WA Advent Calendar 2025 - Saturday 13th December

byGail-UK

3.8K followers

2 days ago

Morning, lovely WAers!

It's the 13th today (unlucky for some, they say), but hopefully today's post will bring you a bit of luck.

If, like me, you are a terrible cook and you missed Stir-up Sunday, the traditional day when families make their Christmas pudding, then today's recipe is just for you.

Because in the Advent calendar today, we have a Christmas pudding.

But first, a little info about Stir-up Sunday

It always falls on the last Sunday before Advent, which usually means late November, and this year, it was on 23rd November. I really should follow Jamie Oliver a bit more, and then I'd know!

From that point, the pudding has about four weeks to mature, deepen in flavour and become wonderfully rich by Christmas Day.

Where the tradition comes from

According to Wikipedia and The Church of England, Stir-up Sunday actually began not in the kitchen, but in the Church of England. The name comes from the opening words of the Collect (a short prayer) for that Sunday:

“Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord…”

The line reminded parishioners, quite unintentionally, that it was time to go home and stir up the Christmas pudding mixture. Over time, the religious prompt and the culinary tradition became completely intertwined.

But why are Christmas puddings made so early?

Before supermarkets and ready-made desserts, a proper Christmas pudding needed time to:

• mature
• darken
• allow the fruit, spices and alcohol to develop flavour

Making it around four or five weeks before Christmas ensured the best result. Stir-up Sunday became the perfect reminder.

Traditional customs of Stirring the Pot

In the UK, families often followed particular rituals, including:

• Everyone takes a turn stirring the pudding, usually from east to west, said to represent the journey of the Wise Men
• Each person makes a wish while stirring
• Some families hid coins or charms in the mixture for luck - traditionally a sixpence (an old, pre-decimal coin but not recommended now for Health and Safety reasons!!)
• Children were encouraged to join in, making it a lovely family moment

How it started and how it’s changed

The custom dates back to Victorian Britain, when the modern Christmas pudding took shape and when Dickens helped shape our ideas of Christmas.

Today, not everyone makes a Christmas pudding from scratch. I confess that I have never made a Christmas pudding, and I have only ever made 3 Christmas dinners in my entire life!! I'm lucky to have a lot of very good cooks in my family, and I usually get relegated to peeling potatoes or adding the decorations to the Christmas table! However, that is much more my style - creativity with crafts in 'my thing', so I'm happy to let the more experienced cooks cook, and they are 'assertively' happy to let me decorate. It's a win-win!

My great, great-grandmother was obviously relegated to peeling potatoes, too! LOL

That said, I have decided this year to make my own Christmas pudding!!

Shock! Horror! Watch out for strange meteors, and lock up your children!!

But since I've missed Stir-up Sunday, I've asked Sparky (my ChatGPT assistant) to save the day and this is the recipe he suggested.

Now, I have no idea if this is good or bad, but I'm willing to give it a go!

How about you? Are you a culinary genius or a soggy sous chef?

Let me know in the comments.

Wish me luck!

Gail

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Emergency Christmas Cake - Ready in One Week... (apparently!)

A beautifully spiced, moist cake you can bake today and enjoy by Christmas. No long soaking, no fuss.

Ingredients

Dried fruit (about 900 g total):
• 300 g raisins
• 300 g sultanas
• 150 g currants
• 150 g chopped dried apricots OR cranberries

Liquids & flavourings:
• 150 ml brandy, rum, sherry or orange juice
• Zest of 1 orange
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 150 g butter
• 150 g soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp black treacle (optional but lovely)

Dry ingredients:
• 225 g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• Pinch of salt

Other:
• 3 large eggs
• 75 g chopped nuts (almonds, pecans or walnuts)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Simmer the fruit

Put the dried fruit, butter, sugar, zest, treacle and your chosen alcohol/juice into a saucepan.
Gently heat until the butter has melted, then simmer for 5 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let it cool for 10–15 minutes.
(This step plumps the fruit beautifully and accelerates the maturing process.)

2. Preheat the oven

160°C (fan 140°C).
Line a deep 20 cm round cake tin with baking parchment. Double-line the sides for protection.

