Stir-up Sunday

Having heard on ‘Sunday’ this morning that today was ‘Stir-up Sunday’, the Sunday before Advent on which you should make your Christmas pudding, I thought I had better get on with it! Mind you, if I were doing the job properly, I would be making the pudding today for next year (Christmas 2013)  as I would have another, made on Stir-up Sunday last year, sitting ready in the cupboard. I haven’t…. So you will have to make do with this with this somewhat youthful and immature offering.

This is a quite light, fresh Christmas pudding – not popular with those like a really solid, old fashioned pud – very popular with those who do not!! If you want to make it egg free, substitute a heaped teaspoon of gluten and wheat-free baking powder for the egg.

Dairy, gluten, lactose, nightshade, soya & wheat free; can be corn, egg and nut free

Serves 8

½ pear, skin on
¼ Bramley apple, skin on
150g raisins
100g sultanas
50g currants
50g ready-to-eat prunes, chopped small
50g ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped small
grated rind of 1 lemon and 1 orange
2 pieces stem ginger, chopped fairly small
1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon
1 heaped tsp ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground mace
1 large or 2 small eggs or, to make it egg free, 1 heaped teaspoon gluten and wheat-free baking powder
100ml brandy or fruit juice or a combination of the two
100g teff flour, chestnut flour, polenta or your favourite gluten-free flour

Chop the pear and apple into small pieces in a food processor then turn into a large bowl. Add the dried fruits, orange and lemon rind, ginger and spices and mix thoroughly. Add the egg, brandy or juice and  the flour along with the baking powder if you are using it.
Mix very thoroughly.
Oil a pudding basin and spoon in the mixture. Flatten it out and cover with doubled greaseproof paper held tightly in place by either string or rubber bands.
Put in  a large saucepan with water half way up the bowl. Cover, bring to the boil and steam the pudding for around 2 hours. Make sure it does not boil dry.
Remove from the pot. Cover with fresh greaseproof paper and store somewhere cool until Christmas.
To eat, re-steam for at least an hour then service flamed with brandy/whisky and accompanied by brandy ‘butter’.

Now, the next job is to try making freefrom dairy-free brandy butter with my last pot of Lucy Bee’s new coconut oil….. Watch this space.

For other Christmas food ideas, don’t forget to check out our Christmas pages. If you are feeling energetic, check here for GlutenFree4Kids great Christmas recipes; if you are feeling less energetic, check here for Cressida’s round up of Christmas food to buy (including dairy-free Advent calendars) and check here for Alex’s suggestions for skincare gifts to put in those Christmas stockings….