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Been simmering away on the stove for 3 hours and already the house is filled with that glorious rich, buttery, fruity, spicy aroma. Three more hours of steaming and then it will be done....
OZGUY'S TRUE-BLUE, DINKY-DI AUSSIE CHRISTMAS PUDDING
(Written out in British Imperial weights. Metric users can convert accordingly.
1 lb = 16 oz = 500 g)
8 oz raisins
2 oz mixed peel (might be called candied peel in the US)
8 oz currants
8 oz sultanas
- or use 1½ lbs mixed dried fruit. We can buy it in packets here. I presume it's available elsewhere. I like to use the fruit that contains imitation cherries as well as the raisins, currants etc.
3 tablespoons brandy or rum (a tablespoon in Oz is a bit bigger than a dessert spoon)
8 oz butter
8 oz brown sugar
finely grated rind of 1 lemon and 1 orange
4 eggs
2 oz blanched, slivered almonds
1 cup plain flour
½ teaspoon each of salt, powdered nutmeg, powdered ginger, powdered cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice
- NOTE: mixed spice is NOT the same as allspice. Doesn't matter if you can't get it .... can be left out.
4 oz soft white breadcrumbs - NOT the dried packaged crumbs you get at the supermarket. I use about 5 or 6 slices of day old (fairly stale) bread, cut off the crusts, scrunch it up and grate roughly with a grater. The crumbs should look "chunky", not powdery fine.
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Mix all the fruit together, stir in the brandy, cover and leave overnight. The next day, sift the flour, salt and spices together and set aside. Chop butter up roughly and soften it a bit in the microwave, then beat it with electric beater in a large bowl till nice and creamy, adding the brown sugar gradually with the grated orange/lemon rind. Add the eggs, which have been lightly beaten, a little at a time to prevent the mixture from curdling (have eggs at room temp …. cold eggs straight from fridge tend to make the mixture curdle), then stir in the mixed fruit and blanched slivered almonds alternately with the sifted dry ingredients and breadcrumbs. Stir till everything is well combined and the mixture looks sticky and yummy - poke finger in and treat yourself to some before you go any further - it is heavenly!!!!
Now comes the important bit! You will need a large, well-buttered pudding basin lined with a circle of greased greaseproof paper cut to fit the base. The basin needs to be quite large (2-3 pint capacity) and ceramic, NOT metal. Here is a picture of the kind of pudding basin you need …
Pack the pudding mixture into the basin … you should be able to fill it to within about ½ an inch of the top of the basin. Smooth the top over then cover with another circle of greased greaseproof paper (to fit the top of the pudding basin - best if you trace and cut this out before you shove the mixture in!!). Finally, fold a sheet of aluminium foil so that it is doubled in thickness and large enough to fit over the top of the pudding basin (with about 2-3 inches hanging over the side). Mould the foil firmly over the top and down the side of the basin, then tie a piece of string firmly around the side to keep it in place. It's also a good idea to attach a piece of string across the top of the foil (across the diameter) … for holding onto when you need to lift the pudding out of the pot after its cooked!
Place pudding into a large, heavy-based pot or saucepan. Pour enough boiling water into pot to come about half-way up the sides of the pudding basin. Bring water back to boiling, put lid on saucepan, turn heat way, way down …. as low as you can go, and allow pudding to steam gently for 6 hours. Check occasionally for evaporation and add more boiling water if necessary …. you will only need to do this a couple of times. After 6 hours, remove pudding basin from the pot and allow to cool. When cold, remove the aluminium foil and greaseproof paper, re-cover with a fresh circle of greaseproof paper and aluminium foil and tie up once more. At this stage, you can now store the pudding on a shelf in the pantry, and forget about it until Christmas Day .. all the hard work has now been done!!
On Christmas Day, put the pudding back into a pot of boiling water as described above and steam gently for 2½ hours. When ready to serve, run a knife around between the pudding and the basin and gently ease pudding out on to a heated serving plate …. by this stage everyone will be salivating from the rich buttery, spicy, fruity aromas coming from the kitchen!!
Take pudding, with great ceremony, to the Christmas dinner table, and serve immediately. It is absolutely sensational served with a warm custard sauce or sweet white sauce. You can add a dash of brandy to the sauce, too, if you like, for added "zip"! You only need to serve smallish pieces as the pudding is very rich … will easily feed 15 - 20 people. It is THE best Christmas dessert ever!!!
