From adding a pinch of garam masala to smoking your fruits – there are many ways to put a fun twist on a traditional Christmas pudding this festive season.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, chefs have revealed their unusual secrets to making the perfect December dessert – ahead of Stir Up Sunday.
The centuries-old tradition marks the date when most families make their Christmas puddings and cakes. This gives the fruit in the dessert a month to mature before Christmas.
As per the time-honoured tradition, every member of the family stirs the mixture and makes a Christmas wish as they do so.
To help breathe new life into the historic festive pud, chefs have told the Daily Mail their favourite ways to rejuvenate it, from spicing things up with garam masala to smoky dried fruits.
BE INSPIRED BY GLOBAL FLAVOURS
Chef Paul Ainsworth’s Christmas pudding follows the traditional mix of fruits closely, but with special additions of chunky almonds and Amarena cherries
The traditional flavours of Christmas pudding usually comprise of raisins and mixed candied peels, with a warming blend of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, all brought together by the zing of brandy.
But if you’re looking to make a pudding with a difference, casting your eye – and palate – outside the UK can bring plenty of inspiration.
For example, Chef Vivek Singh, CEO of The Cinnamon Collection, adds a pinch of garam masala to his Christmas pudding.
‘They give the dessert a deeper, more aromatic character and a gentle heat that lifts it in unexpected ways,’ he explained.
Cast your eye towards the tropics and you may land on Chef Kerth Gumbs, of Fenchurch Restaurant at the Sky Garden, who combines Christmas pudding with a Caribbean rum cake.
Caribbean rum cake is made with fruits and spices that have been soaked in rum – sometimes for years in advance – so the base is similar to a Christmas pudding.
Kerth’s fruit-rum mix, which turns 14 years old this Christmas, results in ‘a really rich aromatic cake’ with raisins, prunes, candied oranges peel, glacé cherries and candied Angelica in the base.
‘Dark rum is preferred and I always use Myers Original Dark Rum: I grew up with this and I find it gives a really strong perfumed aroma and pleasant taste,’ he added.
Chef Vivek Singh uses garam masala in his Christmas pudding as a twist on the classic because the spice mix imbues ‘a deeper, more aromatic character’
You could even turn to the Far East for inspiration, as Chef Carlo Scotto has done with his Christmas pudding at BEAR by Carlo Scotto.
He uses Japanese alcohols such as shochu which ‘can add an earthiness or nuttiness, or umeshu which adds a fruity richness, instead of brandy’, he said.
EXPLORE DIFFERENT DRIED FRUITS – AND EVEN NUTS
Although raisins are traditional, they can sometimes invoke strong feelings of aversion in some people so aren’t always welcome in a Christmas pudding.
If this is the case, Rakesh Ravindran, Group Development Chef at The Cinnamon Collection, suggested going left of field with the types of dried fruit you use.
‘Try adding tropical fruits like banana, pineapple, and papaya – they boost the flavour, texture, and complexity,’ he said.
‘We use dried fruits because they retain their sweetness and chewiness even after steaming, so by using these, it gives the pudding a more interesting and exotic twist!’
Meanwhile, Carlo’s ‘Japanese Christmas pudding swaps some of the traditional dried fruits for Japanese dried fruits such as yuzu peel, dried persimmon and dried Ume, a type of pickled plum.
Chef Jake Finn follows his grandmother’s recipe for Christmas pudding, which does not use the traditional beef suet
You could even steer clear of fruits completely and use vegetables instead, said Chef Paul Leonard of the Michelin-starred The Forest Side in Grasmere, Cumbria.
He prefers to use candied vegetables like candied carrot or pumpkin in the pudding, ‘because they add gentle sweetness, good texture, and a sense of the seasons that feels true to the Lakes’.
But if the traditional mix of fruits is your preference, you can up the ante with some special additions recommended by Chef Paul Ainsworth.
