Christmas Pudding: Tips & Techniques

[jackal10]

How would you preent Xmas pudding in a new way.

I know there is not a lot wrong with the old way (rum or brandy sauce, hard sauce), but what other alternatives, garnishes or ways of presenting it are there?

This is for a top flight restaurant dinner.

I rule out Xmas pudding flavoured ice cream, and I think deconstructed pudding ( a pile of dried fruit soaked in rum; plain pud stuff; a lump of flavoured suet) is not it..

Marzipan leaves and holly, maybe.

Brandied glazed chestnuts perhaps

Brandied tangerine possibly

Your ideas please..

[foodie52]

Wow: this is a tough one. Christmas pudding is so traditional that I'd be disappointed and a little miffed if I were served one that didn't satisfy my expectations of the Dickensian factor.

I suppose you could play around with the hard sauce presentation? Or add candied walnuts to the plate? Steam the the puddings in individual molds?

Just don't mess with the recipe!!

[RETREVR]

Fancy schmancy dining always looks out of place on the holiday table. The holidays are for friends and family. Not for impressing. It would be more apropriate to try to blow someones doors of on new years.

[Syrah]

I quite like frozen Christmas Pudding.. It makes a nice end to dinner on a hot day. The only thing I would suggest is making a different kind of brandy sauce?? I'm not even sure what I have in mind.

[Adam Balic]

Jack although you rule out pudding flavoured icecream, Nesselrode Pudding is a traditional frozen form of the pudding and is very Victorian and Christmassy.

Other than that I guess you could do a variation of the chocolately souffle thing with molten filling. Plum pudding flavoured souffle shell with brandy butterish filling, maybe a few pieces of brandied fruit in there as well. Replace holly with mistletoe sprig.

[karma police]

A little off topic but I'd love a good Christmas pudding recipe. I have been making steamed puddings for the last two Christmas' and need a new one for this year. Last year I did orange and fig, the year prior was cranberry. Would love to try a good traditional recipe.

[jackal10]

Look in the eGCI Autumn and Festive Preserves

[ludja]

individual puddings, served warm, cut in half and served with brandy or milk punch ice cream inbetween? Maybe pour a little warm hot sauce over the whole...

[lala]

Jack although you rule out pudding flavoured icecream, Nesselrode Pudding  is a traditional frozen form of the pudding and is very Victorian and Christmassy.

Other than that I guess you could do a variation of the chocolately souffle thing with molten filling. Plum pudding flavoured souffle shell with brandy butterish filling, maybe a few pieces of brandied fruit in there as well. Replace holly with mistletoe sprig.

←

Please be aware that mistletoe is poisonous.

[andiesenji]

I have made very attractive steamed puddings in fancy molds, placing glacé fruit against the sides of the mold in a double spiral pattern from top(bottom) to bottom as I added the dough/batter to make sure they stayed in place.

After steaming and inverting, then removing from the mold, I covered the exposed portions of the glacé fruit with edible gold leaf. It made a very nice presentation in the center of a round platter with a ring of tiny round puddings each with a depression filled with brandy that was flamed just prior to presentation.

[waic]

In Australia, they put silver coins in Christmas pudding, and whoever finds one is lucky for the year ahead. If you do this, you should warn your guests ahead of time.

[Carrot Top]

How would you preent Xmas pudding in a new way.

I know there is not a lot wrong with the old way (rum or brandy sauce, hard sauce), but what other alternatives, garnishes or ways of presenting it are there?

This is for a top flight restaurant dinner.

Your ideas please..

←

My question would be...what is the intent of the new presentation....is it simply the visuals you are (for the most part) looking for, or do you want to take it further into the creative realm of building something slightly new, in taste or texture components?

As a side issue I am curious to know if the intended guests will be more happy or more taken aback with the messing about with a standard? And also am curious, as you state that this is a restaurant dinner...are you making the dessert then carrying it into the restaurant or do you have such a thing as a compliant chef at this particular restaurant who would actually be willing to....try what you request?

I have some slight ideas but want to know more what your intent is, please.

[jackal10]

I believe the custom of tokens and silver threpenny bits originated in the UK, although it is based on much older customs, that some trace back to pagan times.

