Classic Christmas Pudding

Ingredients

• 50 galmonds, coarsely chopped
• 2bramley apples, large; peeled, cored and chopped
• 200 gcandied peel, chopped by hand, not blitzed
• 1nutmeg, whole; you grate three quarters of it — that is meant to be that much
• 1 kgraisins
• 140 gall-purpose flour
• 100 gbreadcrumbs, fresh or dried
• 100 gmuscovado sugar, light muscovado
• 3eggs, large
• 2 tbspbrandy, 2 tbsp for the pudding, plus about 2 tbsp for the brandy butter and 3–4 tbsp for flaming on the day
• 250 gbutter, for the pudding; grated in cold, straight from the wrapper
• butter, for the brandy butter; about 100 g
• orange, for the brandy butter; the finely grated zest of 1 orange
• powdered sugar, about 100 g
• stem ginger, for the brandy butter; about 2 balls, finely chopped

Method

1. 1

   Coarsely chop the almonds. Peel, core and chop the apples. Hand-chop the candied peel. Grate ¾ of the whole nutmeg.

2. 5

   Steam the puddings for 8 hours. To boil-steam, stand each wrapped bowl in a large pan on an upturned saucer or a folded tea towel, pour in boiling water to come halfway up the sides, cover and keep it at a steady, gentle simmer. Check every hour or so and top up with boiling water — the pan must never boil dry. To oven-steam, sit the bowls in a deep roasting tin, fill with boiling water to the same depth and cover the whole tin tightly with foil at 150°C (300°F). Lift the puddings out and leave them to cool overnight.

3. 2

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

4. 3

   Holding the butter in its wrapper, grate a quarter of it into the bowl, stir, then repeat until all the butter is incorporated. Stir vigorously for 3–4 minutes until the mixture subsides slightly after each stir.

5. 4

   Generously butter two 1.2-litre pudding bowls and place a circle of baking parchment in the bottom of each. Pack in the mixture. Cover with a double layer of pleated baking parchment, tie with string, then wrap in double foil to make a watertight package.

6. 6

   Discard the messy wrappings, re-wrap in fresh parchment, foil and string. Store in a cool, dry place until Christmas.

7. 7

   Make the brandy butter: beat the soft butter with the orange zest and icing sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in the brandy a little at a time so it doesn't split. Stir through the chopped stem ginger. Spoon into a small bowl, fork the top into ridges and chill until firm. It keeps for a week in the fridge, or up to six weeks frozen.

8. 8

   On Christmas Day, re-steam the pudding for 1 hour. Unwrap and turn out onto a warm serving plate.

9. 9

   To flame the pudding, warm 3–4 tbsp brandy in a small pan until hot but not boiling, then take it off the heat. Pour it over the pudding and light it with a long match, standing back as you do. Keep the bottle well away, tie back long hair and loose sleeves, and never lean over the pudding. Let the flames die down on their own, then serve with the brandy butter.