Cooks' Corner

[Anthony Darby]

I can remember being given the chance to stir the Christmas pudding at Mountfields Primary School in Loughborough and adding a wrapped sixpence to the mix. School dinners were good in those days, and only cost a shilling!

[ranunculus]

I can remember being given the chance to stir the Christmas pudding at Mountfields Primary School in Loughborough and adding a wrapped sixpence to the mix.

Of course, at Maggi's school they wrapped them in £5 notes ... or they used chocolate coins instead. 

[Lesley Cox]

I don't think many people use coins in their puddings now because of the presumed hygiene issue. The PC world gone even madder. Besides, so many people BUY their puddings ready-made.

Here many people (including me) stick with fresh fruit salad, Pavlova and/or trifle for Christmas puddings. After all, it was 33C here yesterday and still 3 weeks until the longest day. Still 28C in the sitting room at 9pm with evey door and window in the house wide open. No lights on because of the moths.

[Anthony Darby]

More than 10^o hotter than Auckland.  We need to move!

[David Nicholson]

.......... Besides, so many people BUY their puddings ready-made................

Not in our house they don't, I make 'em. One for Christmas Day and one for my birthday. I mixed them last night and left them to mature overnight and today they've been steamed for six hours.

[Anthony Darby]

I'm impressed! Should have said, I could have sent you some silver threepenny bits!

[David Nicholson]

Funny you should say that Anthony. We still have three of them, out of the four my Mum used to put in puddings. The third was consumed by my son when he was about three and I didn't do the necessary search!

[Arykana]

Ok, guys, but where is the recipe?

[Anthony Darby]

We ate it Arykana!

[Arykana]

hm, hopefully has been written on paper, not on DVD 

[Richard Green]

There are plenty of recipes online - though I do not have any practical experience (!):
http://www.rampantscotland.com/recipes/blrecipe_blackbun.htm
http://www.scotlandforvisitors.com/recipes/blackbun.php
http://www.scottishrecipes.co.uk/blackbunrecipe.htm
http://www.scotlands-enchanting-kingdom.com/black-bun.html

[Anthony Darby]

hm, hopefully has been written on paper, not on DVD 

Gulp!

[Arykana]

Thank you Richard!

Anthony 

[David Nicholson]

CHRISTMAS PUDDING RECIPE.

I suppose many families will have a recipe for Christmas Pudding that has been handed down through the generations. This one is no exception and this recipe can be traced back to my mother's great-grandmother (born 1824, died 1876) and possibly even further back. As such it is not in metric measurement but I've converted it where possible. When my mother was alive she made her puddings in October to allow them to mature. Frequently she forgot about a stored pudding only finding it when the next years puddings were ready for storage and the "findling" took pride of place on the Christmas dinner table. It always tasted better for the year in the dark in the cupboard under the stairs.

The recipe as it stands will make 4 puddings of around 575gms each but can be scaled down to make just two.

Ingredients:-

225gms butter
275gms of stale breadcrumbs (white or brown, doesn't matter)
100gms plain flour
half a teasponn of ground mace
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
225gms demerara sugar
100gms chopped candied orange peel
75gms chopped candied lemon peel
100gms chopped glace cherries
225gms currants
450gms chopped raisins
35gms chopped blanched almonds
1 grated carrot
6 beaten eggs
2 tablespoons golden syrup of black treacle
275 ml Guiness or other dark ale or stout. (The original recipe says "dark porter")

Method:-
The night before you intend to make the puddings.

Place currents, raisins and glace cherries in a bowl and add a slug of brandy and mix well. Cover with a cloth and leave overnight. My slug is usually a couple of wine glasses full of brandy. But, I like Brandy!!). The kitchen will smell lovely when you come down next morning to put the kettle on.

Have a hearty breakfast and then:-

Grease four half litre pudding basins or two one litre basins (my Mum used lard, she regarded butter as being to profligate! but if you use butter don't take any of the butter from the recipe.
Put the butter in a warm place to melt.
Put the breadcrumbs in a large mixing bowl and sift in the flour and the spices. Mix in the sugar. Add the chopped peels and the contents of the bowl you left overnight. Add the almonds and carrot to the mix and mix well. Stir in the eggs and the treacle and mix well again. Pause, and have a glass of brandy.
Add the melted butter and the Guinness and stir it well in.
Divide the mixture between the greased basins, cover tightly with a layer of greased greaseproof paper and then foil. Place in a steamer over a pan of boiling water (or be modern and use a pressure cooker in which case refer to your instruction book for timings) and steam for 6/7 hours if making two large puddings (3/4 hours for smaller ones). When steamed remove from steamer and allow to cool. When cold cover with fresh greaseproof paper and foil and store in a cool place. When serving steam first for a further 2 hours.

 

[Arykana]

Thank you David :-)

the candied orange and lemon peels has been made today