The perfect Christmas pudding

Though it’s not fashionable to admit it in this age of chocolate tortilla-covered chips and salted caramel bombes, I bloody love Christmas pudding. However, many pigs in blankets have been put away beforehand, no matter the number of chocolates scoffed in place of breakfast, I solemnly swear I’ll never ever give in to the inevitable suggestion that we save it until Boxing Day instead. Partly because Boxing Day is for trifle, and I’m not missing out on that, but mostly because it doesn’t matter how full I am, there’s always room for a little wedge of fruity stodge on top of the mound of other food. And though it may seem rather early to be thinking of Christmas, we’re only days away from what’s traditionally known as “Stir-up Sunday”, thanks to the opening words from the Book of Common Prayer’s collect for the Sunday before Advent, “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people” – an unambiguous signal to dig out the silver sixpence and get mixing. Real pudding aficionados may have made them months ago, but, with more than a month to go before the big day, there’s still ample time to wield the wooden spoon. Christmas puddings are as much about texture as flavour – they should be unapologetically dense, without being solid. Mary Berry makes hers with a standard cake base, creaming together butter and sugar before adding eggs and flour, giving a lighter, fluffier result which, although delicious, doesn’t seem quite in the spirit of the dish.

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet