© J Sainsbury plc 2020
Photograph: Maja Smend
Classic Christmas pudding with brandy butter
Rosemary Shrager's classic Christmas pudding from Sainsbury's magazine is hard to beat. You can make it up to a year in advance – how's that for forward planning?
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Ready in 6 hours 25 minutes
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Cooking time 6 hours
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Prep time 25 minutes, plus overnight marinating
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Serves 12
Ingredients
For the Christmas pudding:
- 2 large eggs
- 50 ml dark rum
- 75 ml fresh orange juice
- 100 ml dessert wine
- 2 tsp treacle
- 75 g self-raising flour
- 100 g suet, regular or vegetarian
- 100 g fresh white breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 200 g dark brown soft sugar
- 1 medium dessert apple, cored and grated (with skin)
- 150 g raisins
- 150 g currants
- 50 g flaked almonds
- 125 g sultanas
- 50 g candied orange and lemon, peel finely chopped
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
- 2 tsp soft butter, for greasing
- 2 tsp icing sugar, to decorate
- 1 small handful redcurrants, to decorate
- 1 sprig rosemary, to decorate
For the brandy butter:
- 175 g soft unsalted butter
- 175 g icing sugar, sieved
- 3 tbsp brandy
Method
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1
For the pudding, put the eggs, rum, orange juice, wine and treacle in a bowl; whisk together.
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2
Put all the other pudding ingredients in a large bowl and stir well. Add the egg mixture and stir again. Cover with clingfilm and chill overnight.
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3
The next day, spoon the mixture into a buttered 1.5 litre pudding basin.
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4
Cut out a square of nonstick baking paper big enough to cover the top of the basin and butter one side. Cut out a square of kitchen foil the same size and put it on top of the non-buttered side of the baking paper. Make a pleat in the middle of both sheets so the pudding can expand as it steams. Place them over the top of the mixture in the basin (baking paper first, buttered-side down). Tie string around the rim of the basin to secure the paper and foil, and make a string 'handle' so you can lift the pudding out. Trim any excess paper and foil.
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5
Steam the pudding for 4 hours. Cool; wrap it in fresh baking paper and foil. Store in a cool place (not the fridge).
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6
Steam the pudding for a further 2 hours on Christmas Day before turning out on to a serving plate.
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7
For the brandy butter, put the soft butter into a bowl and whisk with the icing sugar; add the brandy a little at a time. Chill until firm.
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8
Dust the Christmas pudding with icing sugar, garnish with redcurrants and rosemary and serve with the sauce.
