Anybody else making their own Christmas pudding?

[stubbornstains]

I did, on Sunday (only partially a stealth boast!). Easier than it seems, once you have resembled the ingredients.

I did it last year, and used Delia's recipe, which tastes like the kind of ultra- luxurious Christmas pudding you'd buy in the shops.

This year, I used Nigel Slater's, which, once you get over the long and expensive ingredients list, tastes really nice and different (I took a core sample from the base, in the interests of science )- lighter and fruitier (especially since I doubled the amount of orange zest, because I like it).

But I do have a query, if anyone can help......two years in a row, after I have steamed the pudding, I've found loads of melted and then recongealed suet in the greaseproof paper wrapping the pudding......it's escaped! Could this be due to having the level of the steaming water round the pudding too high?

The level of the steaming water shouldn't cause any problem with that. The inference of your question is that the temperature might have been too high (if too low it wouldn't have melted out). In fact, the water is cooler than the steam, as it would become steam if any hotter. There may be another reason (if, indeed, it has even caused a problem), but I am sure that it won't be what you thought it was.

4 you're Heston Blumenthal, aren't you? .

I suppose my suspicions were that water was somehow entering into the top of the pudding, and washing the liquid suet away.....?

The plot thickens....

I steam my puddings in a pressure cooker, ( last 35 years!) and find some times the steam gets under the greaseproof, and occasionally into the steaming water. I just put fresh greaseproof on ready to steam on Christmas Day - doesn't seem to affect it :)