Mrs Beeton's Traditional
Christmas Recipes - 4 Christmas Puddings
Mrs Beeton's Christmas Pudding Recipes
Following on from the theme of Mrs Beeton,
here are two of her Xmas Plum Pudding recipes from the 1923 edition of her famous
book Mrs Beeton's Family Cookery, not to be confused with. This
edition features 5 Christmas puddings, and four Christmas plum pudding recipes are
listed
here, including one without suet for fruitarians as opposed to true
vegetarians. The full colour plate of
puddings from the 1890s version is
here.
I usually make my plum pudding on stir-up Sunday at the end of November
and I always add glace cherries and chopped dates too. In 2012, Stir-Up-Sunday is on November 25.
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Recipe 1 (Page 494)
- 1923 Edition
Makes 2 Christmas puddings
 |
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Ingredients |
Basic Method
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Check recipe for shopping/store cupboard
purposes and grease 2 basins. 8 oz
moist sugar (use soft brown ) 8 oz
chopped suet or modern day equivalent 8 oz
sultanas cleaned 8 oz
raisins halved and stoned (see footnote*) 4 oz
currants washed and dried 4 oz
shredded mixed candied peel - Cut your own or use ready cut 4 oz of plain flour 4 oz
breadcrumbs 2 oz
almonds blanched and shredded the
grated rind of a 1 lemon 3
eggs
a salt spoonful of nutmeg grated
half a teaspoon of salt
quarter pint of milk
1 small wineglassful of brandy
(optional)
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Mix all the dry ingredients together, stir in the well beaten eggs,
milk and brandy (if used). Turn the
mixture into 2 well greased basins, and steam from 5 to 6 hours. Time 5 to 6 hours.
Sufficient for 8 or 9 persons.
N.B.
Please note that no raising agent is mentioned in this recipe, but the
flour must be plain flour, as elsewhere self raising
flour is mentioned by type when used. |
»
The Christmas pudding recipe above sounds very good to me.
So good, I shall be making one when I finish this page! Reading
through the recipes, one becomes aware they are each different. The
Christmas Plum Pudding Recipe 2 below sounds more economical and I notice is
also nut free, which makes it perfect for those with nut allergies.
Recipe 1 also makes two puddings. The book also has recipe 3 a rich
pudding ( high fat content), recipe 4 an inexpensive pudding (more flour)
and recipe 5 Fruitarian Xmas Pudding with a wider range of fruit and nuts
and without suet. But you can today buy vegetarian suet substitute for
all the other recipes today.
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Recipe 2 (Page 494)
- 1923 Edition - Subtitled (Another Method)
Makes 1 pudding
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Ingredients |
Basic Method
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Check recipe for shopping/store cupboard
purposes and grease 1 basin. 5 oz
breadcrumbs 4 oz of plain flour 4 oz
chopped suet or modern day equivalent 4 oz
currants
4 oz raisins
4 oz soft brown moist sugar
2 oz candied peel - Cut your own or use ready cut
2 oz raw grated carrot
1 teaspoon grated rind of lemon
half salt spoon nutmeg grated
1 good teaspoonful baking powder
about quarter pint of milk
2 eggs
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Mix all the dry ingredients together except the baking
powder. Add the beaten eggs and sufficient
milk to moisten the whole, then cover, and let the mixture stand
for about an hour. When ready stir in the baking powder, turn into a
greased mould or basin, and boil for 6 hours or steam the plum pudding for about 7
hours. Serve with a suitable sauce. Time 6 to 7 hours.
Sufficient for 9 persons. |
Ω
Mrs Beeton's Rich Plum Pudding
Here is the third Mrs Beeton Xmas Pudding recipe, described as rich.
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Recipe 3 (Page 494/5)
- 1923 Edition - Subtitled (Rich)
Makes 1 pudding for 8 or 9 persons
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|
Ingredients |
Basic Method
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|
Check recipe for shopping/store cupboard
purposes and grease 1 basin. 8 oz
chopped suet or modern day equivalent 8 oz
breadcrumbs 2 oz
of plain flour
8 oz raisins 8 oz
sultanas
4 oz
currants
4 oz candied peel - Cut your own or use ready cut
half a grated nutmeg
half an ounce of mixed spice
half an ounce of ground cinnamon
1 gill of milk (about a quarter pint of milk)
1 wineglassful of rum or brandy (optional)
2 oz desiccated coconut or
shredded almonds
1 lemon
4 eggs pinch of salt
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Exact method from the book.
