Christmas Plum Pudding

A lot of people in America have heard about plum pudding but few have ever tasted it. Plum pudding is most often referenced in old English Carols and Christmas stories and is also known as Christmas pudding. This steamed pudding, which is more like a cake, is filled with lots of dried fruits, nuts and even beef or animal fats.  Originally it also contained root vegetables and was doused in booze and hung on a hook for several weeks in a basement or fruit cellar. It was steamed in a pudding cloth, similar to cheese cloth and then boiled in water. Plum pudding wasn’t a dessert at all in the beginning. Because of the shortages in livestock, it was a way of preserving meat at the end of autumn. The meat was prepared along with dried fruits which acted as a preservative. It wasn’t until the 1800’s that flour, sugar and spices were added into plum pudding recipes.

“Mrs. Cratchit left the room alone, too nervous to bear witnesses, to take the pudding up and bring it in... Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper which smells like a washing-day. That was the cloth. A smell like an eating-house and a pastry cook's next door to each other, with a laundress's next door to that. That was the pudding. In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit entered, flushed, but smiling proudly, with the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quarter of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top. “   Taken from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

There are a lot of traditions that go along with plum pudding.  Many families would make it on the 25^th Sunday of Trinity out of 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his 12 disciples.  When the pudding is set flame, it represents Christ's light for the world.  The traditional holly garnish represents his thorn crown.

Other families used to stir coins or small silver charms into the pudding.  Whoever got a coin in their piece would receive wealth and good luck. Don’t swallow it! Many times people would add symbolic charms that were boiled and then wrapped in a grease proof paper before baking.  It is also traditional for everyone in the family to simultaneously hold onto the wooden spoon, stir the batter for the pudding, and make a wish. They called this day “Stir up Sunday”.

"Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen" 

Taken from the Book of Common Prayer

A lot of people speculate on whether or not plum pudding actually contains plums. In fact, many recipes don’t even include plums (dried prunes). The old definition of prunes also included raisins as "prunes".

 

Plum pudding is traditionally served by saturating it with a lot of brandy over the top and lighting it on fire.  A sprig of holly is its typical garnish, but fresh holly is hard to find. It can also be served with a brandy or rum butter, hard caramel sauce, applesauce, ice cream, or powdered sugar. Often it is served with Sherry. It can be boiled traditionally in cheese cloth, in a makeshift double boiler (like my recipe below), or even steamed in a coffee can.

Plum Pudding

Makes 1 Large Cake

1 C Sugar

1 C Unsalted Butter

½ C Milk

½ C Brandy (or substitute another ½ C Milk)

2 Beaten Eggs

2/3 C Molasses

¼ t Salt

1 t Baking Soda

1T Baking Powder

3 ½ C Flour

½ C Pecans, Chopped

1 Orange (Zested, Segmented and Chopped)

3 ½ C Dried Fruits like Apricots, Prunes, Raisins, Dates, Cranberries

1 t Cinnamon

¼ t Ground Cloves

¼ t Nutmeg

¼ t Dried Ginger

Grease and lightly flour a bundt pan.

Cream the butter and sugar together. Mix everything else except the fruit and nuts until thoroughly blended.  Add in the remaining ingredients.

Ok, here’s where it gets crazy….

Many recipes that I found had it steaming in a pan of water that is just to a boil and then covering it.  These recipes said that it takes 4 hours to cook, but mine took just under 2 hours.  Here is what I did.  I took a large pot and filled it as close to the top as possible, or at least to the top of where the cake was.  I used a silicone baking pan which may be part of my 2 hour trick.  I used a funnel to get the water filled up in the pot.  I covered it with a lid.

 

Steam until a toothpick comes out clean.

Super Boozy Rum Butter Icing

½ C Unsalted Butter, Softened

1 C Powered Sugar

4 T Brandy

Zest of 1 Orange

Pinch of Nutmeg
 

Cream the butter and then add the remaining ingredients. 

Either frost the cake and serve at room temp later or serve warm with icing dollop which will melt down into the cake.  Garnish with holly, nuts or dried fruits.