How do i steam a christmas pudding???

[RememberToPlaywiththeKids]

I steam veggies by standing one of those metal foldy things with holes in, in a saucepan with water up to it (so only a few cms) and a lid on but Delia's christmas pud recipe needs 8 hours of steaming - I can't imagine how I can keep the water topped up for that long - or do i just stand the basin straight in to a pan of boiling water with the lid on???

I have a steamer that slots on top of the saucepan so you can fill the whole saucepan up with water, but if you don't have one of those you could probably just top up with boiling water every hour or two.

just put it in your biggest pan, half fill with water, and keep topping it up

Big pan. Fill to about 2/3 with water.

Put a saucer upside down on the bottom of the pan.

Sit the pudding on the saucer. Construct a lid - if you don't have a lid that will fit over all that (maybe a wok lid would work?), use a big piece of foil, put the largest plate you have on top of that, get the foil to fill in the gaps.

Turn on the heat. When it comes to the boil, have a look to make sure the water isn't boiling so high that it is going under the pudding wrappings - if so, remove some water.

Turn the heat down to a visible simmer.

Look again in about 2 hours. If your 'lid' is working reasonably well, you may be OK, otherwise, top up with BOILING water.

Next year, use a Mary Berry recipe, or the recipe on the side of the packet of raisins, it's a lot less confusing than Delia.

Thank you!!

Is Mary Berry's better?

I haven't made one before. I want a good traditional type one.

IMO they all taste the same especially after Bucks Fizz breakfast, large glass of something with the turkey, big scoop of brandy butter etc.

It's not that the recipe is bad in Delia, it's just I've come to the conclusion that she is so wordy, it's confusing. Mary B is very straightforward IMO.

as maktaitai said for steaming, but either use your oldest knackered out pan or add a good glug of vinegar to the water so the pan won't be damaged by the steaming process
delia's recipe is the biz and imho is v straightforward to make(i'm going by her original bible here)
ok there's another few hours steaming on xmas day,but trust me you'll realise that all your effort wasn't in vain!