British Christmas pudding, YUM

 I found this on the web today at a delightful blog Cabbage and Roses and I am so going to make this as soon as I can figure out the equivalent for the amounts of the ingredients. As if we need ONE MORE FATTENING THING TO right now............

Stir up Sunday is traditionally around the 20th November, when the family Christmas pudding is made, well in advance of Christmas to allow all the lovely spicey flavours to mellow.

This has been my recipe for the past 30 years and in my opinion is far finer then any shop bought equivalent, not least because there is no hint of horrid candied peel or glace cherries!

The ingredients:

225g fresh breadcrumbs

225g plain flour

350g suet

225g demarera sugar

225g ordinary raisins

225g large stoneless malaga raisins

100g sultanas

225g of a mixture of nuts – pecans, walnuts almonds – broken into pieces not chopped

grated rind of one large orange and one large lemon

half teaspoon mixed spice

half teaspoon cinnamon

half teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs size 2

150ml milk

1 wineglass brandy

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Measure the milk into a jug and add the eggs and wineglass of brandy – whisk together and add to the dry ingredients.

Leave to stand at room temperature for at least 12 hours.

Divide into two 2 pint pudding basins making sure to leave at least an inch of headroom to allow the pudding to expand in cooking.

Cover tightly with tin foil tied with string, and lower into a large saucepan with water reaching half way up the pudding basin.

Steam on a low heat for at least 5 hours.

When cooked, change the foil covering and store in a cool dark place until Christmas day