After watching The Crown all month, it’s safe to say we’re in the mood for something truly royal. The Royal Family’s kitchens fulfilled our wish by sharing the recipe for their decadent Christmas pudding on Twitter, right in time for #StirUpSunday. (Thankfully, this one doesn’t have a unusual British name).

On the Sunday a month before Christmas, cooks all around the UK break out their mixing bowls and—you guessed it—stir up their pudding ingredients before steaming and storing their puddings until Christmas Day. Be warned, this one is HEAVY on the booze (not that we’re complaining)!

How to Make the Royal Family’s Christmas Pudding

This recipe might take a while, but it’s pretty simple. You will, however, need a kitchen scale as the ingredients are measured in grams by our neighbors across the ocean. (Here are some of our Test Kitchen’s recommended food scales.)

This recipe yields two 1-kilogram puddings, which is about 2 pounds apiece.

Ingredients

  • 250g raisins
  • 250g currants
  • 185g sultanas
  • 150g mixed peel (tangerine)
  • 250g suet or vegetarian suet
  • 250g bread crumbs
  • 90g flour
  • 12g mixed spice
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 180g demerara sugar
  • 275ml beer
  • 40ml dark rum
  • 40ml brandy

Editor’s Note: Suet is the raw, hard fat of beef and mutton. If you can’t find it, use a vegetarian substitute (available on Amazon) or swap it out for grated vegetable shortening like Crisco.

Directions

Step 1: Prep your kitchen

Line up all your ingredients. Then, grab your kitchen scale, a large mixing bowl, two pudding basins like this (or large heat-safe bowls with wide bottoms and deep sides) and a saucepan deep enough to hold the basins.

Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients

Add the raisins, currants, sultanas, mixed peel, suet, bread crumbs, flour, mixed spice and demerara sugar to your mixing bowl and stir together.

Step 3: Add the wet ingredients

Add the eggs, beer, dark rum and brandy to the mix, then stir it all in. Make sure everything is evenly combined.

For a true Christmas experience, have the family stir together a few times and let each member make a wish!

Step 4: Put the mixture in the basin(s)

Grease up your pudding basins and gently pat the cake mixture into them until they’re nearly full (remember to leave space for expansion). Cover the top with a circle of parchment paper, trimming off any excess.

Step 5: Steam

Cover the basins with muslin cloth or foil and place them in the deep saucepan. Fill the water up to to 3/4 of the pudding basins’ height, then cover the top of the saucepan with foil. Steam for 6 hours, refilling the water as needed.

Step 6: Store

Allow the puddings to cool, then wrap securely and store them in a cool, dry place until Christmas Day.

Want to eat like a Queen all the time? Check out this recipe for Queen Elizabeth’s scones, or whip up the Royal Family’s favorite dinner dish.

Author
Amrita Thakkar
Amrita is a writer, poet and amateur photographer who often ends up applying these skills to her one great love: food. You can find her up at 3 a.m. writing, researching the perfect combo for her next grilled cheese or making a more eco-friendly grocery list.
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Amrita Thakkar