Countdown to Christmas Part One - Christmas Pudding

Well, there's a first time for everything and this is a first for me. Apparently, time is ticking if you want to make a home made Christmas Pudding. My research tells me 1st November is the time to get it done with time for it to mature. I've never bothered before, because I have to admit I don't really like it, I'll normally skip it for a mince pie, or a slice of Viennetta (sorry!), or a syrup or chocolate sponge instead. Tony likes it, so I obediently buy him something "the best" or "luxury" in a plastic tub, boxed up in a festive way, but essentially it will be blitzed in the microwave for a minute and then set fire to, before being eaten with a dollop of Birds custard. Last Christmas Santa brought an ice cream maker, it is a very naughty thing and is not allowed out often, but on Christmas Day it will be churning away, despite the heat of the kitchen, making delicious creamy ice cream, so I thought home made Christmas Pudding would be the ideal accompaniment.
Lauren made a perfect helper for this task, she made the breadcrumbs, cracked and beat the eggs, juiced the oranges and grated the apples, ate the dried fruit and sniffed the brandy, all for the chance of a stir and a promise (she always wishes she could be a dragon or have a dragon!).
I did a bit of internet research before starting off, to make sure I had all the ingredients ready for today. I found a recipe on the Good Food Channel by Nigel Slater, but because I didn't like some of the ingredients he used and wanted more spice in mine I've adapted it, so here it is. I can't tell you what it's like for another 6 or 7 weeks, so you're either going to have to buy one, find your own recipe or have faith in me and we will either sink or swim but we will be in good company!

As I did, if you don't like anything on the list, swap it for something similar that you do like, especially the fruit, chopped dates, chopped figs, mixed peel anything!

Maria's First Ever Christmas Pudding


650g sultanas
90g dried cherries
500g mixed fruit (I chose a Waitrose mix of raisins, currants, sultanas, cranberries, apricots, mixed peel and pineapple)
150ml brandy
2 apples, peeled, cored and grated
2 oranges, juice and zest
6 eggs, beaten
250g suet (I used vegetable it's all I could get)
350g dark muscovado sugar
250g fresh breadcrumbs (most recipes used white, but I had both white and wholemeal)
175g self raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Good grating of nutmeg

Butter some pudding bowls, ideally 2 x 1.5 litre bowls. I had a 2 pt, a 1.5 pt and a 1pt and used them all.

Put the fruit in a bowl and pour over the brandy. I only soaked mine for the time it took to make the other ingredients because I don't like boozy fruit, but if you do you can leave it overnight.

In another really big bowl put the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Add the fruit and give another good mix.

Divide amongst your bowls and then you will need to cover. There is a good little video on this link showing you how to do it

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/richchristmaspudding_8935

In a large pan, put an upturned shallow bowl or saucer. Rest your pudding on top. Fill with boiling water until it's halfway up the pudding bowl, cover tightly with a lid and steam for 3.5 hours. (Do the same for the other pudding).

Allow to cool, then remove covers, replace with fresh ones and store the puddings in a cool, dry place until Christmas, aparently they will stay Ok for up to 12 months, you can feed them with alcohol every now and again if you like. To reheat, steam for another 2 hours.

As a bit of nostalgia, we added some coins into ours, but you need to be really careful. I chose 5 x 20 pence pieces, one for each person, so I could remember what I'd done. You could just use a pound coin. Don't use anything too small like a 5p for obvious reasons. To prepare the coins I sat them in a bowl of Dettox for 10 minutes, then washed them in soapy water and wrapped them in little parcels of baking parchment (you could boil them to sterilise them), poking them into the puddings before covering and cooking. Don't forget to warn everyone before they tuck in that they may get a surprise, you don't want a ride in an ambulance or emergency dental treatment on Christmas day. Also, don't forget if you've put a coin in you won't be able to heat it in the microwave, your Christmas will go off with a bang of the wrong kind.

As I say, I have no idea what they are like, I made three altogether, two of them in glass bowls and they look very pale, like a light fruit cake. I'm not sure if they will get darker with age, but about 54 days and I will know for sure.

Let me know what you have tried, you might want to add some dark alcohol into the recipe instead of fruit juice, or add some nuts if you like them, have a go.