3. Add the dry ingredients

Once the fruit mixture is warm, not hot, stir in the flour, spices and salt.

4. Add eggs, nuts and vanilla

Beat the eggs lightly, then fold them into the mixture along with the nuts and vanilla.

5. Bake

Spoon into your prepared tin.
Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
If the top browns too quickly, cover with foil.

6. Cool and (optional) feed

Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove and cool completely.
If you like, use a skewer to poke a few small holes and drizzle 1–2 tbsp brandy/rum/orange juice over the top.
Because this is a quick cake, don’t over-soak.

How to finish it in a week

You can eat it as soon as it’s cold, but it benefits from a few days wrapped up nicely.

Store like this:

Wrap in baking parchment and foil.
Keep in an airtight tin.
Feed once more mid-week with another tablespoon of alcohol if you like.

By Christmas Day, it will taste rich, moist and wonderfully festive.

Quick decoration ideas (if time is short)

• Warm apricot jam and brush the cake before adding marzipan and icing
• Or skip the icing and simply dust with icing sugar for a snowy look
• Add ribbon and a sprig of holly for instant Christmas charm

* * * UPDATE! * * * UPDATE!* * *

I realised after publishing this that the recipe above is for a Christmas cake, not a hristmas pudding, and thanks to Isabella for spotting that.

So, I have updated the post with a quick recipe from Sparky for a Christmas pudding!

I'm not going to blame him, because it was clearly my error typing 'cake' not 'pudding' which is really just proof that you never want to eat anything that I produce!! LOL

Anyway, 2nd recipe below... this is the one I'll be making although it does seem to have an awful lot of ingredients, and it's just so easy to get a ready made one from Marks and Spencer's!

Oh, the dilemma...

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Quick Christmas Pudding (Ready in 1 Week)

Perfect for late-starters and last-minute Christmas planners!

Ingredients (serves 6–8)

Dried fruit (about 500 g total):
• 175 g raisins
• 175 g sultanas
• 100 g currants
• 50 g chopped dried apricots or cranberries

Other ingredients:
• 100 g soft brown sugar
• 100 g shredded suet (or 100 g melted butter for a vegetarian version)
• 100 g self-raising flour
• 100 g fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 medium apple, peeled and grated
• 1 small carrot, finely grated
• 2 large eggs
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Grated zest of 1 orange
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 75 ml brandy, rum or stout (or orange juice)
• 1 tbsp black treacle
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Quick soak the fruit

Place the dried fruit in a bowl with the brandy/rum/stout/orange juice.
Warm gently in the microwave for 30–40 seconds or heat in a small pan until warm (not hot).
Leave to soak while you prepare everything else.
This speeds up the maturing process.

2. Mix the dry ingredients

In a large bowl combine:
flour, breadcrumbs, sugar, spices and baking powder.

3. Add the fruit and flavourings

Add the soaked fruit, suet (or butter), grated apple and carrot, citrus zest, treacle and vanilla.
Mix well.

4. Add the eggs

Beat the eggs lightly and mix into the pudding mixture until everything is fully combined.
It should be a soft dropping consistency.
If it feels too dry, add a splash more alcohol or juice.

5. Prepare the basin

Grease a 1-litre pudding basin.
Spoon the mixture in, press down gently, and cover with greaseproof paper and foil (with a pleat in the middle to allow rising).
Tie securely with string.

6. Steam the pudding

Steam for 2 hours 30 minutes.
Top up the pan with boiling water as needed.

7. Cool, wrap and rest

Let the pudding cool fully.
Remove the coverings, replace with fresh parchment and foil, and store in a cool place for the week.
Because this is a fast pudding, there’s no need for repeated “feeding”, though you can add 1 tablespoon of brandy if you’d like.

Reheat on Christmas Day

Steam again for 1 hour before serving.
Flame with warm brandy if you want a dramatic moment at the table.

Quick finishing ideas

• Serve with brandy butter, rum sauce or custard.
• Add a sprig of holly for the classic Christmas look.
• Dust with icing sugar for a snowy effect.