‘What makes this one so special are those gorgeous chunky almonds, Amarena cherries, Cornish stout and a little twist of candied orange peel which just lifts it and gives it a lovely citrusy burst. It’s absolutely beautiful,’ he said.
SMOKE YOUR FRUITS
Smoky notes are a big culinary trend, and you can incorporate them into your Christmas pudding too for even more depth of flavour, according to Mark Poynton.
The Michelin-star chef, who recently opened Ancient Shepherds in Fen Ditton, told The Daily Mail: ‘My favourite way of twisting a Christmas pudding is to smoke your alcohol-smoked fruit.
‘Light your log burner or outdoor BBQ, once it is cooling down, smoke your alcohol-soaked fruit (I like soaking mine in Cambridge Distillery Dry Gin). Then make your cake as normal.’
CONSIDER THE FAT
Traditionally, Christmas puddings are made with beef suet, which is similar to many steamed puddings due to its higher melting point and tendency to result in a fluffier texture.
London-based chefs Tom De Keyser of The Chalk Freehouse and Remi Williams of Smoke and Salt both agree that the use of beef suet balances out the flavours of a Christmas pudding.
‘It brings a lovely richness and, as it melts, creates these light airy pockets,’ Tom said, whilst Remi added that beef suet helps with the preservation of Christmas pudding.
But Jake Finn, chef owner of Cinder in St John’s Wood and Belsize Park, follows his grandmother’s Christmas pudding recipe – which omits the traditional fat.
‘The most notable different between that and traditional recipes is the lack of suet paste,’ he explained, adding that his grandmother’s recipe uses margarine instead.
‘This makes the pudding a lot lighter and not as dense.’
Vivek Singh’s Garam Masala Christmas Pudding
Ingredients
· 100g/4oz dried apricots, chopped (to about the same size as the raisins)
· 100g/4oz dried figs, chopped (to about the same size as the raisins)
· 100g/4oz dried black currants
· 100g/4oz seedless raisins
· 100g/4oz sultanas
· 75g/3oz candied lemon and orange peel, finely chopped
· 1 tsp ground garam masala
· ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
· 150ml/5fl oz dark rum
· 4 tbsp brandy
· 1 orange, zest and juice
· 50g/2oz almonds, finely chopped
· 50g/2oz walnuts, finely chopped
· 50g/2oz pecan nuts, finely chopped
· 50g/2oz pine nuts, finely chopped
· 50g/2oz brazil nuts, finely chopped
· 50g/2oz cashew nuts, finely chopped
· 1 lemon, zest and juice
· 225g/8oz salted butter
· 225g/8oz muscovado sugar
· 3 free-range eggs
· 150g/5oz plain flour
· butter, for greasing pudding bowls
Method
1. Place all the dry fruits, nuts and spices into a large bowl and mix together thoroughly.
2. Add the rum and brandy and mix together well with your hands. Cover and leave it overnight to soak in the flavours.(we macerate the fruit and nuts for at least a month)
3. Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time and continue mixing until all the eggs are incorporated into the mixture.
4. Fold in the flour and the soaked fruits and nuts.
5. Divide the mixture between two greased 1½ litre/2½ pint heatproof pudding bowls, filling almost to the rim, then smooth down the surface.
6. Cover each bowl with a large square of greaseproof paper, then cover that with a large square of aluminium foil. Tie the two sheets tightly into place under the rim with string, leaving long ends of excess string to make a handle. Loop one of the excess string lengths over the pudding basin and slide underneath the taut string holding the sheets in place on the other side. Bring up the string and firmly knot with the other piece of excess string, to form a secure handle to lift the pudding in and out of the water.
7. To cook, stand both puddings on a trivet in a large, deep, heavy-based pan (or each pudding in a separate pan). Pour boiling water into the pan(s), enough to come about halfway up the sides of the bowls.
8. Cover the pan(s) with a lid or a dome of foil and boil for seven hours. Check the water level regularly, topping it up with more boiling water as necessary to keep the bowls half submerged.
