Christmas Carrot Pudding (Festive Steamed Recipe) - Around The Nook (2024)

FAQs

How to make a steamer for Christmas pudding? ›

Take a large sheet of aluminium foil and a piece of buttered greaseproof paper about the same size. Make a pleat by folding a crease in the centre of both the paper and the foil. Turn the buttered sheet over so the foil's on top and press it around the bowl with the fold on top.

Ideally we would suggest that when the pudding is made it is steamed for 8 hours (the combined time of the first and second steamings) as the steaming is important for the flavour of the pudding. The pudding can then be microwaved to reheat it on Christmas Day.

It's best not to. Suet is a very hard fat, which melts slowly through a mixture during the cooking, whereas butter melts very easily and quickly through a mixture. They are different types of fats and shouldn't be substituted for each other.

After the first 5 hours of steaming the puddings may not look that dark but do not worry as the colour deepens on the second steaming.

A 1.5 (0.9 litre) pudding will take a shorter tine to cook but unfortunately not half the time of the larger 3 pint (1.5 litre) size. We suggest that you steam the pudding for 4 hours initially then 2 hours before serving, giving a total of 6 hours steaming time.

Boil or oven steam the puddings for 8 hrs, topping up with water as necessary. Remove from the pans and leave to cool overnight. When cold, discard the messy wrappings and re-wrap in new baking parchment, foil and string.

Can you over-steam a Christmas pudding? While the pudding won't dry out if it's steamed for too long, some of the ingredients inside may be spoiled by being overcooked.

The pudding basin itself should be tightly covered. The pan or steamer attachment should be covered with a lid as this creates the steamy enviroment in which the pudding cooks, as well as trying to limit the evaporation of water from the pan and the condensation that will build up in the kitchen.

Check the pudding is cooked by inserting a skewer through the foil and parchment lid into the centre of the pudding. If the skewer still has some wet mixture on it, return the pudding to the steamer for a further 15-20 mins, then check again.

If you can't find suet then we have found that grated vegetable shortening (such as Trex, Crisco or Copha) is a good substitute. To grate the shortening firstly freeze a stick or block of it until firm but not solid (this usually takes about 30 minutes).

What is a substitute for suet in steamed pudding? ›

Our answer. It is possible to make Nigella's Ultimate Christmas Pudding using vegetable shortening (such as Crisco, Trex, Flora White, Cookeen or Copha) instead of suet (which is made from beef fat). You use exactly the same quantity in vegetable shortening but it needs to be coarsely grated before you use it.

For the pudding, the most likely cause of mould is moisture. If it's steamed for 8 hours, left to cool completely and then you replace the paper and foil.

Superstitions say that Christmas pudding must be prepared with 13 ingredients, which are said to represent Jesus and his twelve disciples. It is also said that the mixture should be stirred in turn from east to west, by each family member, to honour the disciples' journey.

Some Christmas puddings, made with dried fruit in the traditional way, are fine to be eaten as much as two years after they were made. "Bear in mind if the pudding is alcohol-free, of course, it will last a good while with the sugar content, but it will not last as long without alcohol to preserve it," stresses Juliet.

Nigella suggests using a plastic pudding basin with a clip-on lid as these are easy to use and not too expensive. If you have difficulties finding a pudding basin then a Pyrex bowl, or similar heatproof glass bowl, could be used. However the shape is different so you will have a wider, squatter pudding.

Generally you would place the pudding in a deep roasting tin or a casserole. Then add boiling water so that it is about half way up the side of the basin and then cover the whole thing with a tent of strong foil which needs to be pinched tightly around the edge.

If you've got a pudding bowl and a decent sized saucepan with a lid, you're good to go. But if steaming is your thing, you can invest in a steamer – it has holes in the bottom and fits over the pan with the water steaming in the pan below. There are electric steamers too.