Belated Christmas Pudding and Traditional New Year's Cake

Never made steamed pudding before and enjoyed the simple process while Costas loved the result!

I remember my mother serving rice pudding in this ornate octagonal old plate.

Steamed pudding is certainly not the most photogenic dessert but its flavor is trully great and gets better every day that passes, especially if you decide to re-inforce it with brandy, as the recipe suggests.

A zillion years ago, when I was studying in London, I remember my landlady mixing the Christmas pudding long before the holidays, weeks before I left for Athens to spend the festivities with my family. All the people in the house had to participate and stir the mixture once or twice.

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Christmas pudding, the dark, sticky and boozy steamed cake also called plum pudding, is one of the oldest and most quintessentially British recipes; and it is quite easy to make.

I was always intrigued by this steamed cake but have never attempted to make it, until recently, when I came across a Washington Post recipe, by Becky Krystal.

She writes that her version is based on the “Official Bridgerton Cookbook,” and notes that during the Georgian period serving it at dinner parties was a sign of patriotism, and a family like the Bridgertons would make a point of showing their allegiance to the crown.

Krystal’s recipe is adapted for the Instant Pot, with instructions from Nigella Lawson. But I have no instant pot –hardly ever used it when I had one— so I made it in a regular stock pot.

Although, according to the recipe a 6-hour steaming would be needed, my pudding was ready in less than 3 hours, or about 2 hours 30 min. Maybe because I used a wider bowl and a large stock-pot.

My ceramic bowl was 21.5 cm. (8.5 inches) in diameter, and 8.5 cm. (3.5 inches) tall.

In my adaptation, instead of butter or the traditional old British suet, I used olive oil and I hope my friends from the UK and especially

Elisabeth Luard

won’t be appalled and offended…

Note that the mixture of brandy and dried fruit needs to sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours. The pudding is delicious eaten right away, but traditionally it is made weeks in advance to allow the flavors to mature. Leave the cooled pudding in the bowl and seal the top with a tight-fitting lid or plastic wrap.

Store in a cool, dry place for up to 6 weeks, feeding it with brandy once a week (scroll down for the recipe).

And if you are looking for a much easier treat to make for the New Year check my boozy fruit and nut cake.

This is a dense fruitcake, full of flavor, that should be thinly sliced and enjoyed in moderation, maybe accompanied by cream, mascarpone, or thick yogurt.

Vassilopita: the Greek New Year’s Cake

For the New Year we traditionally bake vassilopita, a rich buttery cake, according to my mother’s recipe —well, again I substituted olive oil for the butter and I am sure my mother wouldn’t object.

‘Well Aglaia always changes things,’ she used to say as I credited her when people praised something I have cooked. She never wanted to take the credit, as she wasn’t a proud cook. Growing up she was overshadowed by her older sister who was supposed to be THE cook in her mother’s kitchen.

But my mother was a very good and efficient cook, and both my sister and I, as well as my niece, make a lot of the savory and sweet dishes she taught us, and always bake the New Year’s cake following her recipe.

My mother used to write with almonds the upcoming year’s number on top of the cake batter. Costas and I attempted to do it yesteraday, but we were not very successful, as the top puffed and the number 25 is barely visible.

Most people simply sprinkle the cake with confectioner’s sugar, or write the number later, as I did two years ago, cutting and caramelizing the numbers from tangerine peels.

A coin is hidden in the cake and as it is ceremoniously cut when all the family and friends finish their New Year’s dinner or lunch, whoever gets the coin is supposed to be THE luckiest person of the coming year.

Serve this wonderfully aromatic cake on its own for breakfast or as a snack with coffee, tea or orange juice. Great with a glass of fruity, sparkling wine, brandy or some barrel aged tsipouro, like Dark Cave.

Steamed Christmas Pudding

The mixture of brandy and dried fruit needs to sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours. The pudding is delicious eaten right away, but traditionally it is made weeks in advance to allow the flavors to mature. Leave the cooled pudding in the bowl and seal the top with a tight-fitting lid or plastic wrap. Store in a cool, dry place for up to 6 weeks, feeding it with brandy once a week

Serves 8-10

1 cup (140 grams) dried currants

1 cup (150 grams) prunes, finely chopped

1 cup (150 grams) raisins, finely chopped

5 large or 10 smaller (80 grams) pitted Medjool dates, finely chopped