Christmas Pudding Recipe With Lemon Sauce

OLD FASHIONED CARROT PUDDING

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. The mixture will be dry. Stir in the carrots, raisins and chopped walnuts. Pour into a well-greased pudding mold or coffee can. Cover the top with aluminum foil.
• Place the pudding mold into a large kettle or Dutch oven filled with 2 inches of water. Cover the pan, and bring to a simmer. Allow the pudding to steam for 4 to 4 1/2 hours over low heat. Remove from the mold. Serve with warm lemon sauce.
• To make the lemon sauce, mix together 3/4 cup of sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan. Stir in hot water, butter, lemon juice and vanilla. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Serve warm over the pudding.

AUTHENTIC CHRISTMAS PUDDING (FIGGY PUDDING)

Steps:

• Place the raisins, sultanas, currants, almonds, and candied citrus peel in a bowl. Pour the brandy over and stir to combine the mixture. Cover and let sit overnight to allow the brandy to fully penetrate the fruit.
• The next day, place the breadcrumbs, flour, baking powder, brown sugar, and spices in a bowl and stir to combine.In another bowl add the soaked dried fruit mixture, grated apple, black treacle, suet, lemon and orange zest, and egg. Stir to combine.Add the dry mixture to the fruit mixture and stir to thoroughly combine it. It will be thick and sticky.Generously butter your pudding mold (2 liter/3.5 pints mold) and scoop the batter into the mold, pressing down and smoothing the top.Cut a circle out of parchment paper the same diameter as the top of the pudding mold. Lightly butter the paper and place it, butter side down, on top of the batter. Next tear off two more pieces of parchment paper large enough to cover the to of the pudding mold and partially down the sides of the mold. If your pudding mold is small and the batter comes to the top of it, fold a pleat in the center of the parchment papers to allow room for expansion as the pudding cooks. Trim off excess paper.Secure the paper by folding down the sides and tying securely with a string (to make it easier you can secure it first with a rubber band while you're tying it and then remove the rubber band).Note: If your mold comes with a lid as mine does, I still like to adda layer of parchment paper before securing the lid.Bring a large pot of water to a very low simmer. Place a folded cloth or trivet on the bottom of the pot to prevent the pudding mold from coming in direct contact with the pot in order to prevent scorching.Lower the pudding mold down into the water on top of the folded cloth. The water level should come up to the halfway point of the pudding mold. Cover the pot with the lid.Steam the pudding over very low heat for approximately 8 hours. Check periodically to ensure the water level is still at the halfway point and add more water as needed.The longer the pudding steams the darker in color it will become.
• When the pudding is done steaming, carefully lift out the pudding mold and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then invert the pudding on a plate. Let it sit until the pudding slides out onto the plate. Let the pudding cool completely.To store, remove the parchment paper and wrap the pudding with clean parchment paper followed by aluminum foil. Wrap tightly. Store it in a cool, dark place, preferably a basement. If you do not have a cool, dark environment in your home you can keep it in the fridge but make sure it is tightly wrapped in two layers of plastic wrap and some aluminum foil to prevent it from drying out. Follow these same guidelines along with placing the pudding in a ziplock freezer bag to freeze the pudding. When you're ready to serve the pudding you will need to reheat it either by re-steaming it for 30-60 minutes or until heated through or you can also microwave it in a microwave safe container to keep the moisture in.You can light the pudding on fire just before serving (see blog post section on how to light a pudding) and then serve with Hard Sauce (i.e., brandy butter) or powdered sugar, whipped cream, vanilla custard, ice cream, or lemon sauce.

LEMON SNOW PUDDING

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine water, lemon juice, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil. Combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; add to saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until smooth and clear. , In a small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add to saucepan and beat with a wire whisk until mixed, about 2 minutes. Let stand for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. , Meanwhile, for sauce, combine egg yolks, salt and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat; immediately place pan in cold water to cool. Stir for 1-2 minutes. Add vanilla. Chill. , To serve, spoon pudding into individual serving dishes and top with sauce. Sauce will settle to bottom of dish. Refrigerate leftovers.