Christmas 2019 recipes: Make plum pudding and mince pie for your child

Traditional Plum Pudding

Ingredients

Fruit Mixture (To be made 30 days ahead)

1 pound seedless raisins, 1 pound sultana raisins, 1/2 pound currants, 1 cup thinly sliced citron, 1 cup chopped candied peel, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon mace, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1 pound finely chopped suet – powdery fine, 1 1/4 cups cognac (optional)

Pudding

1 1/4 pounds (approximately) fresh bread crumbs, 1 cup scalded milk, 1 cup sherry or port (optional), 12 eggs, well beaten, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, cognac

Preparation

Blend the fruits, citron, peel, spices and suet and place in a bowl or jar. Add 1/4 cup cognac, cover tightly and refrigerate for 4 days, adding 1/4 cup cognac each day.

Soak the bread crumbs in milk and sherry or port. Combine the well-beaten eggs and sugar. Blend with the fruit mixture. Add salt and mix thoroughly. Put the pudding in buttered bowls or tins, filling them about 2/3 full. Cover with foil and tie it firmly. Steam for six to seven hours.

Uncover and place in a 121 degrees Celsius. Oven for 30 minutes. Add a dash of cognac to each pudding, cover with foil and keep in a cool place.

To use, steam again for two to three hours and unmould. Sprinkle with sugar; add heated cognac. Ignite and bring to the table. Serve with hard sauce or cognac sauce.

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Mince Pie

Mince Pie

Ingredients

600 g mincemeat 2 satsumas segmented, 1 apple, finely chopped, zest 1 lemon, Little icing sugar for dusting

For the pastry

375 g plain flour, 260 g unsalted butter, softened, 125 g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling, 1 large egg, plus 1 beaten egg for glazing

Preparation

Place 375 g plain flour and 260 g softened unsalted butter in a bowl and rub together to a crumb consistency.

Add 125 g caster sugar and 1 large beaten egg, and mix together.

Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and fold until the pastry comes together, be careful not to over mix.

Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 10 mins.

Scoop the large jar of mincemeat into a bowl and add two segmented satsumas, 1 finely chopped apple and zest of one lemon. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.

Roll out the pastry to 3mm thick.

Using a round cutter (about 10cm), cut out 16 bases and place them into muffin trays. Put 1½ tbsp mincemeat mixture into each. Brush the edge of each pie with a little beaten egg.

Re-roll out the pastry to cut 7cm lids and press them on top to seal. Glaze with the beaten egg, sprinkle with the extra caster sugar, then make a small cut in the tops.

Bake the mince pies for 15-20 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool before releasing them from the muffin trays and dusting with a little more icing sugar before serving.