Recipes for the Slow Cooker

The best way to cook your Christmas Pudding is in a slow cooker. The long, slow, cooking brings out all the flavours of the fruits and spices and the finished product is moist. You can 'set and forget' for the next 12 hours or so. My recipe is an old-fashioned English one, enjoyed by all members of my family each year.

RICH CHRISTMAS PUDDING

6oz. blanched almonds 12oz. plain flour
1lb.4oz. stoned raisins 1 level tspn salt
12oz currants 2 level tspns mixed spice
8oz. sultanas 12oz. fresh breadcrumbs
4oz mixed peel 12oz shredded suet
4oz glace cherries 8oz. caster sugar
8oz peeled grated apple 8oz. soft brown sugar
Graded rind & juice of 1 lemon 4 tbsps. brandy
and 1 orange 4 eggs
1/4 pint stout approx.

Grease pudding basins-1-pint,1-1/2-pint & 2-pint.
Chop nuts, peel, cherries and apple and mix with fruit and the lemon and orange rind. Add mixture to the flour,salt,spice,breadcrumbs suet and sugars.
Mix together the fruit juices, brandy and eggs and mix thoroughly with the dry ingredients, adding enough stout to give a dropping consistency.
Turn the mixture into the prepared basins, cover with greaseproof paper and a pudding cloth or foil. Place the largest one into your slow cooker and cook overnight. Place the other two into saucepans with boiling water coming halfway up the basins, or place in refrigerator and cook next day. The smaller ones will take approx. 3 hours each to cook. Reheat when desired for a couple of hours.
These puddings will keep for 4 months in a cool, dark place. You can halve the ingredients if desired.

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