Ingredients

The following ingredients have 2 Servings
  • 400 g white crusty loaf
  • 90 g carrots
  • 1 large cooking apple
  • 175 g dates or prunes*
  • 60 g almonds
  • 225 g raisins
  • 225 g sultanas
  • 225 g currants
  • 225 g suet
  • 225 g soft brown sugar
  • 225 g self raising flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • grated rind and juice 1/2 large lemon
  • 1 1/2 tbs brandy
  • 1 1/2 tbs sherry
  • 1/4 pint (150 ml) strong dark ale e.g. Guinness + extra if needed
  • lard, for greasing

Instruction

  • Start by preparing your ingredients. Preheat the oven to 200°C (Gas mark 6/390°F). Roughly slice up the loaf and place the slices on a large baking tray. Pop into the oven and bake until toasted and brown all over – timings will vary according to how fresh the bread is.
  • Once toasted, take the bread out of the oven and leave to cool. Once cool, weigh out the slices to 225g – you may have a little extra. Whizz up 225g of the toasted bread into bread crumbs using a food processor or blender. Tip into a very large bowl (I used a tall sided stock pot for mixing without too much mess!).
  • Prepare the carrot and cooking apple. The original recipe called for ‘minced’ carrot and cooking apple, but I whizzed them up in my Vitamix until finely chopped – you could also grate them if you don’t have access to a food processor. Add the minced carrot and apple to the bowl with the bread crumbs.
  • Chop the dates or prunes and almonds and add them to the bowl. You could also throw them in the food processor to quickly chop them as you have it out already.
  • Add the rest of the dry ingredients; raisins, sultanas, currants, suet, soft brown sugar, self raising flour, baking powder, ground nutmeg, mixed spice, ground ginger, cinnamon and salt to the bowl. Stir well to combine.
  • Break the eggs and add to the bowl. Zest and juice the lemon and add to the bowl. Add the brandy and sherry and stir the mixture well to combine.
  • Add 150ml of the dark ale to the mixture and stir well. If the mixture is too dry or stiff, add a little more ale until the pudding mixture has a moist consistency.
  • Cover the bowl and leave for 24 hours to mature. After 24 hours, it will be ready to basin up. You may need to add a little more ale at this point if the mixture is too dry, so keep some on stand by just in case.
  • Before putting the mixture into basins, call the family together and ask every member of the family to stir the pudding mixture, each making a special Christmas wish for the year ahead as they do so. Add the silver six pence to the mix and stir again until hidden**. Once the children are out of sight, I must admit I retrieve the six pence and hide it away until Christmas rather than bake it in the pudding. I then hide it on one of the bowls to be covered by a slice of pudding when serving (see notes below!).
  • Tradition of adding a silver sixpence to your Chistmas Pudding Mix - with traditional Christmas Pudding Recipe