The Chapman Christmas Pudding

Every year in November, after my parents and I visited the Annual English Bazaar in Zurich, we prepare the traditional family Christmas Pudding. At the bazaar, we buy a few necessary last ingredients we cannot easily get in Switzerland because they do not sell them here – Suet, and Mixed Spice. The Mixed Spice is a very British mix containing Cinnamon (40%), Coriander Seed, Caraway, Nutmeg, Ginger, Cloves. I think one could make the mix instead of buying it ready-made – but it would be a break of our tradition. For a working-class family – which is my background –, the ingredients must have been quite costly at the time and, therefore, a real Christmas treat – and to this day, the pudding is special to my family and me – no Christmas without.

Apart from the dried fruits, groundnuts, and bread, there are some ingredients you would maybe not expect, like Guinness Draught and Jamaican Rum. Unlike other recipes, ours is not so sticky and sweet – the pudding is slightly tangy and rich with warm fruity flavours.

While preparing the pudding, we drop a small silver coin – a Threepence piece – into the pudding mixture before cooking. Whoever gets the coin in his/her piece of the pudding on Christmas Day can make a secret wish – and it shall become true.

It doesn’t take much time to make the mix, but the pudding requires a very long cooking time in a water-filled saucepan – at least 8 hours of gentle simmering. You cook it twice. The first time, soon after mixing the ingredients, it is cooked for 6 hours. The second time for 2 hours on the day it is to be served. The pudding can be made weeks in advance and be kept covered in the pudding basin until Christmas Day.

Ingredients

For a size S30 pudding basin (17 cm ø)

115 g	Self-raising flour (or plain flour and one teaspoon baking soda)
115 g	Suet
115 g	Sultanas
115 g	Raisins
115 g	Currants
3	Dried prunes without stones
60 g	Mixed peel
1	Orange, juice and grated peel
1	Lemon, juice and grated peel
60 g	Ground almonds
115 g	Dark sugar
3	Eggs
50 ml	Dark Jamaican Rum
150 ml	Guinness Draft
115 g	Dried bread
2 Tbsp	Mixed Spice
	Coconut fat for greasing the basin

Preparation

Grate the peel of the orange and lemon, then half them and squeeze out the juice.
Cut the dried prunes into small pieces.
Put the prune pieces together with the sultanas, raisins, currants and mixed peel into a bowl and add the rum. Mix well and set aside to let the dry fruit marinate.
Cut or pluck the dried bread into tiny pieces.
Give the flour and suet into a large bowl. Add the cut bread, the eggs, lemon, and orange juice and mix well.
Add the mixed rum marinated fruits to the mix and incorporate well. Pour in the Guinness and stir well to distribute all the ingredients evenly.
Grease the inside of the pudding basin with coconut fat and fill in the pudding mixture. Lift the basin and gently tap it on the table surface to make sure it settles well.
To cover the pudding with baking parchment and tinfoil, it is best if someone helps you.
First, cover with two layers of baking parchment and then one layer of tinfoil. With your hands, bend down the covers around the edge of the basin and hold them down. The person helping you fastens them with a strong string below the basin rim. Then using more string cross over the top crosswise, making sure it sits snug over the covers. Finally, make a loop with the sting in the centre so you can easily lower the pudding basin into the cooking pan — cut away any excess of the covers but leaving about 15 mm below the surrounding string.
Lower the pudding basin into a large pan and carefully fill water into it on the sides. The water should cover the basin up to the edge of the cover. Bring the water to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Put a lid on the pan and cook the pudding for 8 hours, occasionally adding some hot water to the edge of the cover.

Serving | Before you serve, cook the pudding for another 2 hours in the method described in position 8. Then take out the basin and remove the cover. Gently run a knife around the edge of the pudding – not too deep. Use a large serving plate, cover the basin top, and turn it over. Be careful; the pudding basin is very hot. Then carefully lift the basin off.

In our family, we decorate the pudding with a holly twig with red berries to give it a Christmas look and bring it to the table. Before cutting it up, we pour some brandy over it and set the alcohol alight. Finally, slices are cut out and served with fresh whipped cream.