[sunshineband]

or of course both 

[janet12000]

I'll get our recipe tomorrow and send it to you. It has worked for many years.
We still put 3 penny bits in the 'family' pudding. They have been passed along for ages and we are not alowed to keep them as Mum hoards them for next years pud!
The oldest one is from the mid 1800's. 

[janet12000]

Have pm'd you Riala. x

[mumofstig]

Please don't keep it a secret ...we all need to know
Pretty please

[janet12000]

Lol. It's not the actual recipe really. More the method of cooking because if you are making a lot it saves the hassle of a steamy kitchen.
I actually think our recipe changes most years depending on what is hanging around in the booze cupboard.  ALWAYS soak the fruit overnight though in whatever grog you choose to add. Mum always adds a tin of barley wine/ale?
Sorry I only have gas mark measurements.
Heat the oven at gas mark 3 for half an hour then reduce the heat to gas mark half.
Put the puds on the bottom shelf and leave for 7 or 8 hours (we do them over night.)
Store them away in a dark cupboard, then who ever you give them away too needs to steam them for about 2 hours when they want to eat them.
We make about 10 each year for family and friends and cooking them this way saves a lot of hassle.
As gifts you can make them look quite pretty with coloured cellophane and nice labels.
One year Mum and I didn't make them and everyone complained. 

[mumofstig]

Lakeland have no foil pudding basins online
Have to look in the local ships and see what i can find 

[sunshineband]

Lakeland have no foil pudding basins online
Have to look in the local ships and see what i can find 

Are you going down the docks then? 

Sorry, I'll get me coat

[janet12000]

Blimey. I'll seek the advice from Mother tomorrow.

[mumofstig]

Lakeland have no foil pudding basins online
Have to look in the local ships and see what i can find 

Are you going down the docks then? 

Sorry, I'll get me coat

....not inviting you to my tooth fairy party now...nur  

[HLS]

Riala, if you're trying to decide between Christmas cake and Christmas pud, and money's tight, personally I'd go for cake.  I may be a bit biassed because I've only ever made the cake (my mum makes the puddings!) but I reckon it'd be a lot easier.  I would think that the ingredients would probably cost about the same (worth checking, though) but a cake would be easier to give away, as you wouldn't have to buy individual pudding basins - you could bake a big square and then cut it up before you ice it. 

At least, I think that would work - I've had a sudden qualm about whether the 'crust' on the sides would make a difference to how the almond paste would stick on, but I reckon it should be fine.  My top tip would be to make your own almond paste/marzipan and icing if you can - I don't know that it would be cheaper, but the difference in quality is really amazing.

Then you can ask everyone you know who's bought a pudding this year to save the bowl it comes in, so you have some for next year - that's what my mum does.  Or you could buy a few little ones when they're cheap after Christmas, store the bowl and freeze the pudding to make Christmas pudding ice-cream with later in the year.

[janet12000]

Christmas pudding ice cream? Never heard of that!  :blink:

HLS......I use heated up apricot jam to stick almond paste onto cakes.

Home made almond paste is far nicer than shop bought marzipan, but you have to leave it to dry out longer on the cake before you ice it or the oil from the nuts seeps through the icing..... oh and I use merri white (sp?) for making icing.

[Riala]

I was leaning more towards the cake anyways, I want to make these for the Hampers:



and

[mumofstig]

Christmas pudding ice cream? Never heard of that!  :blink:
Home made almond paste is far nicer than shop bought marzipan, but you have to leave it to dry out longer on the cake before you ice it or the oil from the nuts seeps through the icing.....

If you are worried about this just paste with a coat of beaten egg white and leave to dry. It seals the marzipan in

[sunshineband]

Christmas pudding ice cream? Never heard of that!  :blink:
Home made almond paste is far nicer than shop bought marzipan, but you have to leave it to dry out longer on the cake before you ice it or the oil from the nuts seeps through the icing.....

If you are worried about this just paste with a coat of beaten egg white and leave to dry. It seals the marzipan in

That's  a really good tip. Thnak you. I shall pass it on to my DD, who makes wedding cakes etc She will be very interested too 

[wighty]

As a warning, I made James Martin's  (drool, drool) Christmas Pudding Ice Cream last year which was mainly fruit, brandy, cream and eggs.  The fruit all sank to the bottom and was not really worth the freezer room.   I don't have an ice cream maker (as I don't like the stuff) and tried doing the 'whisk to break up the ice crystals every hour' method.