Mother’s recipe Christmas pudding

This recipe is from our great grandma Mable Reddington, passed to our grandma Vera, written out for our Mum, Barbara in 1970 and passed to us.

Vera Finch and her mum, Mable Reddington

Below is a typed copy of Mother’s Recipe Christmas Pudding. The ingredients seem massive but… my mum was one of eight and I expect my grandma made enough to last. The Christmas pudding has quite a bit of brandy in it which acts as a preservative. It matures over time and this would be enough for more than one year. Love and and huge hug, Barb.

680g breadcrumbs
225g flour
910g suet (if you can’t find or don’t want to use animal fat you can now find vegetable suet on amazon. Suet has a high melting point and stabilises to create a lighter texture and different taste to butter)
910g peeled, chopped apples
910g raisins
910g currants
910g brown sugar
115g mixed peel
1tsp salt
half tsp ground ginger
half tsp ground nutmeg
rind of 2 lemons
juice of 1 lemon
55g sweet almonds
1 and a half glasses of brandy (err, how big is a glass..?)
16 eggs but 12 will also do.

No instructions came with this ingredient list – it was self-explanatory to some. But for anyone new to making a traditional Christmas pud here is my prediction of the instructions.

  1. Soak the apples, raisins, currants, mixed peel and brown sugar in the brandy. Cover and leave to stand for up to 1 day.
  2. Stir in the breadcrumbs, flour, salt, ginger, nutmeg, lemon rind, suet, lemon juice, eggs and sweet almonds. Mix together well.
  3. Cover and stand in a cool, dry place for 24 hours.
  4. Transfer the mixture to pudding basins – grease the pudding basin, squash the mixture in until it reaches the thicker part of the lip. Cover with a lid or a layer or oven paper and a layer or foil tied on securely around the outside of the basin. This recipe could be used to make several puddings.
  5. Put the basin in a saucepan of water, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 6 hours adding more water as necessary.
  6. Store in a cool, dry place for up to a year.
  7. To reheat on Christmas Day steam again for a couple of hours, or warm it in the microwave.
  8. Serve with flaming brandy.