Traditional Christmas Pudding

Traditionally, Stir-up Sunday falls on the last Sunday before the Advent period begins and it takes its name from the collect for the day in the Book of Common Prayer, which begins with the words, “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people.”

Dating back to Victorian times, families would gather together on Stir-up Sunday to mix the Christmas Pudding and make a wish.

Traditional Christmas Puddings seem to have fallen from favour in recent years, but I know that for many of us, it still forms an essential part of any Christmas celebration.

Since launching the cake school, I’ve had a lot of requests to schedule in some traditional Christmas classes, so I am delighted to be able to present my Stir-up Sunday Traditional Christmas Pudding class for you all.

Description:

Traditional methods of making Christmas Puddings can actually take multiple days, however, I’m not going to make you move into the Cake School for this class…

Instead we will begin by creating the base mixture for our Christmas puddings, before I go on to show you what you need to do at home to prepare your pudding for its first and final steamings.

In this face-to-face baking class, you will learn:

• How to prepare your traditional ingredients to make up your pudding
• When to complete the all-important traditional stir-up.
• How to prepare your pudding basin ready for the first steam.
• How to store your pudding until Christmas Day.
• How to steam your pudding ready for serving.
• How to serve up your pudding, with all the traditional trimmings.

On the day, you will leave with the pudding mixture you have created ready for steaming in a pudding basin (which is yours to keep), as well as the full recipe and written instructions on how to finish off your pudding. If you find that you have any questions during the first or final steams, then you are very welcome to get in touch – I will be happy to help.

The class will be held at my dedicated Cooking, Baking and Cake Decorating Academy in the picturesque town of Fareham, Hampshire, conveniently located between Southampton and Portsmouth. Limited parking is available on site however, this will be offered on a first come first served basis.

You will be able to ask questions throughout the class, so you may wish to bring a notepad and pen with you to take notes. Confirmation of your order will be emailed to you. Once you have paid for the class, keep an eye on your inbox and don’t forget to check those pesky junk folders!