Christmas Carrot Pudding (Festive Steamed Recipe) - Around The Nook (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to boil or steam Christmas pudding? ›

Steam in a steamer – or a saucepan with a saucer, or the lid of a jar, in the bottom – for 4 hours, checking the water level regularly. Store in a cool place until Christmas Day, feeding occasionally with alcohol if you like your puddings boozy.

Our answer

Ideally we would suggest that when the pudding is made it is steamed for 8 hours (the combined time of the first and second steamings) as the steaming is important for the flavour of the pudding. The pudding can then be microwaved to reheat it on Christmas Day.

Aside from the traditional method in a saucepan, there are lots of ways to steam a pudding. You can use a pressure cooker, microwave or bake in the oven in a water bath.

Nigella suggests using a plastic pudding basin with a clip-on lid as these are easy to use and not too expensive. If you have difficulties finding a pudding basin then a Pyrex bowl, or similar heatproof glass bowl, could be used.

Steaming is the best way to re-heat a homemade pudding and the only way we recommend re-heating Delia's Christmas pudding. Microwaved puddings are frequently ruined. They tend to overheat and get tough & sticky.

Steamed puddings need to be properly sealed before cooking to prevent them from going soggy. This is possible even if you don't have a special pudding dish with a dedicated lid. -Lay a sheet of aluminium foil over a sheet of greaseproof paper (these need to be large enough to wrap generously around the pudding bowl).

Make sure you cover the basin well with the parchment and foil, if the water gets in then your Christmas pudding will be soggy. And be sure to make a pleat in your lid to give the pudding space to rise.

To test if the pudding's cooked, pierce the foil and paper with a skewer and wiggle it to make the hole bigger, or it will be wiped clean of any mixture when you pull it out.

Traditionally, a silver sixpence was stirred in to bring whoever found the coin on Christmas Day wealth and good luck in the year to come. This tradition dates back to what was known as 'Twelfth Night Cake', which was eaten during the Twelfth Night festivities.

For the pudding, the most likely cause of mould is moisture.

How to steam a shop bought Christmas pudding without a steamer? ›

Generally you would place the pudding in a deep roasting tin or a casserole. Then add boiling water so that it is about half way up the side of the basin and then cover the whole thing with a tent of strong foil which needs to be pinched tightly around the edge.

You can start making your Christmas pudding anywhere from two to three months in advance to give the flavours plenty of time to mature, but it's never too late to start.

Can you steam your Xmas pudding in a plastic bowl with a lid on instead of using grease proof paper and tin foil? Hello, You can use a plastic basin but I'd still use the paper and foil to cover it..

After you have steamed and cooled your pudding, replace the foil with a freshly buttered piece to keep it moist and store in a cool, dark place, or the fridge, until you are ready to reheat it on Christmas day.

Reheating Christmas Puddings

Wrap in foil and reheat at 300ºF (150ºC) for an hour or until hot. To reheat on the stovetop, remove wrappings and place the pudding in the original mould. Cover tightly. Set pudding mould on a trivet in a large saucepan and steam 3/4 - 1 hour or until hot.

Steaming is definitely the best. Microwaved puddings are frequently ruined. They tend to overheat and get tough & sticky.

If unrefrigerated then we would suggest no longer than 3 hours. If the battter is refrigerated then up to one day is fine, though let it stand at room temperature for about 45 minutes before steaming so that the pudding batter can come up to room temperature.