Nat's Steamed Christmas Pudding

 So, that's Christmas done and dusted for another year. It was busy, but there was still time for lots of laying about, reading, watching movies, relaxing with good friends, an occasional glass of wine, and of course cooking and eating. Lots of eating. We had out-of-towners with us so we embarked on an eating experience of Austrian foods, and a tour of Christmas markets and gluhwein sellers. There was of course snitzel and sausages and apple strudel, but also pork stelze (roasted pork hock), steinpilz (local mushrooms), and our Christmas lunch was roasted goose with red cabbage. All good and very delicious.

Our Christmas 'dinner' was this steamed Christmas pudding. I only made the pudding one week before Christmas, but despite it not having much maturing time, the pudding was delicious, 'boozy', and really fruity - just the way I like it. And the almonds added a lovely, sneaky crunch.

We are still snacking on the pudding a week later. It has kept beautifully and is still moist and so flavoursome. I might make it a bit earlier this year  to give the fruit time to really develop it's flavour.

What you'll need

Makes a large Christmas pudding, 10 to 12 serves.

375g sultanas
180g prunes - de-seeded and roughly chopped
150g dried figs - roughly chopped
200g dates, de-seeded and roughly chopped
100g slivered almonds
150ml Rum
100ml Whisky
250g butter (at room temperature)
200g brown sugar
4 eggs
175g fresh breadcrumbs
75g self-raising flour
75g plain flour
1 tsp mixed spice (if you want)
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Extra butter for greasing the pudding tin.

What to do

Step 1 - Place all the fruits into a bowl and add the rum and whisky. Mix well and cover tightly with foil. Leave for at least 12 hours to macerate, mixing occasionally. I suggest doing this one evening, then make the cake the next afternoon. 

Step 2 - Using an electric beater, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each one.  Add the fruit mixture and mix well.

Step 3 - Add the flours, breadcrumbs and spices. Mix well until combined.

Step 4 - Grease and line a 2L capacity pudding tin/basin. I used a ceramic salad bowl, as you cannot buy pudding steamer tins here.

If using a pudding steamer tin, follow these directions:




Spoon mixture into prepared steamer. Secure lid. Place in a large saucepan. Pour boiling water into pan until halfway up side of steamer. Cover pan. Place over low heat. Boil for 4 hours, adding more boiling water when necessary.  Use a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake to check it is cooked. Remove pan from heat. Carefully lift steamer from water.

If using a bowl or similar, use these directions:

Spoon mixture into prepared steamer/vessel. Make a lid using a layer of baking paper and foil. You can make the lid following the method used in my jam pudding. Use kitchen string to secure the 'lid'  to the top of the bowl. Use more kitchen string to create a handle for the bowl (so you can lift it out once cooked) using string wrapped several times around the bowl. Place in a large saucepan. Pour boiling water into pan until halfway up side of the bowl. Cover pan. Place over low heat. Boil for 4 hours, adding more boiling water when necessary. Use a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake to check it is cooked. Remove the pan from heat. Carefully lift steamer from water.

Once removed from the water, set aside to cool completely. Once cooled you can leave the pudding in the basin, then wrap in a clean tea towel and store in a cool, dark place or at the back of the fridge until ready to use.

Serve with custard and cream or ice-cream.