Texture of Ultimate Christmas Pudding

Asked by Cakeybakey. Answered on 30th November 2014

Full question

I have just made the Ultimate Christmas Pudding and given it it's first 5 hour steaming and am concerned that it hasn't risen much and looks pretty solid. Is this ok? I don't know if I have done something wrong, I followed the recipe exactly.

Our answer

Christmas puddings generally are fairly dense and will not have a sponge-like texture but something closer to a rich fruit cake texture. Nigella's Ultimate Christmas Pudding (from Christmas and on the Nigella website) is no exception, and it will look a little more dense when it is cold as the mixture will shrink away from the sides of the bowl slightly and the fat in the pudding will have set.

We would also mention that after the first steaming the pudding may look a little lighter in colour than you may expect. On the second steaming the pudding will darken in colour. As it re-heats it will also become slightly softer in texture and should be easy to cut once it has been turned out from its basin.