The Royal Family has shared the recipe
Stir-up Sunday is the day to make your Christmas pudding
Today is stir-up Sunday, a day when countless Christmas puddings are whipped up across the country. This informal term, used in Catholic and Anglican churches, refers to the last Sunday before Advent begins – but it’s also the day when many households start making their Christmas puds.
Royal chef Darren Grady has given us a sneak peek into the Royal Family’s festive food traditions. After tucking into a hearty cooked breakfast, the Royals reportedly attend church together before heading home for a roast turkey feast with all the trimmings.
This is followed by Christmas pudding and brandy sauce. And if that wasn’t enough, they also enjoy an afternoon tea, complete with Yule log, Christmas cake, and a selection of chocolate pastries.
But what exactly goes into the Christmas pudding, and how does it compare to those enjoyed by families across the nation?
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A video posted on the Royal Family’s Instagram page reveals the recipe used by the Royal cooks, which is said to be Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite Christmas pudding recipe, reports Gloucestershire Live.
The post reads: “Today is Stir-up Sunday: traditionally the day when home cooks ‘stir up’ their Christmas pudding mixture on the Sunday before the Advent season – and the countdown to Christmas – begins.
“This year, chefs in the Royal kitchens have shared their recipe for a traditional Christmas pudding. We hope that some of you enjoy making it in your own homes. The recipe will make two 1kg puddings.
Ingredients as follows:
250g raisins 250g currants 185g sultanas”.
150g mixed peel.
250g suet or vegetarian suet 250g breadcrumbs 90g flour.
12g mixed spice 2 whole eggs.
180g demerara sugar 275ml beer 40ml dark rum 40ml brandy.
If you prefer not to use alcohol, you can replace it with orange juice or cold tea. On Christmas Day, warm your pudding in a bain-marie for 3-4 hours.
Take it out of the basin using a rounded knife or palette knife, turn it onto a plate, decorate or flambé and serve with brandy sauce and cream.
The recipe calls for booze – lots of booze
You might be curious about where the traditional coin some people still place in their puddings has gone. Traditionally, a silver sixpence was mixed in to bring whoever discovered the coin on Christmas Day prosperity and good fortune in the coming year.
It harks back to what was called Twelfth Night Cake, when a dried pea or bean was cooked in the cake and whoever located it became king or queen for the evening. However, Darren revealed that wasn’t the practice for the Royals following an unfortunate episode involving the Queen Mother being rushed to hospital in 1982.
“No, we never did that! Ever since the Queen Mother choked on a fish bone that time… we were too nervous to do that,” Darren revealed.
Dining and Cooking