I know it’s a bit early but I like to get my puddings made as early as I can -

“Stir up Sunday” is traditionally the last Sunday before Advent (or the 25th after Trinity as I’ve sen elsewhere) this would make it either 26th November or 3rd December and is the day on which Christmas Puddings were made. The name may come from the start of the Collect for this day in the Book of Common Prayer “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded”
There are lots of traditions around this event – many of which I inherited from my Nan along with the responsibility for making the families puddings.

As a child I have vivid memories of visiting my nan on “stir up Sunday” when her whole kitchen would be given over to marinating fruit, mixing bowls of pudding mixture and steaming puddings. The main tradition I remember is that everyone in the family has to have a stir and make a wish as they stir. This is a tradition I like to carry on and so my hubby had to stir and wish today.

Another tradition is that the pudding should contain 13 ingredients to represent Christ and his disciples, my pudding is adapted from my nan’s recipe but I tend to change the fruit content each year. This year I used sultanas, apricots, figs, dates, cranberries & peel all soaked in brandy (Henessy cognac actually)

added to this are breadcrumbs, suet (vegetable suet as I’m vegetarian), brown sugar, spices (I count this as one ingredient even though there are several spices), almonds and egg all mixed well. Another tradition around the stirring of the pudding is that it should be stirred from East to West in respect of the journey of the Magi.

The pudding mixture is then placed in a mould or pudding basin – this is my round pudding mould being filled-

and then I steam them in my steamer. Here is the mould and a basin in the steamer and three more lined up waiting for their turn.

The puddings are steamed for 6 hours  – my hubby calls this the nuclear generator as he says it looks like some sort of weird 1950’s atomic experiment with my round metal mould in the steamer!

There are lots of other traditions around Christmas Pudding which I don’t adhere to, traditionally a coin is mixed in and cooked in the pudding, a silver sixpence or a threepenny bit, and this will bring wealth to whoever finds it. The victorians used to place other charms in the pudding as well – a ring would foretell marriage, a thimble for a lucky life. However another tradition says to add a thimble and a button which indicate the finder will remain a spinster or a bachelor forever!

Once my pudding have had their 6 hour steam I wrap them in greaseproof paper and foil and store them away till Christmas. This storage allows the pudding to darken and the flavours to develop further. I often make puddings one year for eating the next, as long as they are carefully wrapped and stored in a dark, cool cupboard they are perfect the next year.

On Christmas Day they are unwrapped and returned to the mould for reheating in the steamer whilst we eat our Christmas Dinner. Then add a spoon of cream or brandy butter and enjoy!