Friday, November 16, 2018

A very simple Christmas Pudding


A proper Christmas isn't complete without a Christmas Pudding and a bottle of Sherry. This is a simple recipe adapted for use by Americans who may not have access to one of the key ingredients in a traditional English Christmas Pudding… Suet. Instead this recipe uses slightly stale pound cake as the main ingredient which creates the distinct dense spongy texture of a Christmas Pudding.

Incredients:
4 cups of crumbled stale pound cake
2 cups of raisins and dates soaked in rum
3 eggs
Lemon extract
Orange extract
Fruit syrup (I use Vimto syrup)
3 Tbsp of flour
Butter and flour to grease and flour the bowl

Strain the raisins and dates, reserving the rum for later. Put the crumbled pound cake in a mixing bowl and add the raisins and dates. Mix them together so that the raisins and dates are well covered with the crumbled pound cake. Whisk the eggs and mix them into the crumbled pound cake and fruit. Add a few drops of lemon and orange extract and a tablespoon of fruit syrup. Mix the extract and syrup into the mixture very well. Add approximately 3 Tbsp of flour, gradually, to create a thick sticky mix.
Butter and flour a baking bowl to prevent the pudding from sticking.
Pour the pudding mixture into the prepared baking bowl and smooth the top with a spatula.
Wrap a sheet of cooking parchment over the top of the bowl to seal in the moisture. Wrap aluminium foil around the bowl and parchment.
Place the baking bowl into a 380*F oven for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes turn the oven off, leaving the pudding in for an additional half hour or so.
Remove the pudding from the oven and sit it on the counter to cool. Once it cools remove the wrapping and pour the rum from the raisins and dates over the pudding, making sure to soak the pudding quite well. Wrap the pudding in parchment and aluminium foil. The pudding should stand for at least 2 or 3 days and up to a month.
It is traditional to make the pudding on the Sunday before Advent begins, referred to as “Stir-Up Sunday.”
Heat the pudding again before serving. Once warmed you can flip the pudding onto a plate and decorate it with powdered sugar and a sprig of holly or you can also soak the pudding in plenty of alcohol and light it on fire as you bring it to the table. This makes for an exciting presentation!




Friday, January 5, 2018

The Body and Blood of Christ

At Holy Communion the elements do not cease to be one thing simply because they become something else any more than we, as humans, cease to be sinners once we become part of Christ's Body in Baptism. They are changed. We cannot deny or ignore that fact. Christ said very plainly, "This is my Body" and "my Blood." The Bread and Wine at the Eucharist become Christ's Body and Blood. They take on a different character, just as we take on a different character in our Baptism. They are different, they are changed but they do not cease to be what they have always been.