Here we go, this Sunday is Stir-up Sunday, and the real kick start of Christmas cooking as it is the day to make the traditional British Christmas Pudding.
For me, once the Christmas Puddings are stirred, steamed and wrapped, Christmas begins in earnest.
As the name Stir Up Sunday implies the pudding making is about stirring. The custom brings the family together and each takes a turn stirring the mixture whilst making a wish and adding coins or charms as they do. Finding the charms or coins on Christmas day purportedly brings wealth, health, happiness, and ensures that everyone eats some pudding to find one!
The perfect pudding should be dense, moist and oozing decadence of rich fruits and brandy. Making a Christmas Pudding does take time. There are 13 ingredients to prepare and weigh (each of the ingredients representing Christ and his disciples.) The fruits then need time to marinate and the steaming takes several hours. However, once made and put away in a cool, dry place, the pudding only needs a further hour steaming on the day itself. How easy is that?
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