22/10/2026
There is a reason the pudding was always made in October and never in December. 🎄 A plum pudding wants weeks sitting quietly in a cool press to come right, and in most houses the day it was mixed was a bigger event than the day it was eaten.
There is not a plum in it, and there never was one. Plum was the old word for any dried fruit, and the name stuck long after the raisins and the sultanas took the job over. Every soul in the house was called in to give the bowl a stir and make a wish, a silver coin went in before it was packed down, and then it was covered, tied with string and boiled for the better part of a day until the windows ran with steam. 🥄
Serves 10 | Total time 5 hours 30 minutes, plus overnight soaking and 2 hours on the day
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups (225 g) raisins
1 1/2 cups (225 g) sultanas
1 cup (150 g) currants
1/2 cup (85 g) mixed candied peel, chopped
1 cooking apple, peeled and coarsely grated, about 1 cup (150 g)
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1/2 cup (120 ml) Irish stout
1/4 cup (60 ml) Irish wh***ey, plus more for feeding
1 cup (115 g) fresh white breadcrumbs
3/4 cup (100 g) plain flour
1 1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp fine salt
1 cup (200 g) soft dark brown sugar
7 oz (200 g) shredded beef suet, or 7 oz (200 g) cold butter, coarsely grated
3 large eggs, beaten
1 tbsp (20 g) black treacle or molasses
1/2 cup (60 g) chopped almonds, if you like them
INSTRUCTIONS
1. The night before, put the raisins, sultanas, currants, peel, grated apple, the zests and juices, the stout and the wh***ey into a large bowl. Cover it and leave it overnight.
2. Butter a 2 pint (1.2 litre) pudding basin well and line the base with a disc of parchment.
3. In a big bowl mix the breadcrumbs, flour, spices, salt, sugar and the suet or grated butter. Stir in the soaked fruit with every drop of its liquid, then the eggs, the treacle and the almonds. It should drop slowly off the spoon. This is the moment for the stirring and the wishes.
4. Pack the mixture into the basin, leaving about 1/2 inch (1 cm) at the top, and level it off. Cover with a pleated disc of parchment, then a pleated sheet of foil, and tie it under the rim with string, leaving a loop across the top for a handle.
5. Stand the basin on an upturned saucer in a deep pot and pour in boiling water to come halfway up the sides. Cover, bring back to a gentle simmer and steam for 5 hours. Top up with boiling water every hour so it never boils dry.
6. Lift it out and let it cool completely. Take off the paper and foil, prick the top with a skewer and spoon over a tablespoon of wh***ey. Cover with fresh parchment and foil and keep it in a cool dark cupboard for up to 3 months, feeding it with a spoon of wh***ey every three or four weeks.
7. On the day, steam it again for 2 hours, turn it out onto a warm plate and serve with brandy butter or softly whipped cream.
If you put a coin in, wrap it in parchment first and tell everyone at the table it is in there. Did your house make the pudding in October, and was there a coin hiding in it?
