How to Make the Empire Christmas Pudding

Well it's twelfth night and Christmas is officially over, but I couldn't resist sharing this great vintage recipe I made for the big day.

The idea of the Empire Christmas Pudding emerged in the 1920s and aimed to promote using ingredients from countries throughout the British Empire. The Empire Marketing Board campaigned up until the war to promote the pudding and other recipes. There was even a propaganda film about a boy who, after seeing the pudding in a shop window, has a dream about visiting all the empire countries to find the ingredients. You can watch it here (though I haven't actually made it through all 69 minutes!)

My adventure obtaining the ingredients was somewhat less film-worthy, though it did prove challenging in some respects. Here is what I managed to find:

Raisins, Currants and Sultanas from Australia

Suet, Bread and a Bramley apple from the UK

Spices from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and the West Indies

British flour and eggs

I couldn't find candied peel anywhere but Italy or any South African lemons or oranges to make my own, so I left this out to not compromise the 'Empireness' of the pudding. I searched in vain for sugar from the West Indies or Guiana, but in the end settled for some from Mauritius. Brandy from anywhere but France seemed impossible to find so we substituted some good old Scottish whiskey. 

I didn't look quite as elegant as this 30s housewife making the pudding, but here I am in the kitchen with our giant mixing bowl that always comes out this time of year. I just mixed everything all together, left in a covered pudding basin over night and then steamed for 8 hours.

As is tradition we set our Christmas on fire before serving. We had to use French brandy, though as we burnt it away it seemed fine and rather in the spirit of the British Empire! Then came the eating and boy it was good - deliciously flavoured and with a perfect texture. I don't know if this had anything to do with the countries the ingredients came from, but I liked the idea behind it.

So there you have it - a classic British recipe from the past and one to try for next year! What did you cook this Christmas?