Mid-April, Sue surprised me (and possibly the airport security) by flying from Toronto with a Xmas pudding neatly sealed in plastic. She took a mysterious and mischievous air and said: "Keep this in your freezer until such a time when you will get instructions by email." A couple of days ago, the instructions arrived: it is feeding time.
This morning as snow flakes where dancing outside the kitchen window I took the pudding out of the plastic. Liberated, it generated an unmistakable sweet aroma which floated in the kitchen. Next I got Ann's flask, oh! yes this is a friends' affair, everyone is participating. Poked some holes in the pudding and started pouring cognac, wrapped it is in its cloth, it is now ready for its next feed next week.........
If you are not familiar with Xmas pud, traditionally it is made 4 to 5 weeks before Christmas. This pudding contains very little flour, lots and lots of rich dried fruits and spices. It is common practice to include a coin or a charm in the pudding during it's making. A couple of weeks before, it needs to be fed with cognac or rum and left its cloth until the day when it is steamed for 3 to 4 hours, it should darken deeply, served with cream and I was told yesterday that any leftovers could be fried the next day.
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