A mid-brown, domed plum pudding turned out onto a plain white plate on a red check cloth, one wedge cut away to show raisins, currants and small pieces of candied peel in a crumbly crumb. — Plum pudding of raisins, currants and peel, one wedge cut.

Christmas Plum Pudding (1861)

Name: Christmas Plum Pudding
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 5 h
Total time: 5 h 35 min
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 10 g butter, for the basin; 340 g seedless raisins; 115 g currants; 115 g candied mixed peel; 170 g fresh white breadcrumbs; 170 g beef suet, finely chopped, or shredded suet; 4 large eggs; 35 ml brandy, optional, or whole milk

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Isabella Beeton’s Christmas plum pudding of raisins, currants, peel, breadcrumbs, suet and eggs, with no sugar or flour, steamed in a basin. Brandy optional.

By The Forgotten MenuPublished Oct 28, 2026

Recipe makes: One 1.5-liter pudding, 8 servings
Prep: 35 min
Cook: 5 hr
Total: 5 hr 35 min

The pudding steams for 5 hours, so keep a kettle hot for topping up the pot. Made a day or two ahead and kept in the refrigerator, it steams again in about 1½ hours.

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Plum pudding of raisins, currants and peel, one wedge cut.

The story behind the recipe

By the time the truce on his stretch of the line ended on December 26, 1914, Edward Hulse’s Scots Guards had sent some plum puddings across no man’s land, and the Germans opposite thanked them heartily. Each man in his battalion had been issued one that morning. His letter doesn’t say who made them or how, so this is the Christmas pudding Isabella Beeton marked “Very Good” in The Book of Household Management, a household recipe printed more than fifty years before the truce and set beside the soldiers’ gift.

Why is there no sugar in Beeton’s pudding?

Her ingredients are raisins, currants, mixed peel, breadcrumbs, suet, eggs and a glass of brandy, and nothing else: no flour, no spice and no sugar. The sweetness comes from the fruit, a pound and a half of raisins for every three-quarters of a pound of crumbs. Beeton’s very next recipe, the Pound Plum-Pudding, adds flour, nutmeg, ginger and milk to much the same fruit and suet.

She expected it to be made ahead. The pudding boiled for five or six hours, was hung up to drain, and boiled again for two hours on the day. She advised making five or six at once, since they “will keep good for many weeks,” and noted that molds “of every shape and size” could be bought from Messrs. R. & J. Slack in the Strand. On Christmas Day it came to the table with a sprig of holly in the middle and brandy flaming around it.

Making it today

This is half of Beeton’s quantities. Her list makes far more than the quart mold she names, so we sized the basin to the mixture: 1.5 liters, which serves eight. It steams in a covered pot for five hours, the low end of her boiling time, and a thermometer in the center says when it is done, since it holds raw egg. The brandy can be left out, with milk in its place to moisten the mixture.

Hans, a Hamburg volunteer on the German side, finished his Christmas dinner with marzipan, and Henriette Davidis’s Lübeck Marzipan (1858) needs only almonds, sugar and orange flower water. Hulse’s letter and the other gifts that crossed no man’s land are told in What Did the Soldiers Share in the Christmas Truce of 1914?

CHRISTMAS PLUM-PUDDING.
(Very Good.)
1328. INGREDIENTS.—1½ lb. of raisins, ½ lb. of currants, ½ lb. of mixed peel, ¾ lb. of bread crumbs, ¾ lb. of suet, 8 eggs, 1 wineglassful of brandy.
Mode.—Stone and cut the raisins in halves, but do not chop them; wash, pick, and dry the currants, and mince the suet finely; cut the candied peel into thin slices, and grate down the bread into fine crumbs. When all these dry ingredients are prepared, mix them well together; then moisten the mixture with the eggs, which should be well beaten, and the brandy; stir well, that everything may be very thoroughly blended, and press the pudding into a buttered mould; tie it down tightly with a floured cloth, and boil for 5 or 6 hours. It may be boiled in a cloth without a mould, and will require the same time allowed for cooking. As Christmas puddings are usually made a few days before they are required for table, when the pudding is taken out of the pot, hang it up immediately, and put a plate or saucer underneath to catch the water that may drain from it. The day it is to be eaten, plunge it into boiling water, and keep it boiling for at least 2 hours; then turn it out of the mould, and serve with brandy-sauce. On Christmas-day a sprig of holly is usually placed in the middle of the pudding, and about a wineglassful of brandy poured round it, which, at the moment of serving, is lighted, and the pudding thus brought to table encircled in flame.
Time.—5 or 6 hours the first time of boiling; 2 hours the day it is to be served.
Average cost, 4s.
Sufficient for a quart mould for 7 or 8 persons.
Seasonable on the 25th of December, and on various festive occasions till March.
Note.—Five or six of these puddings should be made at one time, as they will keep good for many weeks, and in cases where unexpected guests arrive, will be found an acceptable, and, as it only requires warming through, a quickly-prepared dish. Moulds of every shape and size are manufactured for these puddings, and may be purchased of Messrs. R. & J. Slack, 336, Strand.

