Tomorrow is Stir-up Sunday, traditionally the day to make your Christmas pudding so it has time to mature. The term comes from the Book of Common Prayer: "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded." Whatever your religion, if you like to cook, they're stirring words. Soak your fruit today and you'll be all ready for tomorrow. And seeing as you've stocked up on dried fruit, give the mincemeat and Christmas cake a go, too – your efforts will be plenteously rewarded.
Pam's mincemeat
My friend Pam "The Jam" Corbin's mincemeat is the best I've ever tasted. Makes four 450g jars.
1kg plums, halved and stoned
Finely grated zest and juice of 2-3 oranges (you need 200ml juice)
500g russet apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1cm cubes
200g currants
200g raisins
200g sultanas
100g orange marmalade
250g demerara sugar
½ tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground ginger
½ nutmeg, grated
50ml ginger wine or cordial (optional)
100g chopped walnuts
50ml brandy or sloe gin
Put the plums and orange juice in apan, cook gently for 15 minutes, until tender, then purée. Pour into abowl with all the other ingredients except the alcohol, mix, cover and leave to stand for 12 hours.
Preheat the oven to 110C/225F/gas mark ½. Put the mincemeat in a large baking dish and bake for two to two and a half hours. Stir in the booze, spoon into sterilised jars, seal and store in a dry, dark, cool place until Christmas. Use within 12 months.
Granny Jane's Christmas pudding
Adapted from Rosemary Hume by my mum, who says, "Don't skimp on the boiling; it's what makes it good and dark." Makes two (keep one for 2010).
900g dried vine fruits
200ml brandy, plus more for flaming
110g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2½ tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cinnamon
170g suet
170g light muscovado sugar
55g flaked almonds
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp marmalade
225g fresh white breadcrumbs
4 eggs
300ml ale or stout
Butter, for greasing
Put the fruit in a bowl with 100ml of brandy, cover and leave overnight.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and spices, then stir in the suet, fruit, sugar, almonds, lemon, marmalade and breadcrumbs. Beat the eggs, then stir in, along with the ale.
Butter two one-litre pudding basins, fill with cake mix and cover with a layer each of greased paper and foil, both pleated in the middle to allow for expansion. Secure with string. Put a metal jam-jar lid or tart tin in the bottom of a large pan, put the basins on top and pour in boiling water to come a third of the way up the sides. Cover, simmer gently for six hours (top up the water as necessary), then remove from the heat and set aside to cool. When cold, remove the paper and foil, poke holes in the top of the puds and pour over the brandy. Tightly wrap in clingfilm and store in a cool, dry place. On Christmas Day, press foil-wrapped 20p coins and one £1 coin into the pud, wrap in a double layer of clingfilm, and simmer for two to three hours. Turn out, flame with warmed brandy and serve with apple brandy butter (150g soft butter, 50g soft icing sugar and a splosh of apple brandy beaten until smooth).
Christmas cake
If you have time, cover in marzipan and icing instead. Makes one cake.
200g sultanas
200g currants
150g dried apricots, finely diced
150g prunes, diced
150g raisins
60g candied peel
60g dried cherries or cranberries
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
Grated zest of 1 lemon
200ml Somerset apple brandy
110g hazelnuts, roasted, papery skins removed and roughly chopped
200g unsalted butter
100g light muscovado sugar
80g dark muscovado sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
250g plain flour
1 heaped tsp mixed spice
¼ of a nutmeg, grated
¼ tsp salt
90g stem ginger, finely chopped
To decorate
300g whole dried fruits, such as figs, apricots, apple slices, cherries
120g nuts, such as hazelnuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds
150g warm apricot jam, strained
Put the first nine ingredients in abowl, add the brandy, stir, cover and leave for 48 hours.
Preheat the oven to 140C/275F/gas mark 1. Grease a round 22-24cm x 9cm, loose-bottomed cake tin, and line with parchment to come 4cm above the sides. Pulse half the hazelnuts until very fine, add a quarter of the boozy fruit and blend to a thick purée. Beat the butter and sugars till fluffy, then beat in the eggs one by one (if it begins to curdle, add a little flour). Sieve the flour, spices and salt, then stir gently into the batter. Fold in the purée, nuts, soaked fruit and ginger, spoon into the tin, smooth and bake for two to two and a quarter hours, until a skewer comes out clean. (If it browns before it's done, cover with parchment.) Leave to cool in the tin, then remove and wrap in a double layer of foil. Store in a cool, dry place, feeding it with aslug of brandy every two weeks.
A day or so before the big day, brush with warm apricot glaze, lay the fruit and nuts on top, and glaze again. Store in an airtight container.
guardian.co.uk/hughfearnleywhittingstall
• Join Pam Corbin on the River Cottage Winter Preserving course on 21 January 2010; rivercottage.net for details.
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