Fact file in the mix

Unlucky 13

It’s said that Christmas pudding needs to be prepared with 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his twelve disciples.

Historically, Christmas pudding wasn’t even considered to be a dessert. Over the years, people have used sweet ingredients like dried fruits, soaking them in different alcohols and throwing nuts, breadcrumbs and treacle into the mix. A key ingredient in this pudding is suet, or beef fat.

The garnish of holly on top is thought to be a nod toward festive decoration and cheer, but some say it represents the crown of thorns.

Plum pud

Often referred to as ‘plum pudding’, the recipe for Christmas pud has never called for plums. The word “plum” refers to dried fruit of any variety; whether dates, prunes, sultanas or currants.

Mince mix

Although mincemeat no longer actually contains meat, the word recalls its origins as a meat dish. Meat was a fundamental ingredient within Christmas pud. Pudding or ‘pottage’ would consist of meat broth, spices, dried fruit and breadcrumbs.

Fanning flames

Alcohol - often brandy - is poured over the pudding and set alight before it is served. It is said that the flaming brandy represents the Passion of Christ and traditionally.

Cheerless Christmas

Christmas pudding was banned in the 17th century.

Puritan Thomas Cromwell banned the eating of Christmas pudding along with all festive merriment from carols to carousing after he and his Roundheads were victorious in the Civil War.

It was his bid to restore Christmas to its religious roots and it was suggested that instead of a feast day, Christmas should be a fast day.

When the king was restored to power, Charles II Christmas was reinstated.

Coin collection

A silver sixpence was placed into the pudding mix and every member of the household gave the mix a stir. Whoever found the sixpence in their own piece of the pudding on Christmas Day would see it as a sign that they would enjoy wealth and good luck in the year to come. Sixpences are no longer in circulation or accepted currency - so 5p pieces are used.

Sweet symbol

Spices, sweetmeats, dried fruits ... many of the traditional ingredients of Christmas pudding were sourced from across the commonwealth and the dish, in many ways, represents the British nation itself. In 1850, London Illustrated News described the plum pudding as a “national symbol”. They say, “It does not represent class or caste, but the bulk of the English nation”.

Saucy sides

Cream, custard and brandy sauce are all traditoonally served with Christmas Pudding - my grandad had trifle on the side and my auntie swore by a slice of cheese.

Taste of tradition

Like many of our modern-day festive traditions, Christmas pudding as we know it today was introduced by the Victorians.

In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens eternalised the dish when he depicts Mrs Cratchit “Smiling proudly with the pudding, like a speckled cannonball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.”

Mrs Beeton’s book of Household Management, published in 1861, was an authority on festive fare, in it there is a recipe for and illustration of Christmas plum pudding, which is clearly recognisable as the pudding we still enjoy today.