Skin the suet or chop it finely. Clean the fruit, stone the
raisins, finely shred the mixed peel; peel and chop the lemon rind. Put all the dry ingredients in a basin and mix well
Add the milk, stir in the eggs one at a time, add the rum or brandy
and the strained juice of a lemon. Work the whole thoroughly for some minutes, so that
the ingredients are all well blended. Put the mixture in a well greased or floured pudding
cloth. Boil the plum pudding for 4 hours or steam for at least 5 hours. Sufficient for
8 or 9 persons.
N.B
This recipe has no baking powder or sugar mentioned. 1 gill is a quarter
pint or 5 fl oz or 150ml.
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I have omitted Mrs Beeton Recipe 4, so that is why the next recipe is number 5.
˚
Here is the Mrs Beeton Fruitarian recipe.
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Recipe 5 (Page 495)
- 1923 Edition - Subtitled (Without Suet Fruitarian Pudding)
Sufficient for 2 medium sized puddings
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Ingredients |
Basic Method
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Check recipe for shopping/store cupboard
purposes and grease 2 basins ready. 8 oz
figs 8 oz
breadcrumbs
8 oz stoned raisins 4 oz
sultanas
4 oz
currants
4 oz candied peel - Cut your own or use ready cut 8 oz
peeled sweet almonds (blanched) 4oz
pine kernels 4 oz
shelled brazil nuts 4 oz
butter
The grated rind of
1 lemon and the juice of 2 lemons
3 eggs
1 teaspoonful of whole spice
pinch of salt 4 oz
of moist brown sugar 2
apples 4oz
honey |
Exact method
from the book. Mince the
figs. Peel, core
and chop the apples. Chop the
almonds, pine kernels, and nuts. Clean the
fruit, and chop or shred the candied peel.
Put all the
dry ingredients in a basin and add the honey and lemon juice.
Beat up the
eggs, and stir in with the above. When thoroughly mixed fill
into one or two greased moulds, tie over with a greased cloth and
boil the plum pudding for about 3 hours.
When done
un-mould and serve the Christmas pudding with a suitable sauce or custard.
Time about 4
hours. Sufficient for 2 medium sized puddings.
N.B
This recipe has no flour. With its figs this must be a figgy
pudding too.
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‡
Mrs Beeton's Coloured Food Plate
Here is a lovely 1890's Mrs Beeton's coloured food plate of Puddings.
Picture enlarges.
Cordially invite all of your closest friends and family with
Holiday Invitations
from Tiny Prints, and be sure to check out their new
Business Holiday Cards
line as well!
In the past dried fruit came into port in large sacks,
barrels or other containers. Mrs Beeton wrote in an era when dried
fruits were sold loose at a grocers and in the kitchen needed additional
cleaning and picking over to remove grit and dirt or twig bits. Despite
the fact that most dried fruit is pre-washed I still like to wash the
fruit as it helps rehydrate it.
In many countries you can get very large dessert raisins
mainly for eating as a raw lunchbox convenient snack - they are large
grapes which may or may not have pip stones. Today substitute
normal raisins which are now mostly seedless and also pre-washed.
If you wish purchase extra large Muscat raisins if you want larger
fruits.
As a child I recall sugar also being loose weighed into
blue bags, as bagging was done in the grocers from large containers. For
many years, possibly until the 1990s Tate and Lyle continued to sell
sugar in two layer bags. The inner bag was a deep blue 'sugar paper'.
Many of you will be familiar with the colourful dry textured sugar paper
from art and craft projects such as scrapbooking.
This piece of information below is courtesy of
California Raisins.
"The Birth of California Raisin Country
18th century - Spanish missionaries in Mexico moved
into California and helped farmers grow grapes for wine.
1851 - A marketable muscat for raisins, the Egyptian
Muscat, was grown near San Diego. Since the area didn't have sufficient
water supply, farmers moved to the San Joaquin (wah keen) Valley which
has a mild climate and extensive irrigation system perfect for the art
of viticulture.
1873 - Legend says California's first raisin crop was
grown by nature, not farmers. A massive heat wave hit the valley before
harvest, and most of the grapes dried on the vine before farmers could
pick them.
1876 - Scottish immigrant William Thompson grew a
seedless grape variety that was thin-skinned, seedless, sweet and tasty.
Today 95 percent of California raisins are made from Thompson seedless
grapes.
Late 1800s - Armenians descended from the first
founders of vineyards in Persia began settling in the San Joaquin
Valley. The area now supplies raisins for nearly half the world, making
it the largest producer anywhere."
In 2012, Stir-Up-Sunday is on November 25.
Page Added October 2006. Updated Nov
2009.
‡
See Topics Below for More Ideas on Christmas Traditions, Customs, and Recipes
Christmas Crafts
Seasonal Humour
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Christmas Traditions
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