So I did what I do when I want to make something new. I got out a load of books from my library, the old family recipes, and my historical cookbooks. This is the recipe I came up with. It's a lot more flexible than most, but I've made it a few times and it is amazing! Someone asked for it on reddit, but the post ended up being too long so I decided to share it here.
Variations of the pudding go back a few thousand years so the recipes are more of a guide. If you want the full Dickens pudding, go with brandy and suet as they would be staple ingredients this time of year. If you can, get the shredded suet from one of the small butchers rather than the commercial stuff as that has a few extra ingredients in it and often doesn't taste as fresh.
This is close to the Victorian Pudding. The recipe is heavily influenced by the family recipe which comes to us from the late Victorian period, but with more flexibility because dry fruit is expensive. Apricots, raisins, and plums are my favourite mix. Dates go well in it too. But traditionally, people would use what they had to hand.
It's usually made a month in advance, kept at room temp to cure, and boiled for one hour before serving. I've read suggestions that this will keep 13 months at room temp, but I always eat it way before that.
The day before the big boil
- >500g dry fruit
- <100g candy peal (if you can't get it, chop up the peal of an organic orange or blood orange or leave it out)
- <100g candy cherries
- 150-200ml brandy
Mix together, cover with a cloth, and leave 12-48 hours, stirring at least once every 12 hours.
On the day
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- >100g bread crumbs
- 150g ground or shredded suet
- 1 tsp each spices of your choice (the more the better - chinamon, cloves, ginger, etc... adjust to your taste)
- pinch salt
- <150g brown sugar
- 1 apple or quince cored, peeled and grated
- 3-5 eggs
- zest and juice of an orange (optional - organic if possible)
Mix dry together. Mix wet into dry. Add soaked fruit. Hold back the liquor and add as needed for texture. It should be a very thick batter.
Now, this is very important if you are going for the Victorian traditions - everyone in the household has to have a good old stir. Wishing is traditional.
Wrap in pudding cloth (tightly woven cotton that has been recently boiled and rubbed with oil and flour on the inside) or into a pudding mould. I don't put trinkets in my pudding as I don't want anyone to break a tooth, but now's the time to do it. Be sure to boil the trinkets well to clean them first.
Now to steam or boil the pudding. Either is fine for this one, but if you are steaming maybe add another hour or two. If you want to go full traditional, we'll boil it in a cloth.
Lightly boil a large square (about 2' per side) of tightly woven cotton or linen. While wet and hot, place it wrong-side-up on a clean counter and rub some oil into the cloth (concentrate on the centre) then sprinkle some flour on top of the oiled cloth. Turn the batter onto the cloth and tie it up with some string. Place gently into a large pot of boiling water and boil for 6-8 hours (you can't over boil) being sure to check the water frequently if it needs topping up.
Alternatively, if you have a pressure cooker, it takes about an hour and a half at high pressure, slow release.
When cooked, remove from the water and allow to cool. Hang in a dark place until the feast day. Then boil for one hour before serving.
Do you have a favourite holiday dessert recipe you love? Want to share?
