Last Minute Christmas Pudding Queries | Ask Nigella.com (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to boil or steam Christmas pudding? ›

Ideally we would suggest that when the pudding is made it is steamed for 8 hours (the combined time of the first and second steamings) as the steaming is important for the flavour of the pudding. The pudding can then be microwaved to reheat it on Christmas Day.

However the shape is different so you will have a wider, squatter pudding. Pyrex make bowls with capacities of 0.5 litres, 2 litres and 3 litres and the 2 litre size bowl would be the most appropriate size. Both the plastic basin and Pyrex bowls are available in major cookware stores and on-line.

The pudding should be stirred from east to west, in honour of the Magi (Wise Men) who came from the east to visit the baby Jesus. It's also a good excuse to enjoy a wee dram or a cup of festive mulled wine! On Christmas Day the pudding has its own ritual.

Follow your recipe for the steaming times of your pudding, but if you do need to check then you can insert a skewer through the foil and parchment to check that it comes out clean. Simply patch up the hole with more foil if your pudding needs more time to steam.

While the pudding won't dry out if it's steamed for too long, some of the ingredients inside may be spoiled by being overcooked.

To prevent water from getting into the mixture, which would make the pudding soggy, make sure you secure the foil with string and fold the foil back over the string.

To avoid mould, we recommend you wrap the cooled pudding in plastic wrap and seal it in a freezer bag or airtight container.

First grease your bowls generously with coconut oil. Next grab some greaseproof paper, tin foil and twine. So for each bowl you need to cut out a little circle of greaseproof to go in the bottom of the bowl, this is just to prevent the pudding from sticking!

Aside from the traditional method in a saucepan, there are lots of ways to steam a pudding. You can use a pressure cooker, microwave or bake in the oven in a water bath.

Finding a Christmas coin in your slice of pudding is believed to bring good luck and especially wealth in the coming year. This lovely tradition may date back as early as the 1300s when a dried pea or sometimes a small silver ring or crown was baked into a Twelfth Night Cake.

Do you put the lid on when steaming Christmas pudding? ›

The pan or steamer attachment should be covered with a lid as this creates the steamy enviroment in which the pudding cooks, as well as trying to limit the evaporation of water from the pan and the condensation that will build up in the kitchen.

Why is Christmas pudding also known as plum pudding? The interesting thing is, plum pudding does not contain any plum! This goes back to the Victorian practice of substituting dried plums with other dried fruits, such as raisins.

According to experts, the secret to Christmas pudding perfection is to heat it to precisely 71 °C. If it gets hotter than 89 °C, the sugars within the fruits in the pudding start to caramelise. So no matter how luxurious its ingredients are, your precious pud will taste bitter.

After you have steamed and cooled your pudding, replace the foil with a freshly buttered piece to keep it moist and store in a cool, dark place, or the fridge, until you are ready to reheat it on Christmas day.

Steaming is the best way to re-heat a homemade pudding and the only way we recommend re-heating Delia's Christmas pudding. Microwaved puddings are frequently ruined. They tend to overheat and get tough & sticky.

Reheating Christmas Puddings

Wrap in foil and reheat at 300ºF (150ºC) for an hour or until hot. To reheat on the stovetop, remove wrappings and place the pudding in the original mould. Cover tightly. Set pudding mould on a trivet in a large saucepan and steam 3/4 - 1 hour or until hot.

A Christmas pudding is quite a dense mixture and needs long gentle cooking to prevent the outside burning before the inside is cooked. The same theory holds for reheating a pudding as it will take some time for the pudding to heat right through to the centre.