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Christmas Pudding
1 1/2 lbs. bread crumbs 2 ozs. citron, shaved 1/2 lb. flour 2 ozs. shredded blanched almonds 2 lbs. fine-chopped suet 2 grated nutmegs 2 lbs. currants 2 lbs. raisins juice and rind 1 lemon 1 teaspoon salt 2 oz. candied shaved lemon peel 16 well beaten eggs milk to make stiff paste Mix in order given, let stand over night with a small amount of cooking sherry added if possible. In morning, put in greased molds and steam 12 hours or more. When ready to use, steam 2 hours longer. Makes 6 qt.-size puddings, and will keep for some time. To serve, pour lemon extract over pudding, light it.
This is a full Victorian-scale plum pudding: about ten pounds of fruit and suet before the eggs go in, divided among six quart molds. Halve or quarter it unless you are feeding a boarding house or giving puddings away.
- Yield and scaleSix quart molds means roughly 60 servings. A single quart pudding serves 8 to 10; divide every quantity by six for one, or by three for a pair.
- SuetTwo pounds of chopped suet (beef kidney suet is what such recipes normally mean, though the text does not say) is the fat and the structure both. Ask a butcher for fresh kidney suet, or use packaged shredded suet. Grating it while very cold, or freezing then pulsing in a processor with a spoon of the flour, keeps it from smearing.
- "Milk to make stiff paste"Sixteen eggs carry most of the moisture already. Add milk a few tablespoons at a time until the mass just holds together and drops reluctantly from a spoon; a batter that pours will steam heavy and wet.
- The moldsGrease well and fill only two-thirds full, then cover with a pleated round of parchment and foil tied down, or the pudding will push its lid off as it rises. Set the molds on a rack in the kettle with water halfway up their sides.
- Twelve hours of steamThe long steam is what turns the crumbs and suet dark and cooks the mixture through. The one thing that will ruin it is the kettle boiling dry, so keep boiling water at hand and top up every hour; use boiling water, not cold, which stalls the cooking and can crack a ceramic basin.
- Storage, honestly"Will keep for some time" assumed a cold larder. Cool the puddings completely in their molds, then refrigerate or freeze them. A month in the refrigerator is reasonable; freeze for longer.
- ReheatingThe second two-hour steam is not optional. It is what brings a cold, dense pudding back to serving temperature all the way through.
- FlamingLemon extract is high-proof, commonly around 80 percent alcohol. Warm two or three tablespoons in a small pan, pour it over the hot pudding, and light it with a long match; never pour from the bottle toward a flame, and keep the pudding clear of curtains and low cabinets.