Stir-Up Sunday - Christmas Prep

OK OK, I know it is ONLY October. But these things are best when they have time to mature - so let’s get started.

Stir-up Sunday is the traditional time when you make your Christmas cake and Christmas pudding. As you make the mixture everyone in the family takes turns to stir the mixture three times and make a wish. You can make your cake and pudding anytime in the run up to the Christmas day - but I think 3 months ahead gives them time to fully mature.

But before you make them, you need to prepare your fruit. If you want the best Christmas food then you need to take those dried out fruits and plump them up with lots of flavour and plenty of booze. This quick blog post will talk through how I have been doing it for a few years now. I’ll then post another blog on Sunday with the full recipe.

Christmas Cake

• 175g sultanas

• 175g raisins

• 450g currants

• 60g prunes, roughly chopped

• 50g dried cranberriws

• 50g candied mixed peel

• 50g glacé cherries, halved

• 2 glasses red wine

• 1 shot amaretto

• 1 shot whiskey or bourbon

• 1/2 orange, sliced

• 1/2 lemon, sliced

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 2 star anise

• 5-6 cloves.

Christmas Pudding

• 110g sultanas

• 110g raisins

• 275g currants

• 50g prunes, roughly chopped

• 25g dried cranberriws

• 25g candied mixed peel

• 1 glass red wine

• 1 shot amaretto

• 1 shot whiskey or bourbon

• 1/2 orange, sliced

• 1/2 lemon, sliced

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1 star anise

• 3-4 cloves.

It couldn’t be more simple to do this. Put all of the ingredients into a bowl a couple of days before you intend to make the cake and pudding. Give it all a good stir, cover it in cling film, and let it sit. Stirring it a couple of times one the next few days.

If you would prefer to keep these alcohol free then cover all the dried fruit, lemon, orange, and spices with warm water and let them sit for 2 hours before you make the cake. They won’t have the same flavour, but you will have delicious, plump fruit.