Christmas Pudding Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Can I use butter instead of suet in Christmas pudding? ›

I usually make the Christmas pudding recipe with suet, but wonder if I can substitute butter for suet at all? Thanks. Hello, Yes you can use grated butter if you prefer.

Most Christmas puddings are made with suet (shredded beef fat) and this tends to take longer to melt than butter, so the pudding needs a long cooking time to make sure that the fat has melted and combined properly with the other ingredients.

If water has entered the wrapped pudding basin then it is likely that the pan was boiling a little too hard, and may also have been too full of water, meaning the water came up and over the top of the pudding basin which makes it easier for water to enter.

After the first 5 hours of steaming the puddings may not look that dark but do not worry as the colour deepens on the second steaming.

Still, there are some decent substitutes that will get you close. Some recipes recommend using frozen butter as a substitute for suet, but this is risky as the butter melts much faster than suet and your dish will become greasy and heavy. If you can't find suet or you just don't want to use it, try shortening instead.

Our answer. It is possible to make Nigella's Ultimate Christmas Pudding using vegetable shortening (such as Crisco, Trex, Flora White, Cookeen or Copha) instead of suet (which is made from beef fat). You use exactly the same quantity in vegetable shortening but it needs to be coarsely grated before you use it.

The Christmas pudding coin

Adding silver coins into plum pudding is a fun Christmas tradition. The notion being that whoever finds the coin will have good luck. The tradition may date as far back as early as the 1300s when several small items like dried peas and chicken wishbones were added to the pudding mixture.

Ideally we would suggest that when the pudding is made it is steamed for 8 hours (the combined time of the first and second steamings) as the steaming is important for the flavour of the pudding. The pudding can then be microwaved to reheat it on Christmas Day.

Some Christmas puddings, made with dried fruit in the traditional way, are fine to be eaten as much as two years after they were made. "Bear in mind if the pudding is alcohol-free, of course, it will last a good while with the sugar content, but it will not last as long without alcohol to preserve it," stresses Juliet.

Since traditional Christmas pudding is made with a variety of dried fruits and nuts along with eggs and suet (animal fat)- the high content of the liquor helps it taste better and better over time, with no risk of spoiling even two years after they are made!

Why put breadcrumbs in Christmas pudding? ›

Though in older times the choice was more to do with economy, breadcrumbs give the pudding a much lighter texture. And again, use just enough flour to hold the mixture gently together. Not too many eggs, and more egg yolk that white if you can.

Use a large casserole / stew pan with a trivet in the bottom (if you haven't a trivet try a metal plate turned upside down). Place the pudding on top then fill with boiling water so that it comes about 1/3^rd of the way up the basin. Cover the casserole pan with a lid.

To test if the pudding's cooked, pierce the foil and paper with a skewer and wiggle it to make the hole bigger, or it will be wiped clean of any mixture when you pull it out.

Superstitions say that Christmas pudding must be prepared with 13 ingredients, which are said to represent Jesus and his twelve disciples. It is also said that the mixture should be stirred in turn from east to west, by each family member, to honour the disciples' journey.

However, they're often just whacked in on 'high' for a few minutes until they look cooked. “Quite frankly, overcooking Christmas puddings kills the flavour, and that's a shame after all the effort and wonderful ingredients I've put into it!

Yes, you can use butter. I would freeze the butter then grate it and toss in the flour.

If you can't find suet then we have found that grated vegetable shortening (such as Trex, Crisco or Copha) is a good substitute.

As a result, suet fat is less likely to melt into the flour when making the pastry. When the pudding is cooked, the suet melts after the pastry has had a chance to set, leaving behind holes. This structure allows the pastry to better stand up to wet fillings and gives a lighter, fluffier texture.

Mix the almonds, apples, candied peel, nutmeg, raisins, flour, breadcrumbs, light muscovado sugar, eggs and 2 tbsp brandy or cognac in a large bowl. Holding the butter in its wrapper, grate a quarter of it into the bowl, then stir everything together.