Important Christmas Traditions
One way to bring joy and festivity to the Christmas season is to re-focus on social and family connectedness. It’s a fantastic opportunity to slow down a little, reflect on the incredible year that has been, and take time out for our traditional family rituals – those too precious to let slip.
Christmas for me is a great reminder of what is really important in life. For many years in my family I have cooked the Christmas pudding – and I particularly love this ritual.
I do confess, I pour myself a glass of wine and enjoy it as I cut, weigh, and prepare the fruit for soaking. It is traditional and a very special ritual that everyone in our family (and anyone else who happens to drop in at the time) has a wish and stir before the mixture goes into the pudding bowl and is boiled up into a pudding.
It gives me great pleasure to serve and share a home-made pudding at our Christmas feast and know the family appreciates the time, love and effort gone into this tradition.
As I grow older I realise that it’s often these simple things that bring the most joy.
Mammoth Health’s Christmas Pudding
Ingredients
375g (12 oz) seeded raisins 250g (8 oz) soft white bread crumbs
375g (12 oz) sultanas 250g (8 oz) butter or grated suet
250g (8 oz) currants 250g (8 oz) white sugar
185g 6 oz) prunes chopped 125g (4 oz) plain flour
185g (6 oz) mixed peel ½ teaspoon salt
Grated rind of 1 lemon ½ teaspoon nutmeg
90g blanched almonds ½ teaspoon cinnamon or mixed spice
1 large carrot grated ½ cup brandy*
4 eggs ½ cup stout*
¾ cup milk *substitute 1 cup orange juice
1 Grate suet on the largest hole of a grater or with a grating disc of a food processor.
2 Mix all ingredients together in a large basin – the mixture should be fairly wet. Increase milk a little if necessary (Everyone should have a stir and a wish!).
3 Leave overnight.
4 Next day, taste a little and see if it has enough spice for your taste and adjust if needed.
5 Fill the mixture into buttered basins (size accordingly), or if preferred use a well-seasoned pudding cloth.
6 Cover the pudding mixture with a disc of grease-proof paper and a double sheet of foil. Tie securely under the rim with a doubled length of string.
7 Stand each basin on a wire rack or saucer inside a large saucepan or stockpot and add boiling water to come two-thirds up the sides of the basins.
8 Boil steadily for 6 hours, topping up stockpots as needed with more boiling water.
9 Cool and store in a cool place until Christmas Day. The puddings will take at least 1 hour’s boiling on Christmas Day to be really hot – but can boil away for a lot longer.
10 Serve with custard, cream and/or ice-cream or flame the turned-out pudding with warm brandy.
As has been traditional at Mammoth Health for over 40 years – we have our famous Christmas pudding packs, our Christmas Cake Packs (single & doubles) and our Festive Cake Packs available. These packs are a quick and convenient way to grab those ingredients, all weighed and ready to go with a copy of Mammoth’s Famous Fail-Proof recipes.
“Because it’s Not a Rehearsal”
Live Better
©2020 Live Better Naturally Pty Ltd