Christmas Pudding
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The most famous of all suet puddings, - Christmas Pudding - also has the longest recorded history:
	It has undergone numerous changes since it first appeared as a traditional dish on Christmas Eve in the form of a frumenty of hulled wheat and milk. By early medieval days, the Christmas frumenty, now made with beef or mutton broth, thickened with oatmeal and flavoured with eggs, currants, dried plums, mace and ginger, had become plum porridge. The Elizabethans made few changes, except for substituting oatmeal with breadcrumbs and adding suet and ale or wine; plum porridge was still semi-liquid, but by 1675 the meat broth disappeared, plum porridge changed to plum pudding and as such was boiled in a cloth.
	Since then, the plum pudding has remained virtually unchanged, its present name being adopted in the 19th century when dried plums were replaced by raisins, currants, sultanas and candied peel. The Christmas pudding reached its fullest glory in the Victorian era when huge puddings were the order of the day; they were round as cannon balls and boiled in cloths; the present pudding-basin shape did not become popular until well into the 20th century.
1 lb white breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
2 teaspoons salt
½ lb shredded or finely chopped suet
½ lb brown sugar
4 oz chopped mixed peel 4 oz currants
4 oz sultanas
1 lb seedless raisins
3 oz grated carrots
3 tablespoons brandy
2 tablespoons milk
4 oz golden syrup
Mix the breadcrumbs, spices, salt, suet, sugar, mixed peel, fruits and carrots together in a large bowl. Blend the brandy, milk and syrup and stir thoroughly into the dry ingredients; let the mixture stand for at least 1 hour. Spoon into 1½ – 2 pt greased pudding basins, cover with greaseproof paper and cloth or foil and steam.
Christmas puddings may be steamed in various sized basins; for 1 pt puddings allow 5 hours; for 1½ pt puddings 7 hours and for 2 pt puddings 9 hours. When cooked, remove from the steamer and allow to cool. Cover with fresh paper and store in a cool place; they will keep for 12-18 months and improve and mature during this time. On the day of serving, renew the covering and steam the pudding as follows:
1 pt puddings for 2 hours; 1½ pt and 2 pt puddings for 3 hours. Turn out on to a hot dish, decorate with holly and flame with warmed brandy; serve with brandy or rum butter or a sweet white sauce flavoured with rum.
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