It is only in the last few years I have ventured to make Christmas Pudding.  Christmas cakes were my specialty and the pudding was left to Mum.  These days Mum doesn’t make pudding anymore, and I don’t blame her.  Listen to the video below and you’ll understand why.

So there you have it, cooking the Christmas Pudding in the slow cooker is the answer to all your “pudding making dreams” (well it is for me anyway).  The result is as good as any other method and the benefits are huge – no pot-watching and no hot kitchen (although I know in some parts of the world this isn’t an issue).  Here’s the recipe I use – a lovely blend of citrus and spices really brings this pudding to life.

Christmas Pudding

Christmas Pudding

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups currants
1 ½ cups raisins, chopped
1 ½ cups sultanas
1/3 cup finely chopped mixed peel
¼ cup rum
250g butter, at room temperature
1 ¼ cups brown sugar
Grated rind 1 orange
Grated rind 1 lemon
4 eggs
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon mixed spice
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs

Method

Combine dried fruit, mixed peel and rum in a large bowl.  Cover and set aside overnight.

Choose a heatproof bowl or pudding basin that will hold about 6 cups and fit in your slow cooker.  Grease the bowl or basin (non stick spray is good) and line with microwave proof plastic wrap.

Cream butter, sugar and rinds together until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well between additions.  Stir in soaked fruit.  Fold in sifted flour and baking powder, followed by spices and a pinch of salt.  Finally fold through the breadcrumbs.

Spoon the mixture into prepared bowl, leaving about 1cm from the top, and level with the back of a spoon.  Cover with foil, folding the edges down over the bowl.

Christmas Pudding Into Bowl

Christmas Pudding Covered with Foil

Place into the slow cooker and pour in enough water to come two thirds of the way up the sides of the pudding bowl.  Put on the lid and cook on HIGH for 5-7 hours.

Christmas Pudding into the Slow Cooker

The pudding can be turned out and served immediately or stored for Christmas Day.  To store the pudding, it should be allowed to cool completely, wrapped well and refrigerated for several weeks or frozen (it’s OK to leave the pudding in the bowl).

To reheat the pudding on Christmas Day, thaw (if necessary) and use one of the following methods:

Microwave – Cover the basin with microwave proof plastic film, or if it is a metallic basin, completely remove the pudding and wrap.  Microwave at 55% power (Medium) for around 5 minutes, or until pudding is hot.  It should be moist and steaming.  Alternatively heat single serves at 70% power in 1 minute bursts.

Slow Cooker – Place pudding bowl into slow cooker and pour in water as before (two thirds of the way up the sides).  Reheat on HIGH for 2-3 hours prior to serving, or on LOW for twice this time.

Serve the pudding with custard, whipped cream, brandy butter (my Mum’s favourite) or all three!

The Klutzy Cook Notes

• The fruit can be soaked for longer if you like – no rush.
• Leaving a bit of room at the top of the pudding allows for a little expansion.   However, if some of the mixture bubbles over the side and into the slow cooker don’t worry it won’t affect the end result.
• While the suggested cooking time is 5-7 hours, it doesn’t matter if it’s longer – up to 12 hours it will still be fine.

You might even find this method so easy you decide to make more than one pudding – like I did!

If you have any comments or questions regarding Christmas Pudding in the slow cooker, please leave them below.

Well last week, in terms of my menu plan, was a bit of a disaster.  My freezer was ‘accidentally’ switched off when we were preparing for a storm (many things get unplugged to prevent damage, but not usually the freezer!).   Of course, this meant I ended up with quite a bit of defrosted foods to play with and try and use up.  Fortunately, only the top basket (it’s a chest freezer) was completely defrosted, the bottom section remained largely intact.

The main ingredient I was left with was bacon.  I always buy up in bulk when it’s on special and freeze it.  Such a buy up had recently occurred so there was plenty of bacon to get rid of.  Two of my favourite recipes came to the fore – Bacon & Egg Pasta (my version of Pasta Carbonara) and Zucchini Slice.  It was actually really nice to have both of these again, it’s been a long time.

Christmas Pudding

This week is going to be a very hot one according to the weather gurus, so I plan on keeping it mostly light and cool.  I also plan on starting my Christmas cooking – the cakes and puddings.  Here’s the plan for the week:

Monday – Barbecue Chicken & Salad
Tuesday – Lamb & Noodle Stir Fry
Wednesday – Fish, Chips & Salad
Thursday – Kangaroo Tacos
Friday – Pizza Pie
Saturday – Barbecue Hamburgers
Sunday – Spaghetti Bolognese

Extras – Christmas Cakes, Christmas Puddings

Have a great week!

I’d love to know what your planning this week so please feel free to share your menu plans in the comments section below.