Day 11 1/2 — Microwave Christmas Pudding

The problem with Christmas puddings is that they take hours (sometimes a whole day) to prepare and up to eight hours to cook the first time. Then they need to be stored to mature for several weeks.

After that they need to be re-boiled, again for several hours before serving.

If you have not prepared a Christmas pudding beforehand, then you are stuck... you can't have home-made pudding for your Christmas lunch.

At least, that used to be the case... but not any more. Now, with this microwave method you can prepare a rich Christmas pudding on Christmas day itself.

So, even if you don't have a Christmas pudding yet, you can use this method to prepare on Christmas day.

I am indebted to the Celtnet site, whose recipe for Microwave Fruity Christmas Pudding this version is baed on.

As well as this recipe, the Celtnet site has also been updated today with over 40 new Christmas dishes. Go on over to Celtnet's latest recipes page for the updated Christmas dishes.

Microwave Christmas Pudding

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

75g (1/2 cup) raisins
75g (1/2 cup) sultanas
50g (1/2 cup) glacé pineapple, chopped
50g (1/2 cup) glacé cherries, chopped
50g (1/2 cup) crystallized ginger, chopped
4 tbsp brandy or rum
50g (1/2 cup) ground almonds
50g (3/4 cup) fresh breadcrumbs
finely-grated zest of 1 orange
finely-grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 orange
50g (1/3 cup) brazil nuts, chopped
50g (1/2 cup) cooking apples, peeled, cored and grated
50g (1/2 cup) carrot, grated
125g (1/2 cup, heaped) buter
125g (1/2 cup, packed and heaped) dark muscovado sugar
2 eggs, beaten
125g (1 cup) wholemeal self-raising flour
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp freshly-grated nutmeg
2 tbsp treacle (molasses)
2 tbsp whole milk (or as needed)

Method:

If you have the time, combine the raisins, sultanas, cherries, pineapple and ginger in a bowl. Stir in the brandy, cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and set aside to soak over night. Alternatively, cover and microwave on half power for 2 minutes then set aside for 2 hours to soak.

When the fruit have plumped, in a separate bowl mix together the ground almonds, breadcrumbs, orange zest, lemon zest, orange juice, nuts, apple and carrot. Stir the macerated fruit into this mixture.

In another bowl, cream together the butter, muscovado sugar and treacle. Beat until light and fluffy then add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, beating thoroughly to combine after each addition. If the mixture looks like it may curdle add a spoonful of flour and mix to combine. Stir into the fruit mixture.

Mix together the remaining flour and the spices then work this into the fruit mixture. Add about 2 tbsp milk, or enough to give you a fairly moist cake-like batter.

Lightly butter a microwave-proof pudding basin (about 1.5l) and sit a circle of greaseproof (waxed) paper in its base. Turn the pudding mixture into the basin and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Cover with microwave clingfilm (plastic wrap) and pierce this with a skewer to make steam holes.

Place in your microwave and cook for 15 minutes on low (900W microwave). Allow to stand for 5 minutes.

When ready to serve, run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the pudding basin and turn the pudding out onto a warmed serving plate.

If you want to flame the pudding, place 2 tbsp brandy in a glass and microwave on full power for 20 seconds. Pour over the pudding and set light to the alcohol with a taper.

Serve immediately, accompanied by white sauce (menyn melys) or brandy butter.

For the full Christmas day experience, I have also published on this blog recipes for: Honey-brined Herb-Roasted Turkey Recipe. To accompany this turkey recipe, tomorrow I will be publishing recipes for Crockpot Stuffing and Cranberry Relish on this blog. On Monday I will have recipes for two accompaniments: Spicy Honey-roasted Sweet Potatoes and Spicy Braised Red Cabbage. This is rounded off by my recipe for Hasselback Potatoes.

If you would like even more Christmas recipes, and would like to learn more about the history of Christmas foods through the ages, visit the Celtnet History of the Foods of Christmas page.