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Traditional Christmas pudding recipe

Traditional Christmas pudding recipe

34 ratings

Follow our easy Christmas pudding recipe and serve up a generous helping of this fruity festive pud. The traditional dessert, with all its sweet and spicy flavour, tastes even more amazing when topped with a dollop of brandy butter – this truly is the best Christmas pudding recipe. See method

  • Serves 10-12
  • 20 mins to prepare and 10 hrs to cook
  • 355 calories / serving

Ingredients

  • 110g suet
  • 110g white breadcrumbs
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 225g dark brown sugar
  • 1 clementine, zested
  • 1 lemon, zested
  • 25g blanched almonds
  • 25g candied peel
  • 100g sultanas
  • 100g raisins
  • 250g currants
  • 50g dried cranberries
  • 1 Bramley apple, cored and diced
  • 150ml Guinness
  • 2 tbsp brandy
  • 2 eggs
  • 50g self-raising flour, sifted
If you haven't got any white bread, try using brown instead

Each serving contains

  • Energy

    1500kj
    355kcal
    18%
  • Fat

    11g 15%
  • Saturates

    5g 25%
  • Sugars

    52g 57%
  • Salt

    0.3g 5%

of the reference intake
Carbohydrate 63.8g Protein 4.1g Fibre 1.1g

Method

  1. Place the suet, breadcrumbs, spices, sugar, citrus zest, almonds, dried fruit and apple in a large bowl and combine well.
  2. Whisk together the Guinness, brandy and eggs, then pour this into the fruit mixture and mix again really thoroughly (this is where you can get the family involved, each member stirring and making a wish!) Cover and leave to stand overnight.
  3. Sift in the flour and mix thoroughly before spooning in to a 1.2 litre basin. Cover the top with a circle of greaseproof paper and then cover with another larger piece that has a fold in the middle, which enables the pudding to expand. Tie round the rim of the basin with string. Repeat with a piece of foil, tying with string.
  4. Put in a large pan. Use a trivet or, if you don’t have one, something small such as a saucer to prevent the pudding from touching the base of the pan and getting too hot. Then pour in boiling water to at least halfway up the side of the basin. Steam for 8 hrs, over a low heat, checking from time to time as you will need to top up the water.
  5. After 8 hrs, remove from the pan and store somewhere cool until Christmas.
  6. When you wish to eat the pudding, steam as above in step 4, for 2 hrs. Carefully remove from the pan, then remove the foil and paper and invert onto a plate to serve.

See more Christmas dessert recipes

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