CHRISTMAS PUDDING (makes 2 medium sized puddings - and a tester!)
Ingredients :
450g raisins
225g currants
225g sultanas
200ml ginger cordial with 100ml hot water
50g medjool dates, pitted and sliced into chunks
150g glace cherries, approx half of them sliced in two, the remainder left whole
50g orange marmalade
zest of half a lemon
20g blanched almonds, roughly chopped
20g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
20g walnuts, roughly chopped
50g ground almonds
half a tsp freshly grated nutmeg
half a tsp (generous) ground mixed spice
half a tsp (generous) ground cinnamon
quarter tsp sea salt
65g soft brown sugar
1 (generous) tbsp black treacle
450g softened butter
375g fresh breadcrumbs (60% white/40% wholemeal)
6 large eggs, beaten
4 tbsp spiced rum
170ml (approx) Guinness Foreign Extra Stout.
Method :
1. Place the raisins, currants and sultanas into a very large bowl. Mix the ginger cordial with the hot water and pour over the fruit. Cover with cling film and leave for 30 minutes in a warm room.
2. Uncover the fruit and give them a stir. Next, add the dates, cherries, lemon zest, marmalade, almonds (both chopped and ground), walnuts, hazelnuts, nutmeg, mixed spice, cinnamon and salt. Give everything a good stir to mix the spices through evenly.
3. Next, add the soft brown sugar and the treacle and stir again, until the treacle has been mixed through thoroughly.
4. Add the softened butter. Put your spoon to one side, make sure your hands are spotlessly clean, your sleeves are rolled up - and scrunch the butter into the fruit mixture with your fingers. Once it is evenly spread, add one third of the breadcrumbs and scrunch again to incorporate them into the mix. Repeat until all the breadcrumbs are included and the butter is evenly spread.
5. Add the beaten eggs. You can go back to using a spoon if you like - but I found using my hands to be so much easier, as you can feel the texture of the mix. Continue to mix until the eggs are completely combined.
6. Add the rum and half the stout. Stir well to combine. Now how much of the remainder of the stout you include, depends entirely upon how wet the mix is by now. The end result you are after, is thick enough to clump together on a spoon, but wet enough to be able to drop easily from the spoon, if turned. So continue to add the stout until the correct texture has been reached.
7. Using a little additional butter, grease your two pudding basins liberally - and a tester ramekin if you're using one.
8. Divide the mixture between the two basins, pressing down as you go, to make sure they are completely full. Try to leave a quarter of an inch (at least) lip around the top of the basin, to allow for expansion during cooking.
9. Take a square of greaseproof paper and fold a pleat into the centre. Place the pleat over the middle of the basin and fold the sides roughly over the edges.
10. Fold a doubled piece of silver foil with a pleat and place this over the greaseproof, smoothing it down over the sides.
11. Take a piece of string and lay it across the top of the pleat, making sure you have enough spare to tie it either side - this will form a handle which will make removing the basin from the slow cooker, a lot easier.
12. Place a large piece of string below the lip of the basin and knot it, pulling tight so that the greaseproof and foil are held tightly to the basin and the single piece of string has either end caught under the tightening string. Knot it securely.
13. Tie the ends of the "handle" to the tightening string, remembering to leave room to get a finger underneath!
14. You should now have a made Christmas Pudding, all ready to go into the slow cooker for the next 12 hours. The tester pudding will need to have something to sit on in the cooker, to prevent it from submerging and it can be cooked alongside one of the larger puddings. The water level needs to be a good third of the way up the larger pudding basin - and start off with boiling water, as this saves the slow cooker from having to do the heating of it.
Before being cooked, the puddings will last for a few days in the fridge. However, once cooked, remove the greaseproof/silver foil combo and replace with a clean version. The pudding can now be kept in a cool, dark place for as long as you need it to! I have known puddings be left for some 2 years or more and still come out looking and tasting perfect.
From http://jennyeatwellsrhubarbginger.blogspot.co.uk