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Majestic Imperial Regal Yuletide Plum Pudding

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, mix the suet, brown sugar, raisins, peel, bread crumbs, currants, cherries, flour, almonds and spices thoroughly by hand. Add all the liquids--the eggs should be added one at a time--and continue to hand-mix "until the mix becomes a true blend," as Eric writes. He adds, "One could use an electric mixer, I suppose, but that wouldn't be nearly as satisfying or as much fun. Traditionally, it is believed that to stir the pudding mix brings good luck in the new year. Mixing by hand guarantees that result."
Also--to drag us back to the practical--unless you have a very powerful mixer, you're going to overheat it in a second with a batter this heavy. And plum pudding batters have been known to snap spoons in half.
There will be about 2 gallons of batter, which you can distribute among your pudding bowls as you choose. Eric uses greased Pyrex bowls of varying sizes to steam his puddings; this recipe will fill six 12-ounce and two 24-ounce Pyrex bowls. You may need to use others, depending on your bowl supply; I've found that even custard cups work well if you're giving a tiny pudding to one person.
Spoon the batter into your bowls, molds or whatever. Cover the tops of the bowls tightly with, according to Eric, "a double layer of old sheet or other clean rag." Slightly dampened parchment paper works, too, and at my church--where we do plum puddings in quantity--we cover them with muslin bought for the purpose. Fasten the cloth or paper with a rubber band, then cover the puddings tightly with a layer of aluminum foil.
The next thing you need is a couple of large, lidded cooking vessels into which you can fit the pudding bowls as well as a rack to steam them on. A canning pot is perfect, or a big steamer or even a roasting pan if it can go on the stove. Place the racks inside the vessels, pour in enough water to provide steam without slopping up through the rack, and then arrange the puddings on the racks. Bring the water to a boil, and steam the puddings over low heat, checking the water levels frequently. The 12-ounce and 24-ounce sizes will take about 5 hours; smaller puddings will take a shorter time.
If you can't steam all the puddings at once, it's okay to do a second batch. In her Christmas book, Martha Stewart also suggests steaming large quantities of plum puddings in the oven. She puts her pudding bowls into large roasting pans, pours boiling water into the pans, covers the bowls and roasting pans with foil, and cooks everything in a preheated 300-degree-F oven for 5 hours, being sure to add boiling water as needed. I haven't tried this method, but I see no reason it wouldn't work.
When the puddings are done, remove them from the steamer and place them upside down on a wax-paper-covered surface. They will slide free of the bowls as they cool.
When the puddings are thoroughly cool, remove the foil and paper and place each inside a plastic bag along with 1 oz of brandy. Seal the bag tightly, turn it over a couple of times to make sure it's not leaking, and store in the refrigerator until Christmas. Every 3 weeks, moisten the pudding with more brandy. When it's actually time to give the pudding away, place it in a new plastic bag, seal the bag tightly, and wrap it in foil. A bow is optional.
Whether you give some puddings away or keep them all for yourself, they should be brought to room temperature, unwrapped and steamed for another hour before serving. Serve them with hard sauce or with Mozart's Rum Sauce (recipe follows).