a large deep pan, fill to half the bowl’s height with water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer, topping up the water as needed to 6 hours. Once cooked, remove the pudding from the pan and allow it to cool. Keep it well wrapped in parchment and foil until you are ready to eat it. Reheating is the same as cooking but simmer in water for 1-2 hours before serving.
Alternative Christmas Pudding
This wonderfully refreshing alternative to the traditional Christmas pudding can be prepared in no time at all, around 20 mins and cooks in 1.5 hours.
Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp golden syrup
- 2 clementines or satsumas, thinly sliced
- 175g butter
- 175g golden caster sugar
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 85g self-raising flour
- 85g fresh white breadcrumbs
- grating fresh nutmeg (about ¼ tsp)
- 2 tbsp marsala
- zest 1 large orange
- 200g mixed dried fruit
- handful glacé cherries, halved
- For the syrupy sauce
- 5 tbsp golden syrup
- zest 1 orange, juice ½
- 3 tbsp madeira
Prepare a medium sized pudding basin by laying a sheet of parchment paper in the bottom and greasing the sides with butter. Spoon the 3 tbsp of golden syrup into the bottom of the basin. Lay 5 slices of clementine or satsuma in the bottom if the basin on top of the syrup, overlapping the slices like petals. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy, then add eggs gradually, beating continuously until the mixture light and fluffy. Add a spoonful of flour if the mix starts to split. Tip in the breadcrumbs and the rest of the flour, fold until combined. Take your time here to gently fold the mixture rather than mixing it vigorously. Now add in all the remaining ingredients and mix it all together. Once all the ingredients have been mixed together, spoon the mixture on top of the fruit slices. Add remaining slices of clementine or satsuma against the side of the bowl as you go. Cover the basin with greaseproof and foil and steam for 1½ hrs. This can then be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days in the bowl. To reheat simply put in a microwave and cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes until piping hot throughout. The final step is to make the syrup: Heat the golden syrup, orange zest and juice and the madeira in a small pan until gently bubbling. Turn out the hot pudding onto a plate and pour over the delicious madeira sauce. Yum!
Christmas pudding is a must have at Christmas and whichever version you choose, or if you just plump for a shop bought pudding, just make sure to enjoy the time spent with your nearest and dearest!
