Christmas pudding, hardly any flavour. Help!

[GeneandFred]

Just made my Christmas pudding today, well I made 3. It's my first time making it, got the recipe from BBC Food and I tried one of them after it had finished steaming. I wasn't too impressed. It seemed quite light and didn't have much flavour. The other 2 were for my parents and in laws and wondering if they will mature in flavour from now till Christmas?

It just seemed a bit blah... Lol

Took my fricking ages to make as well. Feel a bit deflated as it was the last of my Christmas baking. Done my cake and chutneys in Sept and they usually turn out OK. Hope my puds mature into something a bit more flavoursome.

Hi. I'm from U.S.A. and I stumbled across this site again after a few bellinis at dinner, and whereas it is true we all speak English ... except you guys say pram and bullocks and you guys don't say you guys. So - I am wondering - ok, you said you made a cake in September you are going to eat on Christmas? And, Christams for you guys is 12/25, just like for us, right? Did you freeze it? Did you freeze the pudding? When you say "mature" do you mean ... age? Won't it get moldy? I like trifle.

Yes it will mature, I always tend to add more booze and a bit more spice than suggested.

If it's a lack of fruitiness, you could always use Cointreau to mature it rather than whisky or brandy.

Thank you! Will try adding more alcohol to it. Guess you do like u would feed a Xmas cake?

Hi yes I made my Christmas pudding. I also made my Christmas cake and chutneys for Christmas in August.

They don't go off. You make them in advance and then feed them each week with brandy or whiskey to mature the flavour. A un iced Christmas cake will last for ages if it's kept in an airtight container. A lot of people do it here. The flavour matures over the upcoming time till Xmas.

MotiSen, it really is true that we are two nations divided by a common language. Christmas Puddings and Christmas Cake really do improve with maturing, preferably aided by the application of Brandy. We do, of course, generally have a cool climate, not the very varied one you have on your side of the pond where New Orleans would not have the cool temperatures required for the gentle maturing of said foodstuffs. I would think that mould would be a very real problem. Puds and cakes are possibly very different here in the UK, as is the date of Christmas. We have only 12 months in our year, and Christmas falls on 25th December (25/12).

4merlyknownasSHD. Thanks, that made me chuckle. I think we also write dates differently - we definitely don't have 25 months! Even when I've had a few bellinis ... or perhaps a traditional English Christmas cake! The description of the cakes sounds like they'd be awesome.

they are awesome! and the older the better (my mum was known to use one from last year) - remember they are boiled for HOURS before storing (so sterile) have a high sugar content and then are boiled for HOURS again when eaten (the puddings that is- the cakes are generally not stored for so long - a few months, but again they are cooked for a long time and high in sugar)

MotiSen, in terms of longevity, it was always traditional that the top tier of a Wedding Cake was not used and kept after the wedding to be used as the Christening Cake for the first child. It needed to be re-iced, but the cake would last.

Wow. I have got to try this cake. Not sure I could make one (right), but I found where some British folks are making/selling them in here Rhode island (www.englishchristmascake.com/), so I am going to get one and surprise my family at Christmas. Thanks! Glad I stumbled across this.

they're not actually that difficult to make, just time consuming
www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/classic_christmas_cake_04076
I never put icing on as no one likes it, just marzipan

Thanks, Shallishanti - will try it as soon as I figure out what treacle, muscovado sugar, and sultanas are. Oddly (or not) - they aren't common ingredients here. Even glacé cherries - I'm guessing those are what we call maraschino cherries. I think 4merlyknownasSHD was right ... 2 nations divided by a common language. Christmas is going to be funny ... all my family gathered around the "foreign" cake as if it is from outer space. Then when they taste it ... it's gonna be, "This is awesome!" - you know, because we like alcohol - which, I think we have in common. Thanks for recipe!

My gran used to make her own christmas puddings every year

She made them, steamed them, then put them into the cool pantry for a year

They were dark black & I have yet to taste one as good !

Made in small ceramic bowls with old clean sheets and string as the covers

I do not think she put alcohol in
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Gran also made christmas cake in about September. Then stored it somewhere cool. She put marzipan on nearer christmas. Added icing on a bit nearer christmas. It would keep for a few months after christmas in a tin.

Treacle is molasses - the black sticky stuff
Muscovado sugar is the soft, brown sugar - again quite dark in colour
Sultanas are similar to raisins, but a bit softer and more golden.
Glace cherries are not maraschino. I think maraschino are the ones in liquid, glace are dry in tubs, preserved in sugar. They might be called candied cherries?
Perhaps you need to find a store that sells weird British goods!