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Photography: Liz Boyd

Recipe | A Stir-Up Sunday Pudding

Iona Bower October 18, 2023

Sticky, sweet and steamy, this is a pudding packed with wintry flavours and spicy aromas to enjoy making now and then enjoy eating in a few short weeks.

Celebrating moments and traditions is a lovely way to mark the passing of the weeks in these last months of the year. One such tradition is Stir-Up Sunday, which this year falls on 26 November. If you fancy stirring up a pudding ready for Christmas, you might like this pudding with a fruity twist.

Ingredients

150g dried figs
150g Medjool dates
100g dried cranberries
100g raisins
200g Demerara sugar
3 tbsp rum, brandy or whisky
Zest and juice of 2 oranges
75g fresh white breadcrumbs
75g plain flour
2 tsp mixed spice
50g almonds
100g butter, room temperature, plus extra for greasing
2 large eggs

Method


1. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to snip the dried figs into small pieces, about the size of a raisin. Squash the dates and pull out the stones, then finely chop the dates.

2. Pop the figs and dates in a large mixing bowl with the dried cranberries, raisins and Demerara sugar. Pour over the liquor and the juice of 2 oranges. Tip in the orange zest. Mix well and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave overnight (or for at least 6 hrs) to soak, so most of the liquid is absorbed and the sugar begins to dissolve.

3. Add the breadcrumbs, flour and mixed spice to the soaked fruit. Finely chop the almonds and add them to the bowl. Stir well to combine.

4. Add the room temperature butter to a separate bowl and beat till smooth and creamy. Crack in 1 egg and beat into the butter. Crack in the second egg and beat til combined – it will look a little lumpy, but don't worry. Add to the dried fruit mix and fold to combine. Try to mix in all the butter and not leave any unincorporated lumps.

5. Generously butter a 1 ltr pudding basin. Spoon the mixture into the basin. Cover with a pleated piece of buttered foil (the fold in the foil allows for expansion) with the buttered side towards the pudding. Push the foil down around the edges of the basin and tie it in place with kitchen string, so no steam can escape. Make a string handle so it's easier to lift the whole thing out of the pan.

6. Place the basin in a steamer above some water or stand it on a rack in a large pan. Pour water into the pan so that it comes half way up the basin. Bring to the boil, then lower the temperature and simmer for 6 hrs for a light pudding, or 8 hours for a darker one. Check the water level now and then as it may need to be topped up.

7. If you're not serving the pudding straight away, allow the pudding to cool completely. Replace the foil with a new piece and make sure it is well sealed. Store somewhere cool and dry for up to 1 year. To reheat the pudding, steam or simmer it in water for about 1 hr. Turn the warm pudding out onto a plate and serve with cream, custard or brandy butter.

Photography by Abel & Cole

This recipe is by Rachel de Thample for Abel & Cole. You can find this and more recipes on the Abel & Cole website. In our November issue, Lucy Brazier embraces the joy of marking traditions and making your own throughout the year, and shares her Stir-Up Sunday memories.

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Identifier | Christmas Pudding Charms

Iona Bower November 22, 2020

It’s Stir-Up Sunday, and if you’re doing a pud today and nervous about how it will turn out, perhaps all you need is a charm…

The tradition of gathering together to all have a stir of the pudding is said to have been brought to Britain by Prince Albert. A coin was dropped in before everyone took a turn at mixing and the person who unearthed the coin on Christmas day would be blessed with good fortune in the year to come, apparently. 

And charms were agreed to be so charming they soon moved on from simple thrupenny bits and sixpences to include more items, each said to have a different meaning. You can buy sets of pudding charms still, or fashion your own from things you have about the house. Here are a few charms and their meanings.

Coin
Coming into money

Thimble
If a single woman finds it they’ll remain single another year

Button
If found by a single man he’ll remain a bachelor

Horseshoe
Good luck

Ring/bell
A wedding is on the cards

Wishbone
A wish will be granted

Anchor 
They will have a safe year, protected from danger

Don’t forget to clean your charms first (cleaning them in Coca Cola is recommended) and then sterilise them in boiling water for 10 minutes. And warn your recipients that there may be a charm in their pud, otherwise there may be bad fortune, and possibly a trip to the dentist on the horizon for them instead.

Read more about Christmas puddings in our bumper Misceallany in the December issue, in shops and on sale in our online shop now.

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Illustration: Joe Snow

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Christmas: How to light your Christmas pudding

Lottie Storey December 20, 2016

These methods will set off your plum pudding with aplomb

These two loved and trusted ways of getting a fabulous flame on your pud both rely on the same essentials – that is getting your brandy, your serving implement and the pudding itself warm. Our additional serving suggestions include keeping your audience calm and seated, and moving anything flammable well out of range.

FLASH IN THE PAN

1 Pour cooking brandy into a small pan and gently warm until it begins to start steaming.
2 Tip to the side of the pan, then light.
3 Angle the pan away from you and pour over a warm pudding.

LADLE IT ON

1 Fill a metal ladle or large metal spoon about three-quarters full of cooking brandy.
2 Heat over a flame.
3 Carefully tip the candle flame towards the brandy to light.
4 Pour your flaming brandy over the top of the pudding. 

 

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  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

In Christmas, Miscellany Tags Christmas pudding, christmas, december, issue 54, how to
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  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well
Feb 27, 2025
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Buy, download or subscribe

See the sample of our latest issue here

Buy a copy of our latest anthology: A Year of Celebrations

Buy a copy of Flourish 2, our wellbeing bookazine

Listen to our podcast - Small Ways to Live Well

Feb 27, 2025
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The Simple Things is published by Iceberg Press

The Simple Things

Taking time to live well

We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.

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