Lightly butter a 21⁄2 pint pudding bowl. Place the dried fruits, candied citrus peel, apple, orange and lemon juice into a large mixing bowl. Add the brandy and stir well. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave at room temperature to marinate for a couple of hours, preferably overnight.

Stir together the flour, mixed spice, and cinnamon in a very large mixing bowl. Add the meat, sugar, lemon and orange zest, bread crumbs and nuts, and stir until all the ingredients are well mixed. Finally add the marinated dried fruits and stir again.

Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl then quickly stir into the dry ingredients. The mixture should have a fairly soft consistency. Now it’s time to gather the family for the Christmas Pudding tradition of taking turns stirring, making a wish and adding a few coins.

Spoon the mixture into the greased pudding bowl, gently pressing it down with the back of a spoon. Cover with a double layer of greaseproof paper or baking parchment, then a layer of aluminum foil, and tie securely with string.

Place the pudding in a steamer set over a saucepan of simmering water and steam the pudding for 7 hours. Make sure you check the water level frequently so it never boils dry. The pudding should be a deep brown color when cooked. The pudding is not a light cake but is instead a dark, sticky, dense sponge.

Remove the pudding from the steamer and cool completely. Remove the paper, prick the pudding with a skewer and pour in a little extra brandy. Cover with fresh greaseproof paper and re-tie with string. Store in a cool dry place until Christmas Day.

On Christmas Day, reheat the pudding by steaming again for about an hour. Serve with brandy or rum sauce, brandy butter or custard.

Note: The pudding cannot be eaten immediately. It really does need to be stored and rested, then reheated on Christmas Day. Eating the pudding immediately after cooking will cause it to collapse and the flavors will not have had time to mature.

Brandy Butter

1⁄2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

4 Tbsp light cream

4 Tbsp brandy

With an electric mixer, whisk butter until light and fluffy. Whisk in sugar. Whisk in cream. Whisk in brandy. Cover and chill. Delicious on top of Christmas pudding or mince pies.

Wassail Bowl

(or Smoking Bishop)

There are many hot punches associated with Christmas. The Smoking Bishop is mentioned in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. The recipes all involve spices and some include citrus. The simplest include beer or sherry; the more expensive include spirits.

The Bishop involves citrus brandy and fortified wines, but does not favor the addition of eggs. Citrus was considered an expensive ingredient. Wine and brandy would also be more accessible for the resident of a large hall.

One unpeeled orange

12–18 whole cloves

Brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Pinch powdered cloves

Pinch mace

1⁄2 tsp allspice

1⁄2 tsp ground ginger

1 strip lemon peel

1 cup water

1 quart port wine