Good Housekeeping UK

Boozy Christmas pudding

This Christmas pudding recipe is the perfect boozy dessert to end Christmas day with.

By The Good Housekeeping Cookery TeamPublished: 14 December 2002

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Yields:

10 serving(s)

Prep Time:

45 mins

Cook Time:

5 hrs

Total Time:

5 hrs 45 mins

Ingredients

For the Christmas pudding

A little butter, to grease
2 x 45.5 cm (18in) squares of muslin
225 g
(8oz) each currants and raisins
125 g
(4oz) sultanas
175 g
(6oz) ready-to-eat prunes, chopped
150 g
(5oz) suet
50 g
(2oz) flaked almonds
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon, preferably unwaxed
1 medium carrot - around 75g (3oz) - grated
175 g
(6oz) fresh white breadcrumbs (we used farmhouse bread as it gives the best result)
50 g
(2oz) self-raising flour
175 g
(6oz) light brown muscovado sugar
½ level tsp each mixed spice and ground nutmeg
3
medium eggs, lightly beaten
50 ml
(2fl oz) each brandy and rum
100 ml
(3½fl oz) sweet sherry
1 Tbsp.
Angostura bitters
2 x 15 cm (6in) pieces of string
1
sprig of holly
A few sterilised coins
50 ml
(2fl oz) brandy, rum or Grand Marnier

Directions

For the Christmas pudding
1. Step 1
  Grease two 1 litre (1¾ pint) pudding basins and line each with a square of muslin. Press against the basin sides and let the corners overhang the edges.
2. Step 2
  Put the currants, raisins, sultanas, prunes, suet, almonds, lemon zest and carrot into a very large bowl. Add the breadcrumbs, flour, sugar, mixed spice and ground nutmeg. Stir together very well.
3. Step 3
  Pour in the lemon juice, eggs, brandy, rum, sherry and Angostura bitters. Now, call in the family to help you mix everything together until it’s evenly combined – remind them to make a wish as they stir.
4. Step 4
  Divide the mixture between the two basins and smooth the top. Gather muslin up and over the puddings, then twist and secure with string. (They can sit overnight in a cool place before being cooked.)
5. Step 5
  To steam: put each basin in the top of a steamer filled with simmering water and steam for 8hr, topping up with boiling water every 30min.
  
  To boil: put the pudding on a trivet or an upturned, ovenproof saucer in a large pan. Add enough boiling water to come two-thirds of the way up the bowl. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for 6hr. Top up with water every 30min as necessary.
  
  To pressure cook: check your instruction booklet or put each basin in a 6 litre pressure cooker and fill with 2 litres (3½ pints) water. Heat until the valve pops up, then reduce heat slightly and cook for 4hr.
6. Step 6
  Cool and wrap tightly with foil, then store in a cool, dark, dry place for up to three months.
7. Step 7
  To serve:
  
  To reheat, boil or steam each pudding for 2hr, checking water every 30min, or pressure cook for 1hr before serving.
8. Step 8
  Rinse a sprig of holly and pat dry with kitchen paper. Turn off the heat. Keep the pan covered and it will happily stay warm for an hour.
9. Step 9
  To serve, carefully lift the pudding out of the pan. Use scissors to cut off the string and release the muslin. Rest a slightly warmed serving plate on top of the pudding. Hold the basin and plate together and upturn the pudding. Lift off the pudding basin and carefully pull away the muslin. Push in the sterilised coins and decorate with holly.
10. Step 10
  Warm the brandy, rum or Grand Marnier in a small pan. Be careful not to boil furiously or it may burst into flames. Pour into a jug and carry to the table with the pudding.
11. Step 11
  Ask someone to light a long taper and stand by. Pour your chosen booze into a ladle, then on to the pudding. Wave the lit taper near to the pudding and stand well back. When the flames have died down, cut the pudding into wedges and serve with vanilla custard, chantilly cream or brandy butter.
  
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Tips for the perfect pud

Take time to assemble all the pudding ingredients, even cutting the string to the right length so you don't have to worry about that later.

Getting all the family to make a wish while stirring the pud is a special tradition and brings everyone together.

You can cook the pudding up to three months ahead, but stir-up Sunday is the traditional day to get out the pudding basins.

Per Serving:

Calories: 288
Total carbs: 39 g
Total fat: 14 g

What to read next

The Good Housekeeping Cookery Team

An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).

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