Christmas Carrot Pudding (Festive Steamed Recipe) - Around The Nook (2024)

FAQs

How long should I steam a Christmas pudding? ›

Boil or oven steam the puddings for 8 hrs, topping up with water as necessary. Remove from the pans and leave to cool overnight. When cold, discard the messy wrappings and re-wrap in new baking parchment, foil and string. Store in a cool, dry place until Christmas.

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.

If you or someone in your family is a vegetarian and doesn't want to eat suet, look for a recipe that uses butter or margarine instead, such as this recipe for individual Christmas puddings.

Resist lifting the lid of the steaming pan for the first 30 minutes; like baking a cake, the drop in temperature could cause the pudding to collapse. However after this time, do check on the pudding regularly to make sure that the pan does not boil dry.

Check the pudding is cooked by inserting a skewer through the foil and parchment lid into the centre of the pudding. If the skewer still has some wet mixture on it, return the pudding to the steamer for a further 15-20 mins, then check again.

The mixture usually needs a spot more stout so as you describe the uncooked mixture as wet I think you may have added too much liquid or left something out like the breadcrumbs or the flour.

Our answer. Nigella's Ultimate Christmas Pudding (from NIGELLA CHRISTMAS) has a two-stage steaming method. So the larger version of the pudding should be steamed for 5 hours initially, and then 3 hours on the day of serving.

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.

As for all puddings, it should be stored in a cool, dry place until Christmas Day. For the US our preference would be to use Pyrex mixing bowls for steaming Christmas puddings.

Can you microwave an uncooked Christmas pudding instead of steaming? ›

Yes, you can microwave your Christmas pudding with the right recipe! Save time and effort - learn how to microwave instead of steaming or boiling your pudding. In partnership with and featuring recipes from Fairy.

As the bowl does not have a lid, we suggest putting a piece of baking parchment (parchment paper) on top of the pudding batter once it is in the bowl. Then wrap the bowl very tightly in a double layer of clingfilm (plastic wrap) and a double layer of foil.

Our answer. It is possible to make Nigella's Ultimate Christmas Pudding using vegetable shortening (such as Crisco, Trex, Flora White, Cookeen or Copha) instead of suet (which is made from beef fat). You use exactly the same quantity in vegetable shortening but it needs to be coarsely grated before you use it.

Vegetable shortening: Vegetable shortening has a mild flavor like suet and hardens in the refrigerator, making it simple to shred and add to foods that call for shredded suet. Shortening consists of sunflower oil, palm oil, and wheat flour, which create a similar, crumbly texture to suet.

Outside the UK suet can be difficult to find and vegetable shortening is the best alternative. The same weight should be used - 150g and for the US it is 14 tablespoons. As shortening is quite soft it is best to freeze it overnight before grating.

For these basins we suggest steaming initially for 3 hours, and then for a further 3 hours before eating. As steaming is a very gentle form of cooking it is difficult to overcook the puddings, so the same steaming time for both size basins is fine.

Reheating your pudding

To reheat your pudding, remove all wrapping, and then use one of the following methods: Wrap in foil and reheat in the oven for one hour or until hot at 150°C. Wrap tightly in foil, place on a trivet in a saucepan over simmering water and steam gently for 45 minutes to one hour or until hot.