Classic Christmas pudding

From Unknown

Forked from Recipe via bbcgoodfood.com / TheMealDB

Original recipe

BritishDessertChristmas

Prep

—

Cook

—

Total

—

Serves

—

Method

Dessert

Ingredients

Units

Almonds — 50 g

Bramley Apples — 2 large

Candied Peel — 200 g

Nutmeg — 1

Raisins — 1 kg

Plain Flour — 140 g

Breadcrumbs — 100 g

Muscovado Sugar — 100 g

Eggs — 3 large

Brandy — 2

Butter — 250 g

Method

Get everything for the pudding prepared. Chop the almonds coarsely. Peel, core and chop the cooking apples. Sharpen your knife and chop the candied peel. (You can chop the almonds and apples in a food processor, but the peel must be done by hand.) Grate three quarters of the nutmeg (sounds a lot but it's correct).

Mix the almonds, apples, candied peel, nutmeg, raisins, flour, breadcrumbs, light muscovado sugar, eggs and 2 tbsp brandy or cognac in a large bowl.

Holding the butter in its wrapper, grate a quarter of it into the bowl, then stir everything together. Repeat until all the butter is grated, then stir for 3-4 mins – the mixture is ready when it subsides slightly after each stir. Ask the family to stir too, and get everyone to make a wish.

Lineage

Where this recipe began.

Every edit is kept, so the story of this dish stays whole — from the first time it was saved to the version on your screen now.

See the family tree

Version history

Imported from TheMealDB

Unknown · Jun 21, 2026 · current

Generously butter two 1.2 litre bowls and put a circle of baking parchment in the bottom of each. Pack in the pudding mixture. Cover with a double layer of baking parchment, pleating it to allow for expansion, then tie with string (keep the paper in place with a rubber band while tying). Trim off any excess paper.

Now stand each bowl on a large sheet of foil and bring the edges up over the top, then put another sheet of foil over the top and bring it down underneath to make a double package (this makes the puddings watertight). Tie with more string, and make a handle for easy lifting in and out of the pan. Watch our video to see how to tie up a pudding correctly.

To make the brandy butter, cream the butter with the orange zest and icing sugar. Gradually beat in the brandy or cognac and chopped stem ginger. Put in a small bowl, fork the top attractively and put in the fridge to set. The butter will keep for a week in the fridge, or it can be frozen for up to six weeks.