Christmas Pudding (Vegetarian friendly)
From “Titli’s Busy Kitchen” this is a rich, suet-free Christmas pudding recipe which is suitable for vegetarians and is far better than any pudding you will buy in the supermarket. It’s easy to prepare and delicious to eat.
Serve with your favorite topping, e.g. brandy butter, rum butter, hard sauce, cream, ice-cream, custard or with a caster sugar.
Watch this video, and see the recipe and cooking method below.
INGREDIENTS (serves 24)
Makes 2 one litre (2 pint) puddings
- 500 g (16 oz) brown sugar
- 280 g (9 oz) breadcrumbs
- 250 g (8 oz) butter
- 250 g (8 oz) raisins
- 250 g (8 oz) candied citrus peel
- 250 g (8 oz) dates, chopped
- 150 g (5 oz) plain flour
- 120 g (4 oz) currants
- 120 g (4 oz) sultanas
- 80 ml (3 fl oz) orange juice
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp baking soda
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
- Cream together the butter and the sugar in a large bowl. Add in the eggs one at a time and beat the mixture between each egg added. Mmmmm: Creamy!
- Add in the dried fruits, citrus peel and orange juice. Mix well with a spoon.
- Sieve in the flour, ginger and baking soda and mix well.
- Finally, add in the breadcrumbs and mix really well.
- Split the mixture between two 500 ml (1 pint) basins and smooth the surface. Place a disk of baking paper onto the surface of the pudding.
- Take a piece of aluminum foil and fold a pleat into it. Cover the top of the basin with the foil and secure with 2 or 3 elastic bands. Trim away the excess foil.
- Place the basin in a large pan of boiling water. The water should come about ⅔ of the way up the side of the basin. Now cover the pan and cook the pudding for 6 hours (yes, I do mean six hours), topping the water up as necessary.
- Remove the basin from the pan and allow to cool. When it is cool enough to handle remove the foil and the paper and run a palette knife around the sides of the pudding. Turn the pudding out onto a plate and serve.
Titli’s Tips
The pudding will keep easily in the ‘fridge for several days if covered. Just cut off a piece and reheat in the oven or microwave. And by the way, cooked Christmas puds will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months!
Also see our Online Store for great vegetarian Books, DVDs and Cooking Supplies: VegetarianTimes.net Online Store