XMAS CAKES AND PUDDINGS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 128, 5 December 1941, Page 44

XMAS CAKES AND PUDDINGS

T is now high time we began to concentrate on Christmas Cakes and Christmas Puddings. Most people have worked! out a good rich fruit cake recipe, which they make up almost month by month to send to the troops, or rather to their own special "unit" of the troops. These folk may find it easy just to make up one or two of these "regulars" for their own Christmas Cakes; but many others will like a different mixture, as well as some cheaper cakes also, so that the children may "cut and come again" without any ill effects. There are modern Christmas Cakes and Puddings, too, which include cereals and wholemeal and raw fruit, and even some vegetables. So now let us look through some recipes. First, some puddings.

Eggiess Xmas Pudding This was sent in by a Papanui listener. All the measurements are level, and a breakfast cup is used. Sift together %4 cup flour; 4% teaspoon baking soda; 12 teaspoon salt; 4% teaspoon mace; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 4% teaspoon ground cloves; 1% teaspoon allspice; %4 teaspoon ginger. Add to this mixture 1% cup brown sugar; 14 cup finely shredded suet; 42 cup washed and dried currants; 1-3 cup washed and dried sultanas; 1-3 cup seeded raisins; 1-3 cup finely shredded mixed peel; 1-3 cup blanched

almonds or cashew nuts; 142 cup grated raw carrot; 42 cup grated raw potato; 1% cup grated raw apple; 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind; and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Just combine them all thoroughly, and turn into a greased pudding bowl, filling 2-3rds full. Cover with greased paper, and tie down. Steam at ‘least three hours, then store in a cool dry "place. Before serving, it will need to be re-steamed, of course. Economical Xmas Pudding One cup of shredded suet; 1 cup of flour; 1 cup of breadcrumbs; 2_ level teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda; 1 tablespoon of golden syrup; 1 or more cups of mixed fruit, and 2 cups of milk. Warm the milk and syrup together, add the soda, and mix well. Pour this over the dry ingredients, and mix. Stand all night, and next day boil for four to five hours. Old-Fashioned Xmas Pudding One pound of finely shredded suet; 1 lb. of moist sugar; 1 lb. currants; 1 lb. of sultanas; 1 Ib. raisins; 12 lb. flour; 4 lb. breadcrumbs; 42 lb. peel; grated rind and juice of 2 lemons; 1 nutmeg; 3 oz. shelled almonds; 1 teaspoon of salt; 2 tablespoons of marmalade; .6 eggs; 12 pint of stout; and 1 oz. of bitter almonds. Mix all the dry ingredients. Then break in the eggs and stir

them in, and lastly add the stout. Stir all very well together. Put the mixture into pudding basins, pressing them well down, cover the tops with scalded and floured pudding cloths, and boil for 8 hours, Xmas Pudding (Oxfordshire) One pound of raisins; 1 lb. of sultanas; 1 Ib. of currants; 1 lb. of castor sugar; 1 lb. of mixed peel, or less to taste; 1 lb. breadcrumbs; 14 Ibs. finely shredded suet; 1 teacup of flour; 1 teaspoon of mixed spice; half a grated nutmeg; grated rind and juice of one lemon, and the grated rind and juice of one orange; 6 eggs and a little milk, Mix all the dry ingredients well together; add the eggs and sufficient milk to mix properly, and boil well for 9 hours. This pudding will keep without spirits or wine. Wholemeal Xmas Pudding Four ounces of butter; 6 oz. light brown sugar; 1 cup water; 142 cups raisins; 2 cups sultamas; 2 cups currants; % cup grated mixed peel; 1 teaspoon mixed essences; 2 eggs; 2 cups wholemeal flour; 1 teaspoon soda; 4% teaspoon baking powder; %2 teaspoon nutmeg; 1% teaspoon ground ginger; 2 oz. blanched almonds if liked. Bring the water, sugar, butter and fruits to boiling point, and simmer for five minutes. Let the mixture get cold, if you have sufficient time. Sift the dry ingredients together, and add to the fruit mixture. Add the nuts, and then whip in the eggs one at a time. Put into one large basin, or two small ones. Place a piece of greaseproof paper on top, and boil for four hours. If cooked longer, you can get the pudding.a rich dark colour. Serve with rum _ or _ brandy sauce. Light Xmas Pudding Eight ounces of butter; 6 oz. light brown sugar; 4 eggs; 10 ounces of flour; 1% teaspoon of baking powder; 4% teaspoon grated nutmeg; % teaspoon almond flavouring; 4% teaspoon rum flavouring; 4% teaspoon vanilla flavouring; 4% teaspoon ground ginger; % teaspoon salt; 1 lb. sultanas; ¥% Ib. raisins; 1 lb. currants; 2 oz. grated lemon peel; 2 o@ grated orange peel; 2 oz. almonds; few cherries; pinch cayenne pepper; 14 lb. preserved ginger; grated tind of half a lemon; and a little grated orange rind. Put the flour, baking powder and salt, and ground ginger into the sifter. Chop the raisins and ginger, and mix all the fruits and nuts together. Cream the butter and sugar, add one egg, and beat; add the second egg and beat again vigorously. If the mixture curdles, add a little of the flour. Continue till all the eggs have been added. Sift in the (Continued on next page)

