Christmas is only a month away, and people across the world have already started making preparations for the much-awaited holiday.
To mark the occasion, the chefs from the British royal family's kitchen have shared the recipe for a traditional Christmas pudding that they usually make every year for Queen Elizabeth and members of the royal family when they spend the holiday at Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
“Today is Stir-up Sunday: traditionally the day when home cooks ‘stir up’ their Christmas pudding mixture on the Sunday before the Advent season – and the countdown to Christmas – begins.
“This year, chefs in the royal kitchen have shared the recipe for a traditional Christmas pudding.
“We hope that some of you enjoy making it in your own homes,” they wrote on Instagram.
Many royal followers loved the video.
But there was one surprising ingredient in the mix that the royal chefs added, and that was 275ml of beer.
Other more conventional ingredients for the festive pudding included raisins, mixed peel, and currants.
Here’s how to make the famous dessert.
The recipe will make two 1kg puddings.
Ingredients
- 250g raisins
- 250g currants
- 185g sultanas
- 150g mixed peel
- 250g suet or vegetarian suet
- 250g breadcrumbs
- 90g flour
- 12g mixed spice
- 2 whole eggs
- 180g demerara sugar
- 275ml beer
- 40ml dark rum
- 40ml brandy
Note:
If you don’t want to use alcohol, you can substitute it with orange juice or cold tea.
Method
Combine all the dry ingredients – raisins, currants, sultanas, mixed peel, suet, breadcrumbs, flour, and mixed spice and sugar.
Stir them together in a bowl. Add the eggs and liquid and stir together.
Grease your pudding basins and press the mixture into them. Cover the top with a piece of greaseproof paper.
Cover the basins with muslin or foil and place them in a deep saucepan. Fill up with water to ¾ the height of the pudding basins.
Cover the whole saucepan with foil and cook for steam for six hours, refilling the water if necessary.
Once cooled, wrap the puddings well and keep them in a dry, dark, and damp place until Christmas.
On Christmas day, reheat your pudding in a bain-marie for 3-4 hours.
Remove from the basin using a rounded knife or palette knife, flip out onto a plate, garnish or flambé and serve with brandy sauce and cream.