Full question
I made the UCP last year in the slow cooker which worked brilliantly. This year however, I need to make it to feed 18-20 people - what size basin should I use and how long should I cook for each time? I don’t really want to make two as they won’t both fit in the slow cooker at the same time.
Our answer
Nigella's Ultimate Christmas Pudding (from NIGELLA CHRISTMAS) should be enough to feed 10-16 people as part of a full Christmas feast and could possibly stretch to 18, depending on appetites. But you would be unlikely to have any leftovers. Overall we would prefer to make two puddings. You could steam one for 5 hours and then steam again on Christmas Day (or use the method for the slow cooker). And for the second pudding we would suggest steaming it for a full 8 hours and then having this pudding available to reheat in a microwave if you need extra portions.
For microwave reheating of an 8-hour steamed pudding make sure that there is no foil on the basin and that it the basin is microwave safe. As an approximate guideline reheat at 800w/full power for 4 minutes, stand 3 minutes, then microwave on 200w/low for 7 minutes and stand for another 5 minutes. Check that the pudding is hot all of the way though and if not then heat at full power for 1 minute and stand 1 minute and repeat as necessary. The largest pudding basin we could find is 2.5 litres and for this size you would need to use 1.5 x the ingredients for the Ultimate Christmas Pudding recipe. We would estimate that the initial steaming time would be 7 hours and then 3 hours to reheat - though this is using the traditional steaming method and not a slow cooker. However, as we have not tried the pudding in this size, we are unable to guarantee the results. Christmas puddings are traditionally made on Stir-Up Sunday, which this year is Sunday 21st November.
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