Notes;

• Please don’t attempt this recipe if you can’t source all the ingredients, the suet, freshly ground nutmeg and fresh Bread crumbs are particularly important, please don’t substitute! and in response to a few questions, NO, you can't use packet supermarket breadcrumbs, they are meant for coating foods for deep frying, quite unsuitable for our pudding! (see note below on making your own breadcrumbs)
• Do NOT use a microwave to cook (no time for the ingredients to share and develop flavour)or re-heat this pudding.
• Suet is the fat surrounding the heart or kidneys, order a little more that you require, as it seems to disappear as you grate, (I don’t know why)
• With any non-edible additions (silver Threepenny pieces) be very aware of the danger of choking, add these at your own (insurers) risk, and warn diners!
• Cholesterol notes; some readers have expressed concern over the Suet, I can only say, it's a very rich pudding, and I don't think that 110gms amongst 10 people is a lot, especially as it's only once a year, but, If anyone wants to try this recipe with vegetable Suet, please let me know how it goes, (update below, 31/10/2002).
• Trivia, I tried the old-fashioned pudding in a calico bag, instead of a bowl, it tastes OK, and looks the traditional round shape but, the pudding has a light brown colour, and really doesn't look the same on the dining table. (It needs to be as BLACK as possible)
• Mixed Spice is NOT the same as Allspice, this causes a lot of confusion, any good spice retailer should have both.
• I've removed recipe references to Mixed Spice, as it's almost impossible to obtain in the USA updated 2/12/02
• Updates;
• I've had a number of readers ask "what's a pudding bowl?" so, I thought I would add some photos, in thumbnail size, you can click on them for a bigger image (I'm trying to keep the page size reasonable for dial-up users)
• Suet, if you are in Melbourne Australia, is available at Kirkpatricks butchers in South Melbourne Market phone 03 9699 2344 (phone first ask for Harry, because they don't always have it). Generally they stock it in the run-up to Xmas, but, they can order it at any time of year (but, so can any decent butcher) Don't try to order this from a Supermarket butcher, they get most of their product, pre-jointed, so, as Suet is not considered food these days, it never gets delivered. (I fear even the independent butchers in large cities will be soon going the same way) Karen has helped with the following in Sydney Australia; Good morning Paul, I have found a butcher in Bexley that will order suet for you . Bucton's, 411 Forest Road, Bexley 02 9597 7817
  ANYONE else in the world, please add suet suppliers here (contact me via the form below)
• Other notes; This is the only recipe I have published, (I have the feeling it's a bit like the concept that each of us has a book inside them, waiting to be written..... I had a recipe!)
• Breadcrumbs recipe; Buy any large white loaf (crusty or soft) place it in a low heat oven for about 1 hour, it should NOT go brown! we want a dried loaf, not toast! so you might need to keep and eye on it. Wait for it to go cold, and cut it up roughly, and place in a food processor/blender, if it's very dry, you might be able to just put it in a tea-towel, and hit it! Please don't food process it into a talcum powder finish, we are looking for the size that falls off a normal loaf of bread as you cut a slice. That's it! Alternately, you could buy a loaf, and leave it out on the bench for three days, stale is FINE!
• Vegetable Suet, Lynette Winsborough writes; I have tried the vegetable suet and did not find much of a difference and it is a whole lot healthier.
• Serena C Hightower asked, what about the lit Brandy, how much? and how long does it burn?
  You only use a small amount of Brandy, generally about 1 tablespoon, (the flame is small and blue in colour, not easily seen in a brightly lit Kitchen) the flame goes out on it's own within about 30 seconds. Make sure you warm the Brandy. Heat the empty spoon, not too hot, you only want the Brandy warm about blood temperature, then measure the Brandy onto the spoon, then, straight onto the pudding, and light! It's always more impressive if you enter the dining room with the lights turned down, and the pudding lit.

Christmas pudding traditions;

• Each member of my family (Londoners) one at a time, always stirred the pudding (before cooking of course), clockwise, and made a wish. The pudding was served with a dash of warmed(otherwise it won't light) Brandy and lighted. My wife Rebecca, who is Australian, but has a strong English (London) heritage, has a family tradition as follows; When the pudding is served at the table, as usual, a small amount of warmed Brandy is poured over the top and then lit, but, the variation is the addition of a Sultana for each person present, is placed on top of the pudding prior to the Brandy. All wait for the Brandy to be lit, then each person, whilst the flames are still alight, grab one Sultana each, make a wish, and then eat the Sultana! (it's not as dangerous as it sounds, if you do it quickly, and you are only adding 1 tablespoon of Brandy)
• Linda Arnold-Fabre wrote to me; My family lives in Rhode Island, USA and we have been making plum pudding yearly since my great-grandmother arrived here from England in 1904-we understand her mother made plum pudding yearly and so on...(There is a family story that one of these "grandmothers" cooked for Queen Victoria). Your recipe is the closest that I have seen to our family recipe. We use a Kitchen-Aid to grind the suet and add bread simultaneously to ensure that it does not get stuck. Also, because we make such a large amount, we use a roaster oven to steam the puddings. This works very well. Lastly, we often use a lemon sauce for a topping which is something I have not seen listed on any of the websites that I have visited.
  I was happy to hear that someone else was concerned about the suet content, but our conclusion was similar to yours. This is a rich dessert which should only be eaten in small quantities. A woman from the historic Sturbridge village in Massachusetts told me that the suet adds taste-what can you substitute for that?
  I appreciated you tip about reheating the puddings. We had been microwaving to re-heat. How silly, we spent all that time and energy preparing such a lovely dessert only to spoil it by using a microwave!
  Somewhere along the way, our family stopped adding coins to the puddings (perhaps when we started microwaving!). However, we always have each family member help to mix the pudding once all the ingredients have been added with their (washed) hands. Before removing your hands, you make a wish for the family. There must be something about doing this because we are truly a blessed family! Happy Holidays!
• Lynette Winsborough (of Vegetable Suet info) writes; We too stir the Christmas pudding before it is cooked. It is something I learned at boarding school in England when I was six years old. Everyone of the pupils, about 120, were sent to the kitchens to stir the pudding and make a wish. It was so exciting, everybody lined up.
• YOUR CHRISTMAS PUDDING TRADITION HERE (I'd love to add it to this recipe page)