The finished product should look something like this ....
OZGUY'S TRUE-BLUE, DINKY-DI AUSSIE CHRISTMAS PUDDING
(Written out in British Imperial weights. Metric users can convert accordingly.
1 lb = 16 oz = 500 g)
8 oz raisins
2 oz mixed peel (might be called candied peel in the US)
8 oz currants
8 oz sultanas
- or use 1½ lbs mixed dried fruit. We can buy it in packets here. I presume it's available elsewhere. I like to use the fruit that contains imitation cherries as well as the raisins, currants etc.
3 tablespoons brandy or rum (a tablespoon in Oz is a bit bigger than a dessert spoon)
8 oz butter
8 oz brown sugar
finely grated rind of 1 lemon and 1 orange
4 eggs
2 oz blanched, slivered almonds
1 cup plain flour
½ teaspoon each of salt, powdered nutmeg, powdered ginger, powdered cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice
- NOTE: mixed spice is NOT the same as allspice. Doesn't matter if you can't get it .... can be left out.
4 oz soft white breadcrumbs - NOT the dried packaged crumbs you get at the supermarket. I use about 5 or 6 slices of day old (fairly stale) bread, cut off the crusts, scrunch it up and grate roughly with a grater. The crumbs should look "chunky", not powdery fine.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Mix all the fruit together, stir in the brandy, cover and leave overnight. The next day, sift the flour, salt and spices together and set aside. Chop butter up roughly and soften it a bit in the microwave, then beat it with electric beater in a large bowl till nice and creamy, adding the brown sugar gradually with the grated orange/lemon rind. Add the eggs, which have been lightly beaten, a little at a time to prevent the mixture from curdling (have eggs at room temp …. cold eggs straight from fridge tend to make the mixture curdle), then stir in the mixed fruit and blanched slivered almonds alternately with the sifted dry ingredients and breadcrumbs. Stir till everything is well combined and the mixture looks sticky and yummy - poke finger in and treat yourself to some before you go any further - it is heavenly!!!!
Now comes the important bit! You will need a large, well-buttered pudding basin lined with a circle of greased greaseproof paper cut to fit the base. The basin needs to be quite large (2-3 pint capacity) and ceramic, NOT metal. Here is a picture of the kind of pudding basin you need …
Pack the pudding mixture into the basin … you should be able to fill it to within about ½ an inch of the top of the basin. Smooth the top over then cover with another circle of greased greaseproof paper (to fit the top of the pudding basin - best if you trace and cut this out before you shove the mixture in!!). Finally, fold a sheet of aluminium foil so that it is doubled in thickness and large enough to fit over the top of the pudding basin (with about 2-3 inches hanging over the side). Mould the foil firmly over the top and down the side of the basin, then tie a piece of string firmly around the side to keep it in place. It's also a good idea to attach a piece of string across the top of the foil (across the diameter) … for holding onto when you need to lift the pudding out of the pot after its cooked!
Place pudding into a large, heavy-based pot or saucepan. Pour enough boiling water into pot to come about half-way up the sides of the pudding basin. Bring water back to boiling, put lid on saucepan, turn heat way, way down …. as low as you can go, and allow pudding to steam gently for 6 hours. Check occasionally for evaporation and add more boiling water if necessary …. you will only need to do this a couple of times. After 6 hours, remove pudding basin from the pot and allow to cool. When cold, remove the aluminium foil and greaseproof paper, re-cover with a fresh circle of greaseproof paper and aluminium foil and tie up once more. At this stage, you can now store the pudding on a shelf in the pantry, and forget about it until Christmas Day .. all the hard work has now been done!!
On Christmas Day, put the pudding back into a pot of boiling water as described above and steam gently for 2½ hours. When ready to serve, run a knife around between the pudding and the basin and gently ease pudding out on to a heated serving plate …. by this stage everyone will be salivating from the rich buttery, spicy, fruity aromas coming from the kitchen!!
Take pudding, with great ceremony, to the Christmas dinner table, and serve immediately. It is absolutely sensational served with a warm custard sauce or sweet white sauce. You can add a dash of brandy to the sauce, too, if you like, for added "zip"! You only need to serve smallish pieces as the pudding is very rich … will easily feed 15 - 20 people. It is THE best Christmas dessert ever!!!
The finished product should look something like this ....
