Traditional British Christmas Pudding (a Make Ahead, Fruit and Brandy Filled, Steamed Dessert)

One of the most traditional British Christmas recipes.

Recipe by slightly adapted from a Country Christmas on December 3, 2016

Prep time: PT30M

Cook time: PT360M

Total time: PT984M

Rating

4.86 stars (169 reviews)

Keywords

British Christmas, Christmas dessert, christmas pudding, figgy pudding

Ingredients

½ c butter (good quality, salted)
1 c dark brown sugar (heaped)
½ cup all purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 tsp mixed spice ((see recipe in notes if you don't have any))
2 cups breadcrumbs (fresh, not dried)
1 cup Sultanas ((golden raisins))
1 cup raisins ((note: I soaked my raisins in brandy, overnight))
½ cup Zante currants
1 apple (small, peeled, cored and grated)
2 tsp orange rind (finely grated rind of one fresh orange or lemon)
3 oz orange juice (freshly squeezed, made up to 5 oz (150 ml) with brandy or rum)
3 Tbsp mixed candied peel ((optional - chopped))

Cuisine

British

Steps

Special equipment: a 5 or 6 cup pudding basin/mold like this Mason Cash bowl.
Butter the pudding bowl and line the bottom with a disc of parchment or waxed paper, and butter the paper, too.
Beat the suet/butter and sugar together until soft.
Then add the flour, eggs, and spice until mixed. Then add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Put the mixture into the buttered bowl and flatten the top.
Cut a disc of waxed or parchment paper the size of the top, butter it and place on top of the pudding mixture.
Tear a piece of parchment paper and aluminum foil, large enough to cover the top of the bowl, and go halfway down the sides, and place the foil on top of the parchment. Create a pleat down the center, so that the pudding will have space to expand when cooking.
Place the paper and foil over the pudding basin, then tie some string under the lip of the bowl, leaving extra string to tie over the top to form a handle, tying it on the opposite end. If you don't have a steamer, like me, place a trivet in a pot and fill the water so that it's halfway up the bowl and use a tight fitting lid.
Steam for 6 hours, checking the water level once an hour or so, and topping it up.
Once you've taken the bowl out of the pot, remove the aluminum foil and waxed/parchment paper, wipe the rim and edge of the bowl (don't remove the pudding)and replace with clean paper. Store in a cool place.
To serve: you can steam it for another two hours, OR simply microwave it for a few minutes until it's piping hot! Let stand for a few minutes before removing from the bowl.
Place on a heatproof serving dish and douse with brandy. Carefully light the pudding (please do this in a safe area), then when the flame extinguishes, cut and serve with brandy sauce or butter, thick cream, lightly whipped cream, or custard.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 slice
Calories: 426 kcal
Carbohydrates: 70 g
Protein: 8 g
Fat: 15 g
Saturated Fat: 8 g
Trans Fat: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 77 mg
Sodium: 350 mg
Sugar: 26 g
Unsaturated Fat: 5 g

Reviews

Ang on 2025-12-28 (5 stars):
I used this recipe as the inspiration and the measurements as a guide. I used apricots, cherries and blueberries (dried) instead of raisins. It was absolutely lovely with brandy custard sauce.
Rick Dearing on 2025-12-12 (5 stars):
Awesome
Cheryl Clark on 2025-12-08 (5 stars):
I made this today for the first time and it was a great success! I took a picture, but I'm not on Instagram. Thank you so much - It took most of the day, but it was worth it.
Catherine on 2025-11-18 (5 stars):
Question. If you boil it for 6 hours and want to store it until Xmas. How? Let the containers cool then able to freeze until you want to thaw for use then steam again for a couple hours prior to serve? Do I have right? I’m making my deceased mother’s recipe which is similar for the 1st time