Isabella BeetonThe Book of Household Management (London: S. O. Beeton, 1861), Christmas Plum-Pudding (Very Good), no. 1328, pp. 667–668

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Ingredients

For One 1.5-liter pudding, 8 servings. Quantities are shown as written.

Quantities as written here, for One 1.5-liter pudding, 8 servings.

Butter, for the basin10 g
Seedless raisins340 g
Currants115 g
Candied mixed peel115 g
Fresh white breadcrumbs170 g
Beef suet, finely chopped, or shredded suet170 g
Large eggs4
Brandy, optional, or whole milk35 ml

Ingredients as written here

10 g butter, for the basin
340 g seedless raisins
115 g currants
115 g candied mixed peel
170 g fresh white breadcrumbs
170 g beef suet, finely chopped, or shredded suet
4 large eggs
35 ml brandy, optional, or whole milk

Equipment

1.5-liter (2½-pint) pudding basin or heatproof bowl
Parchment paper, foil and kitchen string
Large pot with a lid, deep enough to hold the basin
Trivet, upturned saucer or folded cloth for the bottom of the pot
Kettle
Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

Rub the inside of the basin with the butter and press a round of parchment into the bottom.
Cut the raisins in half. In a large bowl, mix the raisins, currants, candied peel, breadcrumbs and suet until the fruit is evenly coated.
Beat the eggs well, beat in the brandy or milk, and pour it over the dry mixture. Stir thoroughly until every crumb is moist and the mixture holds together when pressed.
Press the mixture firmly into the basin; it should come to about 1 inch (2.5 cm) below the rim. Cover it with a sheet of parchment and a sheet of foil, both folded with a pleat across the middle so the pudding can swell, and tie them on tightly under the rim with string.
Set the trivet in the pot, stand the basin on it, and pour in boiling water to come halfway up the basin. Cover the pot and keep the water at a steady simmer for 5 hours, topping it up with boiling water from the kettle whenever it drops.
Lift out the basin and push an instant-read thermometer into the center of the pudding through the covers: it should read at least 160°F (71°C). If it doesn’t, cover it again and steam for another 30 minutes before checking again.
Let the pudding stand for 5 minutes, remove the covers, run a knife around the edge and turn it out onto a warm plate. Serve hot.

Nutrition

505calories per serving

Recipe makes: One 1.5-liter pudding, 8 servings
Servings: 8

Estimated per serving (8) from USDA FoodData Central values for raisins, currants, candied peel, white breadcrumbs, beef suet, eggs and brandy.

Recipe notes

When adjusting quantities

This is half of Beeton’s quantities. Her full batch needs a basin of about 3 liters; whatever the size, steam it until the center reaches 160°F (71°C).

Notes

Quantities mentioned in these notes don’t change when you adjust the servings.

Beeton halves the raisins and removes the stones; seedless raisins save that step. Her suet is minced by hand; shredded suet from a box saves the chopping, and vegetarian suet keeps beef fat out of the pudding. She grates her crumbs from a loaf.

To make it ahead, cool the pudding in its basin, refrigerate it within 2 hours and use it within 4 days, following USDA guidance on leftovers, or freeze it. Steam it again in the basin for about 1½ hours, until the center reaches 165°F (74°C). Beeton’s weeks of keeping at room temperature and the flaming brandy are left out. Beeton served it with brandy sauce; custard or cream are other choices. Beeton’s wineglassful of brandy has no stated size; it is taken here as about 70 ml and halved, and the butter for the basin is our amount. Contains wheat and egg.

Scaling changes the ingredients only; pan sizes and cooking times need their own judgment. To adapt this recipe further, try the recipe tool at TuneMyRecipe (opens in a new tab), our sister site.