By Irene Kappes
Every year my grandmother would make her own puddings – a recipe handed down the family to my generation. However, my grandfather was not at all fond of the dark, fruity product of this recipe, not because it wasn’t good, but because he simply didn’t like it. My grandmother, although fully cognisant of this fact, loved to wind him up by offering him a piece, and this she would do every year. She would, of course, first douse the pudding with plenty of alcohol (whisky, as brandy was a bit posh), and then set it alight to a round of ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’. And every year it would elicit the same response from my grandfather,
‘I don’t want yer Christmas pudden, chuck it at the wall!’
Apparently, my mother and her sister greatly looked forward to this event every Christmas.
My grandfather died when I was eight years old, being some years older than his second wife, my grandmother. He had reached the grand old age of eighty-eight, which I think was pretty good for someone born in the eighteen seventies. I can still remember the rather gruff old man, with his large and heavy frame and his walking stick. I remember too, the family stories of how he would make friends with everyone. It was only after his death that my grandmother discovered he didn’t pay a penny to the barber who cut his hair and shaved him, despite leaving home with the exact amount due, given to him out of the housekeeping. And he would often arrive home to their tiny council flat with a bunch of flowers that he had acquired from someone somewhere. His name was Thomas Bull (unrelated to the famous builders).
The following recipe was handed down to me by my mother.
Christmas Pudding (makes 2 large or 4 small)
Ingredients
- 225g raisins
- 280g sultanas
- 280g currants
- 115g mixed peel
- 115g almonds (optional – my mum never included almonds)
- 225g breadcrumbs
- 170g self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons mixed spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large bramley apple
- 335g dark, soft brown sugar
- 225g shredded suet
- 5 eggs
- 4 tablespoons brandy
- 4 tablespoons milk
Method
- Place all fruit in a bowl, including peeled, chopped apple
- Chop almonds and add
- Add breadcrumbs and suet
- Add flour, salt and spices
- Add sugar and brandy
- Add eggs and milk
- Grease the basins well with plenty of butter. Divide mixture between them until each basin is two thirds full. Cover with a circle of greaseproof paper and a circle of pudding cloth (you can use foil if you don’t have any cloth). Make sure you leave excess paper and cloth to overlap the basin rim, so that you can then tie string round it to keep it in place. I also pass the string over the top and tie it onto the opposite side, so that I can lift the basin easily.
- Now the essential bit – steam for at least 10 hours. This will give you a nice, dark pudding.
- Leave the pudding to cool in the basin. My mum would then put new paper and cloth and store in a cool place. I am a bit nervous about this, and also I need my basins, so I take the pudding out and wrap it well in greaseproof paper/baking parchment and then foil. Store in a cool place – I put them in a tin or plastic storage box in the cupboard under the stairs. I usually keep some for the next year, but have also kept them for two years and they were fine. Some people say they can last much longer.
- On the day you want to eat them, steam for another couple of hours or so.
- And don’t forget to set them alight with brandy or a spirit of your choice!
