Mrs Beeton's Traditional Christmas Pudding.

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Christmas pudding. One of the traditional Christmas desserts in Great Britain is the Christmas pudding & on our Christmas cruise it was on the menu as would be expected on our ‘Quintessentially British’ cruise line. However it was described as Mrs Beeton’s Traditional Christmas puddings. It was a no brainer but to try it. Fortunately the rest of dinner was fairly light otherwise it would have been impossible to eat as my appetite has dwindled quite significantly over the past 18 months or so. It was certainly different to what we are used to but not in a negative way but l think the chefs interpretation of ingredients weighed slightly too heavy handed on the Mace & Cinnamon. It wasn’t nasty tasting but certainly unlike any Christmas pudding I have ever tried before. British cooking has been described as being bland and uninteresting. Nothing can be further from the truth if you actually look at old recipe books many herbs & spices have been used for centuries. The good old Christmas pudding has been around since the 1400’s The ingredients are: Shredded suet Flour Raisins Sultanas Currents Bread crumbs Lemon Peel Bread crumbs Nuts Brown soft sugar Apple Egg Honey The fruit should be soaked in Brandy for a week. On‘stir up Sunday’ (Sunday before Advent) all members of the family should help mix it by stirring it. Once all mixed it is pressed into a pudding basin or two basins. Then it is covered & steamed for several hours. Once cooked drizzle more brandy over it once a week so that it is ready to be heated & served on Christmas day. A sprig of holly is used to decorate it. More Brandy is poured over it the lit to burn off the alcohol & flavour the pudding as it is brought to the table. It is traditionally served with Brandy butter, double cream or brandy custard. It is very rich & can be stored for years.