In the EGCI unit I say

It is traditional to hide a silver three-penny bit or other silver coin in the pudding. Whoever gets it, according to tradition, will receive wealth and riches in the coming year, or in other traditions are made king or queen for the day.

This is part of an older and wider lore, such as the bean in the French Three kings cake, or in the Greek Vasilopita cake for St Basils (New Years Day). Originally the coin was in the Twelfth night cake

The coin stood for riches. Other symbols and their objects were

A bean for King

A pea for Queen

A clove for Knave

A twig for the Fool

A rag for the Maid

One theory is that these traditions, together with the yule log, the holly and mistletoe, are the last remnants of the pagan traditions of the winter solstice festival of Saturnalia, taken over in the Christian tradition by Christmas. The king, chosen by the bean or the coin, is the Lord of Misrule and rules over the Revels for the day. There is deep symbolism and ancient magic here.

The health police remind us that there is a remote chance of someone choking on the small coin in their food, so warn people to be on the look out for it, and check for the very young or old. Polish and wash or boil the coin well before adding to the pudding. Make sure the coin is real silver – modern nickel coins (like nickels and dimes) leave a nasty taste. Real silver (pre-1920) English three-penny bits are still available, for example on ebay or at coin dealers for modest prices if they are not in mint condition. I just purchased some Victorian 1887 ones for about 50c each . Others replace the coin with a silver charm. You can bribe youngsters to return it by offering a reward.

The question here is how to serve Xmas pudding as a modern upscale restaurant dish. Not a different pudding, but something recognisable and tasting as the original. A group of us are cooking Xmas dinner for for the staff and friends of a serious (and starred) restaurant, using their kitchens on their day off. Hence the need for something on traditional lines, but that will stun and amaze...maybe an interesting presentation, or some variant. Space constraints mean it probably has to be plated.

I do like the idea of a Nesselrode pudding, served hot with the conventional gelatin replaced with agar or another hot gelling agent..

Edited November 15, 2004 by jackal10 (log)

[Carrot Top]

Well then...here are some 'starter' ideas. They may all be too far removed from the original to suit, but I'll list them just for the fact that they may lead you to other ideas possibly.

*Take the usual Xmas pudding, a small one, and enclose it in a filo dough shaped 'Beggar's Purse'. Possibly a recipe could be developed that would include a brandy-flavored pastry cream or custard to top the pudding that would hold up to the brief time in the oven that browning a Beggar's Purse takes, so that when the purse was broken into with fork, the sauce would spill out. This could take on the aspect of Santa's sack that is thrown over his back, filled with gifts...and could have added garnishes of various sorts during plating.

*Bake French Meringue into small circles that vary in size from 3" in diameter down to 1" in diameter. It could be regular or cocoa/chocolate flavored, as you wish. Cut the (already made) Xmas pudding into circles also, of the same sizes. Stack up into a Christmas tree shape...first meringue, then pudding, meringue, then pudding, till done. Top with a flutter of edible gold leaf...attached to the top of the 'tree' with a small dab of icing. Could be that this could be flamed with brandy at service time, though I am unsure how the gold leaf would react, it would have to be tested.

*I like the idea of the tastes of Xmas pudding and Macarpone together. One could make either a layered torte to be served with....an intensely flavored orange sabayon perhaps? Candied tangerine segments might be nice with this combination. Another way of putting it together would be to see if you could drain the mascarpone to get a firmer cheese then shape the cheese into small balls with your hands and the already-made plum pudding into balls with a melon baller then stack them up into a tree shape...I don't know if the cheese will be able to attain that measure of holding texture, though...but if you really wanted to play with it, you could blend it with a gelatin mix then attempt it.

*The flavor of pear also seems to go with Xmas pudding, to me. You might hide a center of pudding inside a poached pear so that it would not be seen till cut into...candied violets might make for a rather rococo addition to the plate.

*Top, or use as a background...the Xmas pudding with a large, imposing fluted caramel wedge.

*Make the puddings in pyramid or cone shaped molds, or cut into these shapes from a larger molded pudding. Individually plate then enclose each with spun sugar.

Okay. That has been my Xmas pudding thinking for tonight. Now it's off to find a tot of brandy for either the pudding or me.

