The Author's Christmas Pudding
The Author's Christmas Pudding is a traditional British recipe, based on Eliza Acton's recipe of 1845, for her classic fruited (plum) boiled Christmas podding that many food writers describe as the ultimate Christmas pudding. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: The Author's Christmas Pudding.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
390 minutes
Total Time:
410 minutes
Serves:
8–10
Rating: 
Tags : Beef RecipesDessert RecipesBritish Recipes
This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Eliza Acton's 1845 volume
Modern Cookery, the first classic Victorian cookbook.
Original Recipe
THE AUTHOR'S CHRISTMAS PUDDING.
To three ounces of flour, and the same weight of fine, lightly-grated bread-crumbs, add six of beef kidney-suet, chopped small, six of raisins weighed after they are stoned, six of well-cleaned currants, four ounces of minced apples, five of sugar, two of candied orange-rind, half a teaspoonful of nutmeg mixed with pounded mace, a very little salt, a small glass of brandy, and three whole eggs. Mix and beat these ingredients well together, tie them tightly in a thickly-floured cloth, and boil them for three hours and a half. We can recommend this as a remarkably light small rich pudding : it may be served with German, wine, or punch sauce.
Flour, 3 oz.; bread-crumbs, 3 oz.; suet, stoned raisins, and currants, each 6 oz.; minced apples, 4 oz.; sugar, 5 oz.; candied peel, 2 oz.; spice, 1/2 teaspoonful; salt, few grains; brandy, small wine-glassful; eggs, 3 : 3 1/2 hours.
Modern Redaction
This is Eliza Acton's own recipe for her classic
Christmas pudding, the one that so many food writers and foodistas rave about and say that it cannot be bettered. This really is a traditional kind of pudding, the same that my grandmother used to make, and it really deserves to be prepared in the traditional manner, in a cloth (it will work in a bowl, but I do not think it is as good). Make this at least 6 weeks before
Christmas so that it can be hung in a cool larder (or any other cool dark place to mature).
Ingredients:
100g plain flour
100g fine breadcrumbs (made from dry stale bread)
200g beef suet (you can substitute vegetable suet, but the taste is inferior)
200g seedless raisins
200g currants
130g Bramley apple, grated
150g demerara sugar
65g candied orange peel, finely chopped (or mixed peel)
1/2 tsp freshly-grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground mace
generous pinch of salt
70ml brandy
3 large eggs
Method:
Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and add the brandy and eggs. Mix thoroughly to combine (the batter will be stiff, but if needed you can add the juice of an orange).
Take your pudding cloth and fold in two. Flour it liberally then turn the pudding mixture into the centre. Take the ends of the cloth and bring them together, so that the pudding sits rather like a cannon-ball in the middle. Tie the loose ends of the cloth securely together with string (leave plenty of string overhanging.
Bring a very large pan of water to a boil. Lower the pudding into this then tie it to the handle of the pan so that it does not sit on the base of the pan (otherwise it may burn). Add a lid, and continue to boil the pudding for 3 1/2 hours (top up the water as needed with boiling water, and ensure the pudding does not boil dry).
When cooked, remove the pudding from the pan and allow to drain and dry in the kitchen then hang up in your larder or in a cool place until Christmas day.
To serve, you will need to boil the pudding for a further 3 hours (exactly as described above) before unwrapping and serving (garnish with a sprig of holly and set alight with brandy if you wish — heat the brandy in a ladle, then set alight and pour over the pudding).
Serve with sweet white butter sauce, or, if you want the Early Victorian flavour use any of German sauce (either the German custard sauce or the Delicious German Pudding-sauce), wine sauce, or punch sauce.
In the spirit of Eliza Acton herself, I prefer my Christmas puddings quite citrusy and add the grated zest of 1 lime, 1/2 lemon and 1 orange to the basic mix, as well as the juice of 1 lime.
Find more Eliza Acton Recipes Here and more Traditional Victorian Recipes Here.
Find more Christmas Recipes Here.