Stir-up Sunday 2023: Christmas pudding recipes

Christmas pudding remains a staple of the British festive table

Christmas pudding
Christmas pudding
(Image credit: RTimages/Alamy Stock Photo)

For many, finishing off a hearty, traditional roast dinner with a rich slab of Christmas pudding is the final nail in the coffin in a season of festive gluttony. But despite classic fruitcakes falling by the wayside as lighter-textured sponge and cupcakes become the tastes du jour, this once-a-year treat remains a staple of the British Christmas table.

The very first traces of a recipe can be found in medieval manuscripts from the 15th century, with a savoury concoction that calls for chunks of beef and minced onion cooked alongside the more customary mix of aromatic spices, raisins and currants, while the dessert didn’t take shape in a form recognisable to modern eyes – and tastes – until the Victorian era.

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