Christmas pudding recipe: How to make your own classic Christmas pudding

In less than 10 hours, you can cook your own delicious Christmas pudding for the whole family to enjoy this festive period.

We have made it easier for you. Below are the ingredients and method for the classic Christmas pudding recipe.

Ingredients (for the pudding)

100g of mixed fruit candied peel (in chunky pieces)

25g almonds

Three quarters of grated nutmeg

25g of self-raising flour

100g raisins or sultanas

Two large eggs

85g of soft brown sugar

One large cooking apple - peeled, cored and grated

100g breadcrumbs

Two tablespoons of brandy, with a little extra to light the pudding

200g butter from the fridge

Ingredients (for the brandy)

125g unsalted softened butter

Zest of half an orange

Five tablespoons of icing sugar

Four tablespoons of brandy

Two thinly sliced stems of ginger

Method

Step One

Grab a large mixing bowl and blend the roughly chopped almonds, peeled, cored and chopped cooking apples, chopped candied peel and the grated nutmeg. Add the flour, brown sugar, eggs, raisins and breadcrumbs to the mixture.

Step Two

Grate a quarter of butter into the same bowl each time until the whole butter is grated. Use two buttered 1.2 litre bowls with baking paper at the bottom to put in the mixture and cover it with baking paper and aluminum foil; secure with a string.

Step Three

Stand the pudding on a trivet (a stand to protect the dining table from the heat of the dish) in a large pot of boiling water. Steam the puddings over medium-low heat in boiling water regularly until they are quite firm and set.

Step Four

Take them off the pans and leave them to cool overnight. When they are cold, remove the messy wrappings and re-wrap them in new baking parchment, foil and string. Store them in a cool, dry place until Christmas Day.

Step Five

For the brandy butter, cream the butter with orange zest and icing sugar. Slowly beat in the brandy or cognac and chopped stem ginger. Put it in a small bowl, fork the top and put it in the fridge to set.

Step Six

On Christmas Day, boil or oven steam for one hour. Unwrap and turn out. To produce a flame, warm three to four tablespoons of brandy in a small pan, pour it over the pudding to set alight.