In the 11 years I’ve been writing posts for this blog, I have never posted on Christmas Day!
This year, I decided to finally rectify that and bring a recipe for a Christmas Pudding. Plum Pudding is quite a misnomer (at least to us Americans) – it does not include any plums, and pudding is actually a cake, not a custard-like substance. The method of cooking the plum pudding was new to me too; you actually steam it on your stovetop rather than bake it!
This recipe for Irish Plum Pudding is adapted from a cookbook I have owned for a while (Christmas Flavors of Ireland– paid link), although, I have to admit, I think I royally Americanized the recipe into something different. So, here’s my American Not-Plum Bundt Cake!
Note: You’ll need a 6 cup bundt pan (paid link), and a pot large enough to fit the bundt pan inside (I used a large pot I use to make tomato sauce).
Ingredients:
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 1/4 cup dried figs, chopped
- 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
- 1/4 cup candied cherries (paid link), halved
- 2 tablespoons candied orange peel, chopped
- 2 tablespoons candied lemon peel, chopped
- 1/3 cup spiced rum
- the juice and zest of 1 orange
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup stem ginger (paid link), finely chopped
- 1 apple, peeled, cored, and grated
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Optional Bourbon Butter, for serving:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
The night before you plan to make the pudding, add the raisins, golden raisins, figs, apricots, candied cherries, and candied orange and lemon peels to a large bowl.
Pour in the spiced rum. Add the orange zest and juice and stir to combine.
Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight.
The next day, spray your bundt pan with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until well combined.
Add the eggs one at a time, stirring to combine.
Stir in the soaked fruit, stem ginger, grated apple, flour, breadcrumbs, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. It will make a pretty dense dough.
Add the batter to your prepared bundt pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. (I’d suggest pressing it into the sides of the bundt pan as well, to get the shape of the bundt pan. I didn’t do a great job of this.)
Cover with a double piece of wax paper, then wrap the bundt pan in aluminum foil all the way around (you don’t want water to get in).
Place the wrapped bundt pan in a large pot with a rack at the bottom (I used my InstantPot Rack – paid link). If you don’t have a rack that fits the bottom of your pot, place a kitchen towel at the bottom so the bundt pan is not directly sitting on the bottom of the pot.
Add enough hot water to the pot to come halfway up the bundt pan (about 6 to 8 cups for mine).
Add to your stovetop, cover and bring to a simmer. Lower to medium low so that it stays at a light simmer and steam for 2 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into the pudding comes out clean. (After 2 hours, I just cut into the aluminum foil and wax paper to test it).
Carefully remove the bundt pan from the pot and remove the foil and wax paper.
Place a plate over the bundt pan and flip the pan to release it onto the plate.
To make the bourbon butter, beat the butter and powdered sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add in the bourbon and beat until smooth.
Transfer to a small bowl.
The butter can be refrigerated and enjoyed up to two weeks; when serving with the plum pudding, bring to room temperature first. Serve the plum pudding warm, with the bourbon butter if desired.
This can be made up to a week ahead of time. If making ahead, you can let it completely cool in the bundt pan, then wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil before refrigerating.
Well, that was an intriguing experience! It was actually easier than I expected, but there is a lot of prep work – soaking the dried fruit overnight, grating the apple, chopping all the ingredients…
The result is a very fruit-forward spiced cake. The pops of ginger add a little bit of spiciness to break up the sweetness which is really nice.
I enjoyed the bourbon butter on top, but it is sweet, so use sparingly (or maybe limit the amount of powdered sugar to 1 cup if you prefer things less sweet).
Irish Plum Pudding
Ingredients
Plum Pudding:
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 1/4 cup dried figs chopped
- 1/4 cup dried apricots chopped
- 1/4 cup candied cherries paid link, halved
- 2 tablespoons candied orange peel chopped
- 2 tablespoons candied lemon peel chopped
- 1/3 cup spiced rum
- the juice and zest of 1 orange
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup stem ginger paid link, finely chopped
- 1 apple peeled, cored, and grated
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Optional Bourbon Butter, for serving:
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
Instructions
- The night before you plan to make the pudding, add the raisins, golden raisins, figs, apricots, candied cherries, and candied orange and lemon peels to a large bowl.
- Pour in the spiced rum. Add the orange zest and juice and stir to combine.
- Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight.
- The next day, spray your bundt pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until well combined.
- Add the eggs one at a time, stirring to combine.
- Stir in the soaked fruit, stem ginger, grated apple, flour, breadcrumbs, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. It will make a pretty dense dough.
- Add the batter to your prepared bundt pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. (I’d suggest pressing it into the sides of the bundt pan as well, to get the shape of the bundt pan. I didn’t do a great job of this.)
- Cover with a double piece of wax paper, then wrap the bundt pan in aluminum foil all the way around (you don’t want water to get in).
- Place the wrapped bundt pan in a large pot with a rack at the bottom. If you don’t have a rack that fits the bottom of your pot, place a kitchen towel at the bottom so the bundt pan is not directly sitting on the bottom of the pot.
- Add enough hot water to the pot to come halfway up the bundt pan (about 6 to 8 cups for mine).
- Add to your stovetop, cover and bring to a simmer. Lower to medium low so that it stays at a light simmer and steam for 2 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into the pudding comes out clean. (After 2 hours, I just cut into the aluminum foil and wax paper to test it).
- Carefully remove the bundt pan from the pot and remove the foil and wax paper.
- Place a plate over the bundt pan and flip the pan to release it onto the plate.
- To make the bourbon butter, beat the butter and powdered sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add in the bourbon and beat until smooth.
- Transfer to a small bowl.
- The butter can be refrigerated and enjoyed up to two weeks; when serving with the plum pudding, bring to room temperature first. Serve the plum pudding warm, with the bourbon butter if desired.
What do you think?