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| What You Need: |
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1½ cups dried currants
2 cups seedless raisins
2 cups white raisins
¾ cup finely chopped candied mixed fruit peel
¾ cup finely chopped candied cherries
1 cup blanched slivered almonds
1 medium-sized tart cooking apple, peeled, quartered, cored and coarsely chopped
1 small carrot, scraped and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons finely grated orange peel
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
½ pound finely chopped beef suet
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 cups fresh soft crumbs, made from homemade-type white bread, pulverized in a blender or shredded with a fork
1 cup dark-brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon salt
6 eggs
1 cup brandy
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
½ cup brandy, for flaming (optional)
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| How To Cook: |
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1. In a large, deep bowl, combine the currants, seedless raisins, white raisins, candied fruit peel, cherries, almonds, apple, carrot, orange and lemon peel, and beef suet, tossing them about with a spoon or your hands until well mixed. Stir in the flour, bread crumbs, brown sugar, allspice and salt.
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2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Stir in the 1 cup of brandy, the orange and lemon juice, and pour this mixture over the fruit mixture. Knead vigorously with both hands, and then beat with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are blended. Drape a dampened kitchen towel over the bowl and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
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3. Spoon the mixture into four 1-quart English pudding basins or plain molds, filling them to within 2 inches of their tops. Cover each mold with a strip of buttered foil, turning the edges down and pressing the foil tightly around the sides to secure it.
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4. Drape a dampened kitchen towel over each mold and tie it in place around the sides with a long piece of kitchen cord. Bring two opposite corners of the towel up to the top and knot them in the center of the mold; then bring up the remaining two corners and knot them similarly.
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5. Place the molds in a large pot and pour in enough boiling water to come about three fourths of the way up their sides. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, cover the pot tightly, reduce the heat to its lowest point and steam the puddings for 8 hours. As the water in the steamer boils away, replenish it with additional boiling water.
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6. When the puddings are done, remove them from the water and let them cool to room temperature. Then remove the towels and foil and recover the molds tightly with fresh foil.
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7. Refrigerate the puddings for at least 3weeks before serving. Plum puddings may be kept up to a year in the refrigerator or other cool place; traditionally, they were often made a year in advance.
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8. To serve, place the mold in a pot and pour in enough boiling water to come about three fourths of the way up the sides of the mold. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and steam for 2 hours.
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9. Run a knife around the inside edges of the mold and place an inverted serving plate over it. Grasping the mold and plate firmly together, turn them over. The pudding should slide out easily.
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10. Christmas pudding is traditionally accompanied by Cumberland rum butter or
brandy butter. Small paper-wrapped coins (such as sixpences and three penny bits) are sometimes pressed into the pudding as good luck pieces just before it is served.
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11. If you would like to set the pudding aflame before you serve it, warm the ½ cup of brandy in a small saucepan over low heat, ignite it with a match and pour it flaming over the pudding.
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