Edited November 16, 2004 by Carrot Top (log)

[foodie52]

Wow....

And I was gonna just suggest sticking some sparklers in them.....

[Carrot Top]

Wow....

And I was gonna just suggest sticking some sparklers in them.....

←

Actually that is probably the best idea. Keeps the authenticity, adds to the Dickensian factor (just imagine how the little tykes would love a sparkler!) and god knows it would save time effort and expense!

At my home, sparklers it will be.

But you know jackal....he is made to emblazon the road of fine cuisine with adventures that the rest of us can gasp at and admire while languidly reaching for the nearest pop-tart and bottled water....

[Suzanne F]

Cook down and puree the fruit into a coulis. Spread in individual creme brulee dishes. Top with spiced rum-flavored creme brulee and cook off normally. Accompany with brandy snaps.

[Adam Balic]

Jack although you rule out pudding flavoured icecream, Nesselrode Pudding  is a traditional frozen form of the pudding and is very Victorian and Christmassy.

Other than that I guess you could do a variation of the chocolately souffle thing with molten filling. Plum pudding flavoured souffle shell with brandy butterish filling, maybe a few pieces of brandied fruit in there as well. Replace holly with mistletoe sprig.

←

Please be aware that mistletoe is poisonous.

←

So is Holly.

[Adam Balic]

I do like the idea of a Nesselrode pudding, served hot with the conventional gelatin replaced with agar or another hot gelling agent..

←

I have never seen a recipe for Nesselrode with gelatin? It is basically a parfait-type dessert made with candied chestnuts and cream as a base. But then again I haven't got any recipes for it post 1870!

[jackal10]

A google search reveals many, such as

http://recipes.chef2chef.net/recipe-archive/45/240779.shtml

I am wondering about stuffing the individual XMas puddings with something, like a liquid centre. Brandy Butter maybe but would be a bit rich. Some sort of creme? Chocolate? Marzipan? What do you think?

[Betts]

If this is a special dinner you could hire a bagpiper to accompany the dessert course. Makes a spectacular finish for a large crowd but might empty a restaurant during regular service.

Has anyone mentioned flaming it at the table?

I think the comment upthread about not messing with tradition too much should be heeded. This is an item that will appeal to a segment of the population that gets dessert only a couple of days a year and they probably have very definite ideas about how it should look and taste. Small, perfectly flavored and beautifully plated - yes - but the essence of Christmas pudding should be there. Phyllo, meringues, chocolate are better elsewhere.

[Carrot Top]

Perhaps this comment of mine really should be placed under the 'things that floor me' thread...but the original question that jackal posed was 'How could you present Xmas pudding in a new way?'

So guess what. I made an attempt to answer that question, Betts.

[Bernaise]

How about making the traditional pudding mix BUT...steam it in very small cheesecloth pouches -aka "beggars purses"

When they have finsished cooking I suggest two options:

1. unwrap and cool to room temp and then rewrap each 'beggar' in well buttered filo -pop into the oven untile the filo is crispy and golden serve ina puddle of sauce decorate with candied angelica

2. unwrap and cool to room temp then dip them in tempered bittersweet chocolate

and voila a pudding truffle??? runs the riskof being mistaken for a rumball though

[NulloModo]

Here is a new spin: since such puddings are synonymous with alcohol content, why not just turn it into an after dinner cocktail?

Don't call it a 'Christmas Pudding Martini' or anything daft like that, but serve it up in a large pretty cocktail glass, lots of warm cognac or brandy, some candied fruits, perhaps a stick of sugar-encrusted pastry as a stirrer.

[McDuff]

How about making the traditional pudding mix BUT...steam it in very small cheesecloth pouches -aka "beggars purses"

When they have finsished cooking I suggest two options:

1. unwrap and cool to room temp and then rewrap each 'beggar' in well buttered filo -pop into the oven untile the filo is crispy and golden serve ina puddle of sauce decorate with candied angelica

2. unwrap and cool to room temp then dip them in tempered bittersweet chocolate

and voila a pudding truffle??? runs the riskof being mistaken for a rumball though

←

Nice idea. I like #1. with creme anglaise. I'm dying to make a traditional pudding, have gotten over the suet thing, but don't care for the red #40 in the candied fruit.