Anyone else making 🎄 puddings soon?

eddiecat78, no, I haven’t.
My GH version is less dark, dense and heavy than anything I’ve ever had from a shop - people who don’t usually like Christmas pudding do often really like it. Though I always provide an alternative and emphasise that nobody has to have any to be polite!
Dh and I will always scoff whatever’s left. 🐷

The only booze in it is ale, but it tastes and smells supremely Christmassy and TBH I do enjoy making it, and don’t find it too much of a faff at all.

I used to collect grandchildren from school when they were young so making Christmas pudding and cakes was a great activity. Then there was the tree which they decorated anyway they liked. I have a photo somewhere of one of them wearing my apron and stirring a pudding while beaming into the camera. It’s not just making puddings it’s making memories.

Me too.

I will be making mine on stir up Sunday, and I do it in the slow cooker too. It’s Delia’s recipe and I steam it on low for about 8 hours, then again on the big day for a couple of hours. It’s so much easier than doing them on the stove top, ensuring the water is topped up and making the kitchen steamy. The slow cooker avoids all that.
I used to make my cake during October half term, but in recent years I’ve made a boozy Dundee cake which doesn’t need as long maturing, so make it the end of November or beginning of December.

I haven't made my puddings yet, but I will. Probably about five of them. I'll make the first Christmas cake in a couple of weeks. We are usually on number three by the time it actually gets to Christmas.

What I did make a couple of weeks ago was mincemeat. I made a half measure of Delia's recipe. I did substitute glacé cherries for almond slivers and instead of putting it in a low oven I bunged it in the slow cooker.

I tried it last night and it is phenomenal. I've made a mincemeat cake and when I've been shopping again I'll make more mincemeat, a full six jars this time.

Americans don’t make puddings but we make the same thing called Fruitcake. (Spicy batter with asstd dried fruits, nuts and peels; some are curated weeks in advance by sprinkling bourbon, rum or brandy.)

You either love it (me!) or absolutely hate the stuff. It’s become a seasonal pastime here where some even make fun or parody out of these cakes. Some hilarious.

I like to make my spicy cake ahead of time. It sets up my holiday🎄season. I end up finishing the rest of it over time. It gets better!

For those that make, don’t eat, and throw away $😳$ - Please share with others that don’t ever get to have any!
USA Gundy

Gave up making Christmas puddings and cake years ago. No one ate the cake and we bought a marvellous Christmas pudding one year at an artisan food fair, which I can't better, so we buy one every year now.
I also prep all my Christmas Day food in advance using Delia's Christmas Cookbook. Carrot and swede mash in foil containers in the freezer, as well as red cabbage and parmesan parsnips. Pigs in blankets likewise and roast potatoes par boiled and oiled on a tray in the fridge the day before.
The aforementioned Christmas pudding fits in the slow cooker and warms up nicely during the morning out in the utility room. The the only thing I cook on the day is the turkey and the sprouts.
I gave up trying new ideas for the dinner years ago and stick to the same formula every year. When I worked full time I took annual leave for a week toward the end of November/begining December as my Christmas 'prep' week. My colleagues thought it was hilarious, but it meant I could enjoy the day without slaving over the cooker, but also knowing it was mostly home cooked!

Not since discovering you can buy all sorts to suit tastes and food preferences and heat them in seconds in a microwave.

Retired teacher so always made Christmas cake and Christmas pudding at half term and will now continue, should have more time but having too much fun with grandchildren!

I no longer make them as I live alone, but when all the kids were at home the pudds and the cake were always made during the school Summer holidays.

I had a piece of a last year’s M & S reduced deluxe Christmas pudding yesterday! Not been in the freezer, just still in packaging in the cupboard. It had a high alcohol content! It’s use by date was April. I’ll stick with theirs, when reduced. Will be making the cake though.

I thought of doing mine in the slow cooker last year, Ziplok, but alas my pudding basins are too big.

My recipe can be left overnight once mixed up, so (given that we’re going to be out a lot with Gdcs) I expect we’ll mix up one night, and I’ll put them on to steam the following night.

Have a lovely time with the grandchildren. Such a special time. Xx

I microwave mine a week or two before the big day!

I have used Nigella’s recipe for years now. Even people who say they don’t like Christmas pudding devour it. It’s incredibly easy, soak the fruit in sherry for as long as you want and then stir all the ingredients together. I put it in the slow cooker on medium until I remember to switch it off then put it in the slow cooker again about 6-8 hours before lunch on the day. It’s all very casual.