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dry ingredients, and beat the mixture well. Add all the other ingredients, and again mix well. Put some silver coins into mixture, or pudding favours. Three parts fill buttered basins. Cover the tops with butter paper, and steam quickly for 4 to 6 hours, depending on the size of the basin. Allow to stand in the basin till ready for serving. Then steam again for 2 or 3 hours before serving. Place a sprig of holly on top, and serve with a nice sauce, Old English Xmas Pudding This recipe will make 4 or 5 good puddings. They should be boiled for 6 or 7 hours; and then put away until they are wanted, when it is best to give them another 3 or 4 hours’ boiling. For a good Christmas Pudding, the more boiling the better. You will need a very big bowl to mix this in. The old English way was to have a great earthenware crock, and every member of the family had to join in the ‘stirring-for luck! Whether it really brought good luck to the stirrers,’ or only a little rest to the aching arms of the cook, I’m not quite sure. Probably everybody benefited by the fun of joining in! Into the bowl put 4 Ibs. of flourhalf may be wholemeal, if you like. Have ready 3 lbs. of raisins and 3 Ibs. of good currants, all thoroughly washed and dried. Then add 2 Ibs, of very finely shredded suet, so that it looks grainy and fine. This must all be well mixed into the flour in the bowl. Now add 2 lbs. of sugar, and stir it in well with the plums and currants. Take 4% lb. each of candied orange, lemon and citron peel, which must be cut into very small squares, not chopped quite as finely as the suet, but still not in coarse uneven lumps. Add this as well. Next add 2 Ibs. each of cold cooked and mashed potatoes and carrots. See that they are very finely mashed, with no lumps, at all. Stir and stir again, adding four tablespoons of treacle as you stir. Of course, a teaspoon of salt should be added, and if you like, one or two tablespoons of pudding spice. Use a long wooden spoon for stirring. After all is thoroughly mixed, cover the bowl with a clean towel and leave for 24 hours. You will note that no. eggs, no liquid of any kind except the treacle, has been put into this mixture. None is needed, as you will see next day when you take away the cloth and look into your bowl. Once more you must start stirring, but this is comparatively easy to do now. Go on until you are sure that everything is thoroughly blended, then get your basins ready, or if you would like a pudding done in a cloth, get some good strong pieces of unbleached calico ready, about half a yard square. These you must dip into boiling water and sprinkle thickly with flour-not on the edges and corners, though. Put some of the pudding mixture on the centre of each cloth, tie round with string, leaving a frill at the top, and plenty of room for the pudding to swell. Then plunge them into boiling water and boil them all together. The water must boil all the time, and more boiling water is added as it, boils away. They

should boil for seven or eight hours, Hang them up to get cold and dry, and they will be ready and waiting for the several occasions for which they will be required, after being boiled again for another three or four hours. If you prefer to boil your puddings in basins, take graduated sizes, and grease them well. Smaller cloths will do to tie them down with, but they must be treated in the same way as the bigger one-that is, scalded and floured, and it is necessary to remove them from the puddings directly they are taken up from their first boiling. The basins should be almost filled with the

pudding mixture. The cloths must then be washed-but no soap, please-well dried, and put ready for the time when the puddings will be wanted. When the puddings are cold, tie over each with greaseproof paper, and they can be stood in a row on the pantry shelf, making you feel very proud of such an array. Nowadays, we find it easier to put a greased butter paper next to the pudding before putting on the scalded and floured cloth. This keeps the cloth clean, and prevents any sticking. We shall continue contemplating Christmas cooking next week.