9. After seven hours, remove the bowls from the pan and leave to cool. Untie and remove the foil and greaseproof sheets and replace with clean, dry sheets of both greaseproof paper and foil.
10. Store in a cool, dry place. To reheat at Christmas-time, return to a pan containing a few inches of boiling water, cover and steam for two hours, checking the water levels now and then, until completely heated through.
11. serve with warm custard flavoured with nutmeg
Adam Handling’s Perfect Christmas Pudding
Ingredients
50g blanched almonds
2 large Bramley cooking apples
200g candied peel
1 whole nutmeg
1kg raisins
140g plain flour
100g soft fresh white breadcrumbs
100g light muscovado sugar
3 large eggs
2 tbsp brandy or cognac, plus extra to light the pudding
250g unsalted butter, taken straight from the fridge
Method
1. Chop the almonds coarsely. Peel, core and chop the cooking apples. Sharpen your knife and chop the candied peel. (You can chop the almonds and apples in a food processor, but the peel must be done by hand.) Grate three-quarters of the nutmeg (sounds a lot but it’s correct).
2. Mix the almonds, apples, candied peel, nutmeg, raisins, flour, breadcrumbs, light muscovado sugar, eggs and two tablespoons of brandy or cognac in a large bowl.
3. Holding the butter in its wrapper, grate a quarter of it into the bowl, then stir everything together. Repeat until all the butter is grated, then stir for 3-4 mins – the mixture is ready when it subsides slightly after each stir. Ask the family to stir too, and get everyone to make a wish.
4. Generously butter two 1.2 litre bowls and put a circle of baking parchment in the bottom of each. Pack in the pudding mixture. Cover with a double layer of baking parchment, pleating it to allow for expansion, then tie with string (keep the paper in place with a rubber band while tying). Trim off any excess paper.
5. Now stand each bowl on a large sheet of foil and bring the edges up over the top, then put another sheet of foil over the top and bring it down underneath to make a double package (this makes the puddings watertight). Tie with more string, and make a handle for easy lifting in and out of the pan.
6. Boil or oven steam the puddings for eight hours, topping up with water as necessary. Remove from the pans and leave to cool overnight. When cold, discard the messy wrappings and re-wrap in new baking parchment, foil and string. Store in a cool, dry place until Christmas.
Paul Ainsworth Mini Christmas pudding recipe
These individual puddings are bound to impress. You can make them on Stir Up Sunday, and then feed them with alcohol in the run up to Christmas.
Ingredients
- 175g currants
- · 175g sultanas
- · 140g glace cherry
- · 50g mixed peel
- · 50g flaked almonds
- · Zest 1 orange
- · Zest 1 lemon
- · 175g butter
- · 2 eggs beaten
- · 1 carrot peeled and grated
- · 150ml brandy
- · 50 triple sec
- · 175g light muscovado sugar
- · 175g breadcrumbs
- · 125g self raising flour
- · 1 tsp mixed peel
- · ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
Method
1. Soak the dried fruit with the brandy and triple sec and leave for at least a few days before making the puddings, the longer you soak the better the results! Its not unusual to soak dried fruit a year before you make minced pies or Christmas puddings. You can also make the puddings on Stir Up Sunday and then feed with booze in the lead up to Christmas.
2. Mix the fruit, almonds, citrus zest and the carrot in a large bowl. Cover and leave to soak, if you want to add an extra glug of brandy to make the puddings boozier than this wouldn’t affect the recipe, you can achieve a slightly more moister pudding.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients together, grate in the butter then add the eggs and stir.
4. Grease the pudding moulds with butter if you have caramelized brown butter this will add more depth and flavour to the pudding, fill each mould with 80g of mix and then tin foil each mould.
5. The best way to cook the pudding is steaming in an oven, or you can place into a pan with water and cook with a lid on for 45 minutes, make sure the pan doesn’t dry by adding more water throughout the cooking.
6. Serve with pouring cream or my favourite Cornish clotted cream.
