Christmas Plum Pudding Recipe for a Festive Feast

A rich, traditional British Christmas pudding made with soaked dried fruit, suet, citrus, warming spices, stout, and brandy. Steam it ahead, mature it with small amounts of brandy if desired, then reheat and serve with brandy butter, custard, cream, or sauce.

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 6

Total Time 6

Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

Soaked Fruit

250 g Raisins
250 g Sultanas or golden raisins
140 g Currants
140 g Chopped dried apricots
100 g Mixed candied peel, finely chopped
150 ml Stout, such as Guinness
2 tablespoons Brandy

Pudding Mixture

140 g Shredded suet, beef or vegetarian
100 g Fresh white breadcrumbs
100 g Self-rising flour
100 g Dark muscovado or dark brown sugar
50 g Blanched almonds, chopped
1 apple Medium apple, peeled, cored, and finely grated
1 orange Finely grated orange zest
1 lemon Finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon Mixed spice
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground nutmeg
2 eggs Large eggs

For the Basin

As needed for greasing Butter or vegetable shortening

Method

Step-by-Step

Combine the raisins, sultanas, currants, dried apricots, candied peel, stout, and 2 tablespoons of brandy in a large bowl. Cover and soak overnight, or for at least 4 hours.
Grease a 1.2-liter or 2-pint pudding basin and add a small parchment circle to the base if desired. Stir the suet, breadcrumbs, flour, sugar, almonds, grated apple, orange zest, lemon zest, mixed spice, cinnamon, and nutmeg into the soaked fruit.
Beat the eggs separately, then stir them into the fruit mixture. The batter should be moist and fairly firm; add a little extra stout only if it seems dry.
Spoon the mixture into the basin, pressing it down firmly to remove air pockets while leaving about 2.5 cm of space at the top. Cover with pleated greaseproof paper and a larger piece of foil, then tie securely with kitchen string.
Set the basin on a trivet or folded cloth inside a large pot. Pour in boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the basin, cover the pot tightly, and steam gently for about 6 hours.
Check the water level periodically and add more boiling water as needed so the pan never boils dry. The pudding is ready when it feels firm and a skewer inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
Cool the pudding promptly, replace the covering, and store it in a cool, dry place or refrigerate it. For a mature pudding, feed it with 1–2 tablespoons of brandy every week or two.
On Christmas Day, steam the pudding again for 1½–2 hours until thoroughly hot. Turn it out carefully and serve with brandy butter, custard, whipped cream, or brandy sauce.

Notes

Keep the water at a gentle simmer rather than a vigorous boil. Use chilled vegetarian suet so it stays separate and distributes evenly. For food safety, refrigerate the pudding if it will not be kept in a genuinely cool, dry place.