Plum Pudding Recipe - How to prepare Christmas Pudding

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Christmas Pudding - Christmas dinner

Plump pudding in English style

The plum pudding is part of the traditional Christmas festival in Great Britain like the Christmas stollen here - with this plum pudding recipe you can make your own Christmas pudding, and maybe a little tastier than this traditional dessert is generally said. Because not even the British agree whether the plum pudding tastes good or not, Even though more than 60 millions of Englishmen, Iren and Scots Staying true to this tradition, it is said to taste more like a frayed car tire than a cake.

Discover 19 Best Places to Spend Christmas in Europe here.

A Christmas dessert that was not originally one

Already since the 14. In the 19th century, it exists. If the plump pudding at that time also nothing Christmas had to do. Instead, the British ate him during Lent before Christmas. At first it was nothing more than a thick soup, in which beef and mutton was cooked until it fell apart. Seasoned with raisins, prunes, wine and various spices.

Over the centuries, this porridge has been refined with eggs, bread crumbs, beer and lots of alcohol to such an extent that it is more reminiscent of today's Christmas pudding. However, it was precisely the alcohol content that led the Puritans and Quakers under Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century to ban the plum pudding. It was considered a "sinfully rich" judgment that decent Christian people should not consume. No wonder you read traditional recipes for the brown dough pile. In addition to kidney fat, flour, sugar, breadcrumbs, raisins, sultanas, almonds, eggs, cinnamon, ginger and cloves, incredible amounts of beer and various types of alcohol are part of it. It's no wonder that some partiers reacted more cheerfully than they should.

Only King George I made him finally acceptable. On his first English Christmas after his arrival from Hannover he was presented with the specialty as a Christmas dessert. And since he was not averse to culinary delights anyway, he took good care. Charles Dickens also helped the plum pudding to literary honors in his Christmas story. But now for the plump pudding recipe.

Tasty plump pudding recipe

This recipe kindly has us Azlin Bloor from Linsfood made available. She was born in Singapore but has lived in England for many years and is married to an Englishman. She has adapted the traditional ingredients to today's tastes, so it is no longer the original recipe. However, it tastes better.

Instead of the traditional kidney suet she uses vegetable fat (eg palm fat). And the Guinness in the original recipe was replaced with sweet sherry and brandy. Over the years, further changes were added. But just try it yourself. And let us know how you like this plum pudding recipe.

 

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So you can do Christmas pudding yourself

Ingredients for plum pudding

  • 200g cane sugar
  • 100g breadcrumbs
  • 100g chipped palm fat
  • 1 tea spoon Milled Mixed Spices
  • 1 / 8 tea spoon Milled Cinnamon
  • A pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
  • 200g Sultania
  • 250g raisins
  • 40g Orangeate and citrate chopped and mixed
  • 50g roasted almonds, finely chopped
  • 1 medium sized cooking apple, unpeeled, chopped
  • grated peel of two lemons
  • 120ml sweet sherry or - alcohol free - 100 ml of orange juice
  • 4 table spoons of brandy or - alcohol free - light Earl Gray tea
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten, in a separate bowl
  • 50g flour with a pinch of baking soda

 

Preparing your plum pudding

  1. Take a large mixing bowl and add sugar, palm oil, breadcrumbs and spices and mix well.
  2. Add the dried fruits, orange peel and lemon peel, almonds, apple and lemon peel. Mix it well.
  3. Add the alcohol to the beaten egg and stir well. Then add it to the other ingredients.
  4. Mix everything together. It should be a loose mix. Cover it with cling film and leave it overnight.

The next day

  1. Stir the flour into the plum pudding mixture and stir well.
  2. Pour the mixture into a greased pudding tin and pack well.
  3. Cover with a layer of baking paper, then with aluminum foil, leaving some space for the steam. Tie it tight with a string.
  4. Place it for eight hours in a boiling water bath for a large pudding. Or divide the amount into three smaller containers and leave them in a water bath for three hours. Make sure that the water does not evaporate.
  5. If you do not have a steamer, use a saucepan with an inverted saucer. Place the pudding on the saucer and fill it with half full of boiling water. Cover it with the saucepan lid and let the water boil.
  6. Then let the pudding cool down completely. This usually takes one day. Then replace the baking paper and foil with new covers.
  7. Store it in a cool, dark place.
  8. On Christmas day, place the larger pudding for 2 hours, the smaller pudding for 1 hour into the water bath.

By the way, you already know:

 

Buy plum pudding online or make it yourself
Click on the photo and then save the “plum pudding” recipe on Pinterest

 

Do you know anything else?

