I have been in two minds whether to make a plum pudding or not this year, since it's unlikely that we will be celebrating as a family. However, I have been prevailed upon by the grandkids to keep up the tradition even though we won't be able to enjoy it together.
One of the main ingredients in most plum pudding recipes is ground beef suet, giving it its distinctive flavour. However, that has been difficult to find recently and I went on a hunt for some last week - no luck! Fortunately one butcher cut me a chunk of beef fat but that posed another problem, how to process it into the fine ground suet I require. That took quite a bit of effort but, along with soaking the fruit in brandy, that was eventually accomplished.
Yesterday was "Pudding Day" and having everything ready beforehand made the job easy. It steamed for 3 hours, was allowed to cool then wrapped up well to "mature" for the next 5 weeks. Mission accomplished! I just hope it lives up to expectations despite the problem with the suet.
On Christmas Day (or just before) I will send a good portion to the family and when they flambee it at their house, I will do the same with my portion and we can enjoy it together over Skype!
Sounds like a great plan. I too have mine made maturing ready for use.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a lovely idea to send some plum pudding to the family for a Skype flambé, Chris! I’m not making a Christmas cake this year, as it’s only hubby and I who like it in this house. In normal times we have a big family get together around 18th Dec (about 14 of us) and a lot of it would go then. But obviously that isn’t happening this year.
ReplyDeleteI hope Lucy has settled in now, she’s getting used to her new surroundings :)
I am glad you are still following your tradition of plum pudding.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.