Cookery challenge October - Christmas Pudding

This month’s challenge: a recipe handed down through voice, hand written notes or inspired by your memories. The point of this month's challenge was to step away from the internet and remember the meals cooked by our elders, family and friends. If we could speak to the person who inspires this recipe then that is wonderful. If you can't, then honour them with your cooking.                                                                                                                                                          

If you had to instantly think of a recipe or dish handed down or vividly remembered what would it be ? My list was as follows:-

My Granny - Cornish cream teas

My step granny - Rock cakes, and jam puffs.

My Grandfather - Homemade blackberry jam

My mother -  Roasts with Huge Yorkshire puddings and home-made gravy.
My sister - Beef stroganoff, Roast lamb cooked with silvers of garlic and rosemary (she is 13 years older and it was the late 70's, I thought this was so cool and different to what I had at home.)

My mother in law - cakes and puddings

It occurred to me as I wrote this, that most of these were childhood favourites as my grandparents died while I was in my mid teens, I don't remember any of the main dishes they used to cook. So which of these did I choose?

I have decided to share with you my mother in law's (see picture above) recipe for Christmas Pudding. It differs from many of the shop bought ones as it includes breadcrumbs and is much lighter than any others I have come across, which is just what you need after a huge Christmas Roast.

Every year at this time of year she would make her Christmas Puddings. It was much earlier than stir up Sunday (the last Sunday before Advent), which is traditionally the day to make Christmas Puddings. The house would fill with steam as she boiled them for 7 hours. She always made a few, which she stored and would bring out to eat long after Christmas.

Glady's Christmas Puddings - Makes 1

Ingredients

4oz (100g) self raising flour

4oz (100g) white breadcrumbs

4oz (100g) shredded suet (Ii use the vegetarian one)

4oz (100g) currants

4oz (100g)raisins

4oz (100g)sultanas

2oz (50g) mixed peel

4oz (100g) demerara or soft light brown sugar

1 small apple grated

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon mixed spice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 lemon rind and juice

2 eggs

1/4 gill  (2 tablespoons) of brandy or sherry (optional)

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 gill (6 tablespoons of milk)

Lightly grease 2x600ml/1 pint or 2x1.2 litre/1 pint pudding basins.

Place all dry ingredients in large bowl, mix together  all  the liquid ingredients and add to the dry ingredients. 








Spoon into in the glass bowls cover with greaseproof paper and then foil, If doing it Glady's way put the basins in a large steamer of boiling water and cover with a  saucepan lid. Boil for 5-6 hours, topping the boiling water up from time to time, if necessary. If you do not have a steamer, put the basins in a large pan on inverted saucers on the base. Pour in boiling water to come a third of the way up the sides of the pudding bowls. Cover and steam as before. 

Or alternatively place bowl in a slow cooker add enough boiling water to come up 2/3rds up the side of the basin.Steam in a slow cooker on high for 12 hours.

 Allow to cool ,replace the greaseproof lid and  foil and wrap up and store in a cold place until Christmas Day. Occasionally you can feed with brandy. To reheat steam for a further 2 hours or 3 hours on high in the slow cooker.

Serve with  brandy butter, rum sauce,  cream or custard.

I'm now off  around the world to visit the other participants to see what interesting things they have made this month.

Lucent Imagery (host)

From River’s Edge

Bakery Bookery

Explody Full

Under Lock & Key

Christa to the Max

Juanita Tortilla

Sarah x