Cultivating the sacred Christmas Pudding...

Tammi Dallaston

This Sunday, the fifth before Christmas, is traditionally the day to make the Christmas pudding.
Until the children have stirred the bowl - dense with boozy fruit and spices - and dropped in golden £1 coins, a ring and a thimble to foretell wealth, marriage and luck, the thought of Christmas elicits no more than a bah humbug response from this busy single mum.
On this magical Sunday, I morph from Scrooge to bountiful mama, resplendent in floury flowery pinny and stockinged feet. The children stir in golden coins to the mixture, make their wishes and run back to the TV/ computer/ DS/ Lego (delete according to age).
And I am left in the kitchen, with Radio 1 for company, contemplative.
Stir-up Sunday is so called because of the words in the Book of Common Prayer:
"Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people"
The prayer is actually a call to arms that Christians do good works in order to receive the rewards of heaven. Or something.
So it is with my own unique brand of practical post-punk spirituality that I am making a mother of a cake for a shared Christmas in a big Welsh cottage on the top of a mountain.
"Stir up, we beseech thee,
The pudding in the pot,
And when we get home,
We'll eat it all hot."
This pudding will be perfect – a dense, moist and oozing decadence of rich fruits and brandy. Made with at least 13 ingredients (to represent Christ and his disciples), the work actually begins the day before, with the marinating of the fruit.
Raiding the cupboards, I can find raisins, sultanas, apricots and currants. Dates, figs, dried cherries and cranberries are all acceptable additions - or you could ring the changes by adding exotic dried mango and pineapple.
The important thing here is to make sure that all the dried fruit is roughly the same size, so I’ll be chopping my apricots.
After mixing the fruit with the spices and flaked almonds I stir in 6 tbs brandy. These are left overnight to marinate. I marinate myself with a brandy coffee, and then prepare for a night out.
Then next day – stir up Sunday – is a day in the kitchen.
Bleary eyed, I give the fruit mixture another stir before getting sidetracked into making lots of mince pies to freeze.
I have already soaked five £1 coins in Coca Cola – probably the only time of year that I ever buy the gut rotting stuff. It’s great to show the kids the degenerative effects of fizzy drinks – the grubby coins come out of a three hour soak as pristine and golden as the day there were minted.
By now, the smell of Christmas is truly overpowering and it’s time to seal the fate of the Christmas pudding.
Beating together the butter, sugar, salt eggs and Guinness and adding to the boozy fruit mixture is a joyous solitary activity
Adding the breadcrumbs, flour and ground nuts to the mixture requires a firm but gentle hand, before calling through assorted small children to drop in the coins and charms – gleefully making wishes of ponies, dinosaurs and new best friends…
With kids safely dispersed to the four corners of our scruffy cottage, I rip up an old cotton sheet, shape the mixture into a loose ball and tie the top with a piece of string.
I’m sure my gran would have had a stash of well washed and pressed muslin squares to wrap this in, but I’m just not that organised.
I am lucky enough to be the proud owner of a large catering pot – I think it was left at our house after a particularly grand party. Quarter filled with boiling water from the kettle, I tie the pudding to the saucepan lid, and suspend the pudding over the boiling water for 4-5 hours.
It’s important to keep checking that the water doesn’t boil dry – top up with water from the kettle as often as necessary.
At teatime, it is time to remove the pudding, let it cool slightly and gently open it. A misshapen round emerges, and I Insert a knife or metal skewer just to make sure it is thoroughly cooked.
The skewer comes out clean, so I let it cool. Little hungry faces appear in the kitchen, determined to find the source of the wafting spicy smells.
Unimpressed by being told that the pudding cannot be eaten for five while weeks, I relent, retrieve and bake the frozen mince pies and we enjoy a pre-seasonal snack.
When the wee ones are safely tucked up in bed, the threat of the first snow of the winter heavy in the air, I wrap the precious creation (pudding, not a child!) in foil and store in the pantry.
Having a Christmas pudding to look after is like having a particularly recalcitrant relative for the next five weeks. It must be gently cared for, plied regularly with alcohol, and be allowed to stew gently as it ages.
Sorry, aunty.
On the big day, I will present the pudding alight, in a darkened room.
Flaming the pudding is a tradition believed to represent the passion of Christ. The potential for a biblical style disaster are huge, with kids dogs and cats thrown into the fray. However, it is an essential part of the theatre of Christmas.
With the lights down, I shall half-fill a metal ladle with brandy and carefully heat over a gas flame or lit candle. When the flame is hot enough, the brandy will light. Pouring the flaming brandy over the pudding, to tumultuous applause, I modestly smile, concealing the hard work and thought that has gone into the process.
And hope no-one chokes on the coins….

Tammi’s Boozy Christmas Pudding

Saturday
Ingredients:
1.5 lb dried fruit (any combination of raisins, currants, sultanas, chopped apricots, chopped figs, dates, cranberries, cherries, mango, pineapple)
2 oz flaked almonds or chopped nuts
3 tsp Ground spices (use a combination of Cinnamon, Nutmeg, ginger, mace, Allspice, cloves)
Grated peel from one unwaxed lemon
6 tbs brandy and/ or rum

• Stir the dried mixed fruit, nuts, spices and lemon peel into the rum/ brandy in a large dish.
• Cover with a plate or saucepan lid.

Sunday
Ingredients:
75 g (3 oz) veg suet or cold grated butter
1/2 tsp salt
275 g (10 oz) soft dark brown sugar
3 medium eggs
150 ml (1/4 pint) Guinness
50 g (2 oz) fresh white breadcrumbs
100 g (4 oz) self raising flour
50 g (2 oz) ground almonds

• Beat the butter in a food processor until it is light and fluffy.
• Gradually add the brown sugar until the mixture is combined.
• Add salt, then eggs, one at a time.
• Add the Guinness and empty into a bowl.
• Stir in yesterday’s boozy fruit and nut mixture.
• Add breadcrumbs, flour and ground nuts gradually, folding them through the mixture.
• Lay out a large piece of double layered muslin or cotton (a ripped up sheet works well here)
• Shape the mixture into a loose ball and tie the top with a piece of string
• Tie the pudding onto a saucepan lid and suspend it over a large tall pan of the boiling water- I use a tall catering saucepan ¼ filled with boiling water.
• Steam the pudding over the simmering water for 4-5 hours.
• Keep checking it to make sure the water doesn’t boil dry – top up with water from the kettle as often as necessary.
• Remove the pudding, let it cool slightly and gently open it.
• Insert a knife or metal skewer – it should come out clean
• Cool, wrap in foil and store in a cool dry place.
• Feed it with alcohol once a week and allow the flavours to fully develop.
• Re-steam the pudding on the big day for 1-2 hours before serving.

Tammi Dallaston is a freelance food journalist/writer

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