 

Source for the article “Plum Pudding Recipe – Make Christmas Pudding yourself – Buy Plum Pudding online”: own research and recipe by Azlin Bloor.

Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Azlin Bloor and Linsfood

Plum Pudding Recipe - How to prepare Christmas Pudding

Monika Fuchs

Monika Fuchs and Petar Fuchs are the authors and publishers of the Food and Slow Travel blog  TravelWorldOnline. They have been publishing this blog since 2005. TravelWorldOnline has been online since 2001. Their topics are trips to Savor, wine tourism worldwide and slow travel. During her studies Monika Fuchs spent some time in North America, where she - partly together with Petar Fuchs - traveled to the USA and Canada and spent a research year in British Columbia. This intensified her thirst for knowledge, which she satisfied for 6 years as an adventure guide for Rotel Tours and then for 11 years as a tour guide for Studiosus Reisen around the world. She was constantly expanding her travel regions, but curiosity still gnawed at her: "What's beyond the horizon? What else is there to discover in this city? Which people are interesting here? What do they eat in this region?" As a freelance travel journalist (her articles have appeared in DIE ZEIT, 360° Canada, 360° USA, etc.), she is now looking for answers to these questions as a travel writer and travel blogger in many countries around the world. Petar Fuchs produces the videos on this blog as well as on YouTube. Monika Fuchs from TravelWorldOnline is among Germany's top 50 bloggers in 2021. Find more Information about Monika and Petar Fuchs here.

16 thoughts too "Plum Pudding Recipe - How to prepare Christmas Pudding"

  1. Dear Ones,
    I should really bake that. But what exactly makes the dark color, is not clear with.
    In terms of taste, I am curious if Englishmen bake better than they can cook :-)
    It depends on a trial.
    Best regards, Katja

    1. Dear Katja,

      We haven't yet tried the plum pudding ourselves. Maybe next year? The color comes from the raisins, sultanas and other dried fruits. As far as English - or rather - Irish cuisine was concerned, I was wronged this year. Ten years ago it was quite a “uniform porridge”, it has blossomed a lot during this time. It would be interesting to take a trip through England in search of culinary experiences. A special kind of search for traces, so to speak.

      Best regards,
      Monika and Petar

  2. Oh yes, I'm on such a thing: recipes that are reminiscent of travel. Here in Argentina, I have just baked Alfajores myself and I will definitely repeat this at home, because even over the taste buds you can take a bissl holiday feeling :) And the Plum pudding definitely sounds really British and exciting.

    In this sense, Merry Christmas you guys :)
    Best regards,
    Nicole

    1. Dear Nicole,

      so are we. Why should one prepare regional dishes only in the places from which they originate? I really like putting myself in places where we have traveled in my kitchen. So we bring back many memories.

      Have a nice Christmas.

      Best regards,
      Monika

  3. Dear Ones,

    Thank you for this great insight into the world of Plum Pudding. I actually had no idea how to do it. At the point, the recipe is really helpful. :)
    Maybe I'll try it this year. ;)

    Many greetings
    Kathi

    1. Dear Kathi,

      Let us know how it tasted. We have not done it ourselves yet. Maybe next year will come on our Christmas menu.

      Greetings and a Merry Christmas wish
      Monika and Petar

  4. Until the sentence 8 hours water bath, I still thought - I'm doing this year. But I think I do not have that much patience. Then I prefer to buy a finished variant.
    Although homemade often tastes much better ....
    Love greeting Susanne

    1. Haha, Susanne. Yes, I can understand that well. Making a plum pudding yourself obviously requires patience. But there is also the other alternative.

      Best regards,
      Monika

  5. Interesting, I did not even know this Christmas tradition from the UK. It's amazing how many different customs there are in different countries ... I especially like how you explain the historical background in depth. LG, Ricarda

    1. Dear Ricarda,

      I am glad that we could tell you something new about the Christmas traditions in Great Britain. I found it interesting how far they have gone back in history.

      Best regards,
      Monika

  6. Most Englishmen I know buy it. And I also got some gifts or bought them myself. By the way, they were delicious!

    I have not even baked, but I want to try it out. Thanks for the recipe. Have you already tried it?

    1. I can not imagine that one serves something for Christmas that does not taste good. We have not tried the recipe itself yet. But next year maybe.

    1. Hi Jenny,

      I have not tasted it yet because I've never been around the Christmas season in the UK. I would like to try it, because without having tasted it at least once, you can not have a say.

      Best regards,
      Monika

    1. I am sure they will like it, Azlin. It's such a great story, and it looks so good on your photo. I am thinking about adding it to our Christmas dishes next year.

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