Christmas Pudding II

Christmas Pudding, Part Deux

In last year's post about Christmas Pudding, I mentioned that no two of Grandma's recipes for the iconic dish were alike. For some reason, this discovery gave my sister permission to fiddle. She decided to swap out the traditional raisins and dates in Grandma's recipe for other dried fruits. Her husband liked the result so much that he declared they must have Christmas pudding every year. 

I was curious about her experiment, so this year, I gave myself permission to fiddle too. Using the above recipe as a guideline, I bought dried pineapple and this package of dried fruit mix. 

For the sake of tradition, everything else about the recipe would stay the same.  

How to Tinker with Christmas Pudding

Grandma always ground her raisins, dates, and candied fruit. The first order of business, then, was to set up the grinder. Making Christmas Pudding is a family affair, so I had one of my daughters start on the grinding while her husband looked on in fascination. This was his first time making pudding with us. First, she ground the dried pineapple then the dried fruit mix.

 We used a cup of dried fruit mix instead of raisins, and the package of dried pineapple replaced the dates. The candied fruit would be replaced by grated orange peel, which Grandma listed as an option on one of my cousin's recipes.  

While the grinding was happening on one side of the island, another of my other helpers grated the carrots and the apple on the other side.

Another helper combined the dry ingredients. 

I chopped the nuts. 

Once everything was grated and ground, it was time to bring it all together into one bowl. 

We added the melted butter and the eggs. 

And then, as tradition dictates, we all took a turn stirring.  

I pulled out the mold I used for the pudding last year, but this year's pudding wouldn't fit. I had to use the mold plus a quart jar. Luckily both containers fit into my ancient canning kettle.  

While the pudding steamed, we had what has become our annual English Christmas dinner, complete with crackers containing paper hats, silly toys, and bad jokes. And no, the jello salad on the table is not at all English, but Grandma would have liked it anyway. 

When it came time for pudding, I pulled it out of the steamer and turned it out onto a plate. It didn't come out as nicely as last year's pudding, but I hoped the taste would make up for the appearance. 

The Verdict

The pudding had a tang to it that made an for interesting change from past puddings. I suppose the zing came from all the tart ingredients we'd used--pineapple, cranberries, cherries, lemon zest, lemon juice. However, I also found it overly sweet. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it--I might have enjoyed it even more the second day--but I think I prefer the traditional fruits.  I served it with a butterscotch sauce and whipped cream, and my family devoured the whole pudding. 

Fortunately, I had one in reserve for the next day. 

Ready to try your hand at pudding making? Remember, it is versatile. Switch in fruits you like, and if you don't have a grinder, simply chop the fruit well. Don't like dried fruits? No problem. My kids aren't big raisin fans either, but when the fruits are ground or finely chopped, they almost disappear into the mix, leaving their fruity sweetness (or tang) behind. 

You don't have to wait for Christmas to try this pudding! Click on the upper right-hand corner of the recipe to download or print it out.