Bake

(Mostly) Aunt Aggie’s Flaming Christmas Pudding

by:
December 13, 2015
4.7
3 Ratings
(Mostly) Aunt Aggie’s Flaming Christmas Pudding
Photo by James Ransom
  • Makes 1 pudding, serves 8 to 10
Author Notes

As told to Alice Medrich by Frances Bendixson. —Alice Medrich

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the pudding:
  • 45 grams (generous 1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon mixed spice (in Britain), or an extra pinch of nutmeg and ginger and a pinch each of cardamom and mace
  • 1 small lemon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (generous)
  • 115 grams fresh breadcrumbs
  • 115 grams grated or ground suet [Editors' Note: We used butter]
  • 140 grams chopped tart apples (I like Pippins and I don’t remove the skins, but you can)
  • 30 grams golden raisins
  • 90 grams chopped almonds
  • 60 grams candied citrus peel
  • 60 grams pitted prunes
  • 115 grams raisins
  • 115 grams moist brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 tablespoons brandy, plus more for flaming
  • 1/4 cup stout (I use Guinness)
  • Hard sauce, for serving (see recipe below)
  • For the hard sauce/brandy butter:
  • 115 grams (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, slightly softened
  • 115 grams confectioners' sugar
  • 3 tablespoons brandy
Directions
  1. For the pudding:
  2. Butter the pudding basin liberally and press a round of parchment or wax paper into the bottom and slightly up the sides of the bowl/basin.
  3. Mix the flour, nutmeg, ginger, mixed spice, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Grate the zest of the lemon directly into the bowl to capture the spray of lemon oil along with the zest. Add breadcrumbs, suet, apples, raisins, almonds, candied peel, prunes, currants, raisins, and brown sugar. Mix thoroughly with you hands. Either cover the bowl and let the mixture rest overnight, or just carry on with the recipe now…
  4. Cut and squeeze the juice of half of the lemon in a medium bowl. Whisk in the eggs, brandy, and stout.
  5. Scrape the egg mixture over the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly to make a sticky lumpy batter.
  6. Turn the batter into the prepared basin/bowl and pat it level. Place a round of parchment or wax paper on top of the batter. Cover the bowl with a large cloth napkin or square of foil. Let the napkin drape over the sides of the bowl; for foil, press down the sides to cover the rim with plenty of margin. Tie a piece of string under the rim of the bowl to hold the napkin or foil in place. If you have used a napkin, tie the ends as follows to make a handle: Bring two opposite corners to meet on top of the bowl and tie them together, repeat with the two remaining corners.
  7. Set the bowl in a large pot and fill it with water about halfway up the sides of the bowl. Cover and steam 4 to 5 hours (or for 8 if you want to reduce final steaming time to 1 hour). Let cool and store in a cold place (a larder in England, or a fridge in California). Steam for another 4 to 5 hours before serving (or for 1 hour if you have already logged 8 hours). Serve hot.
  8. To serve, unmold the pudding onto a warmed serving platter. Peel and discard the paper liner. Ask someone to kill the lights in the dining room while you warm 2 to 3 tablespoons of brandy in a small saucepan. Set the brandy on fire with a match and pour it over the pudding before entering the dining room.
  1. For the hard sauce/brandy butter:
  2. Beat the butter and confectioners' sugar together until blended. Beat the brandy in gradually. If the mixture curdles, beat in a bit more confectioners' sugar or 1 or 2 tablespoons of boiling water. Refrigerate until serving.
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  • AntoniaJames
    AntoniaJames
  • ChefJune
    ChefJune
  • jamcook
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  • LeBec Fin
    LeBec Fin
Alice Medrich
My career was sparked by a single bite of a chocolate truffle, made by my Paris landlady in 1972. I returned home to open this country’s first chocolate bakery and dessert shop, Cocolat, and I am often “blamed” for introducing chocolate truffles to America. Today I am the James Beard Foundation and IACP award-winning author of ten cookbooks, teach a chocolate dessert class on Craftsy.com, and work with some of the world’s best chocolate companies. In 2018, I won the IACP Award for Best Food-Focused Column (this one!).

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7 Reviews

AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames December 14, 2020
Excellent recipe. I'm not a big fan of stout, but found that one cannot specifically detect the stout in this - though the pudding is quite delicious, so I would not leave it out. ;o0
 
patricia G.
patricia G. October 24, 2020
I use (high alcohol) vodka for flaming, warmed in small pan, poured over the hot pudding, with someone standing by to light the pudding immediately. Serve with brandy butter, made with as much brandy as the creamed butter and sugar will absorb -- hard sauce to you guys.

For your amusement:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2156975-festive-flames-how-to-light-a-christmas-pudding/
 
ChefJune
ChefJune June 26, 2017
I have always wanted to make a Christmas Pudding, and I trust Alice to produce a failproof recipe. However I am very allergic to hops, which are definitely in Guinness. What should I substitute for that?
 
Marguerite
Marguerite October 19, 2020
Other recipes call for apple juice, or sherry, or more brandy.
 
jamcook
jamcook December 22, 2016
How large a bowl or mold or pudding basin ? Thanks
 
Marguerite
Marguerite October 19, 2020
The recipe gives bowl sizes (used in UK), and then says a 2-quart glass bowl will do.
 
LeBec F.
LeBec F. December 16, 2015
alice, you are so valuable to many of us because you explain the reasoning behind various procedures. What does 8 hours of steaming do that can't be accomplished any other way? It just seems such a medeival cookery practice, that I wonder if it warrants a change in technique? I also wonder if 1/4 cup stout is really discernable from more brandy or other alcohols? thx much.