The Author’s Christmas Pudding
This Christmas Pudding recipe dates back nearly 200 years. It was published in “Modern Cookery for Private Families” (1845) by Eliza Acton.
The Modern Interpretation of the original recipe was completed by Sherry Murphy, and is re-printed here with permission from Culinary Historians of Canada.
The original recipe is in the notes below.
The Author’s Christmas Pudding
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This Christmas Pudding recipe dates back nearly 200 years. It was published in “Modern Cookery for Private Families” (1845) by Eliza Acton.
The Modern Interpretation of the original recipe was completed by Sherry Murphy, and is re-printed here with permission from Culinary Historians of Canada.
The original recipe is in the notes below.
Ingredients
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½ cup Suet
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1 cup Raisins
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¾ cup Daisy Unbleached Hard flour
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¾ cup Breadcrumbs
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1 cup Currants
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½ cup Peeled, cored and minced apple (2)
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2/3 cup Granulated white sugar
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⅓ cup Candied orange peel
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¼ tsp each Ground Nutmeg and Mace
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½ tsp Salt
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3 Eggs
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½ cup Brandy
Directions
Shred the suet.
Weigh and chop raisins.
Rinse currants thoroughly, soak in warm water for 5 to 10 minutes, then dry on a tea towel.
Peel, core and mince apples.
In a large bowl, combine flour, breadcrumbs, suet, raisins, currants, apples, sugar, candied peel, spices, and salt. Stir well.
In a small bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Add brandy, blend well and add to the flour mixture.
Grease the pudding mould well with butter and lightly flour the inside, shaking out any excess.
Place filling evenly into the mould. Set it into a pudding bag or into the centre of a square pudding cloth and tie it up tightly with butcher’s twine to enclose it securely.
Tie the enclosed pudding to a pot handle or sturdy wooden spoon laid across the top of the pot to keep it from touching the bottom. (Alternative: place the enclosed pudding on a heatproof trivet or pot lid.)
Boil for three hours.
Recipe Note
Original Receipt:
To 3 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, 4 ounces of minced apples, five of sugar, two of candied orange-rind, half a tspful 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 and 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.