Christmas pudding

1 pudding of 1 Litre (or two puddings of 1/2 Litre)

20 mins

300 mins

This is the recipe for the Christmas pudding that we serve at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons and is the result of over 20 years’ development. Each ingredient plays an important role. Ideally, you would be making this in November to give the flavours time to mature. It can actually be made up to two months in advance and stored in a cool place, ready to be re-heated on the big day.

Ingredients Required

For the pudding:

80g: Raisins

100g: Sultanas

280g: Candied peel, chopped

1: Apple, Granny Smith, grated

1: Orange, zest and juice

40g: Flour, plain

70g: Breadcrumbs, brown bread

1 tbsp: Almond powder

100g: Sugar, brown Muscovado

4 tbsp: Treacle, warmed in a pan of water to loosen

100g: Suet

4 pinches: Mixed spice

2 pinches: Sea salt

1: Egg, medium, organic or free range

4 tsp: Rum, dark

2 tbsp: Cognac

1 tbsp: Guinness

1 tbsp: Ruby port

50ml: Cognac to seal the pudding

For the Armagnac butter:

150g: Butter, unsalted

75g: Sugar, icing

4-8 tbsp: Armagnac

: Armagnac to flame

Cooking Method

Step 1

To prepare the puddings: Prepare your basins by greasing them well with a little butter. In a large bowl, mix all of the pudding ingredients together thoroughly. Fill the pudding basins to 1cm below the rim. Now cover with a circle of greaseproof paper followed by a large piece of foil. Tie this tightly around with a piece of string.

Step 2

To cook the pudding: Steam the pudding for 5 hours or the smaller ones for 3 ½ to 4 hours. If you do not have a steamer, cook the puddings on a wire rack in a pan of simmering water, topping it up occasionally. Once cooked, remove the basins from the steamer and leave to cool. Unwrap and pour 50ml of Armagnac to cover and re-wrap in cling film. Store in a cool place until needed.

Step 3

To make the Armagnac butter: With a whisk, cream the butter until white. Beat in the sugar gradually. Add the Armagnac little by little. Beat it in thoroughly, and should the mixture show any sign of curdling, do not add all of the alcohol, as you can pour it over the top of the pudding when serving. The butter should be white and foamy. Refrigerate until needed.

Step 4

Reheating and serving: Re-heat the pudding by steaming it for about 2 hours (if you have made two smaller ones, then re-heat for about 1 hour). The longer you steam them, the darker they will become. Turn the puddings out onto a serving dish, and decorate with some holly. Heat and flame a ladleful of Armagnac, pour it over the pudding and serve with the Armagnac butter separately.

Chef's Tips

"For a vegetarian-friendly version, replace the beef suet with vegetable suet." "Add or substitute any dried fruit such as cherries, dates or figs." "You could make your own spice blend in place of the mixed spice; ginger, clove, star anise, cinnamon etc." "Use different sweeteners such as palm sugar, maple syrup or golden syrup if you prefer."