I’m getting weary. The post that was meant to be a reflection on Christmases past, on eccentric family food traditions and fiery family arguments; of lazy, boozy Christmas afternoons sitting on the deck looking at the ocean and talking rubbish … well, that post is fading before my very tired eyes. All that I have left in me tonight, before I start to pack the swimsuits and sarongs and sunscreen and piles of books for my two-week Christmas break in Queensland, is to offer this Christmas pudding recipe.
It doesn’t need suet, it doesn’t need brandy butter, it doesn’t need ceremony, it doesn’t need to be made three months ahead. It needs a week of alcohol-soaked fruit and the smallest amount of discipline first thing on Christmas Day before your first glass of wine.
The pudding is a member of the family now, a gorgeous, moist, fragrant thing. We know now that, every year, without fail, Dad will wail, as he attempts to upend the pudding from its basin, that it’s a dreadful failure. He’ll wink at me, and turn to Mum, and say in tragi-tones: “Oh, Robin, it’s a disaster.” And of course, the pudding with flop delightedly on to its serving plate, and the cream will come out and we’ll all hoe in and our stomachs will stretch out a bit further in a pregnant sort of fashion. And this year, when Dad winks at me, I’ll pray to someone, somewhere, that there are many more years of winks to come.
Aunt Mabel’s Christmas Pudding
1 pound (500g) dried mixed fruit
4oz (125g) halved cherries
4oz (125g) halved almonds
4oz (125g) dates, chopped (optional)
4oz (125g) figs, chopped (optional)
fresh nutmeg, grated
pinch of allspice
1tsp vanilla essence
1tsp lemon essence
1 cup rum
1 cup brandy
½ pound (250g) butter
½ pound (250g) brown sugar
pinch of salt
4 eggs
½ pound (250g) breadcrumbs (fresh, from crustless white bread)
2 big tablespoons plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate soda (dissolved in a little warm water)
NB: This recipe makes a big pudding. You’ll need a 4 litre custom-made pudding basin with lid, or a stainless steel bowl with a good rim and an aluminum foil “lid”; some big bowls; plus a large saucepan with lid that will fit the basin for steaming.
1. 5-7 days before Christmas (or longer): Marinate all the dried mixed fruit, cherries almonds, dates, figs, nutmeg, allspice and essences in the rum and brandy in a glass or ceramic dish that can be sealed. Every couple of days, stir so the fruit and nuts are thoroughly covered in alcohol.
2. Getting ready on Christmas morning: Butter the pudding basin really well and sift a little flour over the greased butter. Shake the flour around the basin to evenly coat the basin with four. Put your big saucepan on the stove about a quarter full of water. Start to heat the water. Take three sheets of aluminum foil, each a square wider than the diameter of the pudding bowl. Grease each side of the foil and stick them together. Set aside.
3. Action on Christmas morning: Cream the butter in a mixmaster until it is light and fluffy. Gradually add the brown sugar until the mixture is combined and fluffy. This could take up to 15 minutes. Add salt, then eggs, one at a time.
4. Remove the bowl from the mixmaster base. Add the alcohol-saturated fruit and nut mixture, folding gently into the butter-sugar mixture. Add breadcrumbs gradually, folding them through the mixture, then flour and bicarb soda dissolved in a little warm water.
5. Pour the mixture into the greased pudding basin, making sure there aren’t messy bits of mixture around the rim of the bowl. If you’re using a stainless-steel bowl, place the greased aluminum foil layers over the top of the bowl. Tie several lengths of string around the rim tightly, sealing the aluminum foil, then make “handles” with the string so you can lift the basin out of the boiling water. The pudding must be sealed.
6. Place the pudding in the saucepan of simmering water – the water should reach up to a third of the height of the basin. Steam the pudding in simmering water for 4-5 hours.
7. Remove the pudding from the simmering water. When the basin has slightly cooled, run a sharp thin knife around the edges of the pudding to loosen it from the bowl. Tip it upside down over a plate or serving platter and tap the basin to loosen the pudding. If you have greased it well, it should slip out on to your platter in a slinky fashion. Serve it with whatever you fancy: custard, cream, icecream, cocktails, champagne or tokay.
