Plum Pudding Recipe

Combine the dried fruits and peels in a large bowl and sprinkle with cognac. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight (or longer - in which case you may want to add more cognac). To the fruits in the large bowl, add nuts and suet. Resift flour with the baking soda, salt and spices; then sift over the fruit mixture while tossing and mixing with a wooden spoon to evenly distribute the dry ingredients. Stir in jam and brown sugar. Prepare the bread crumbs (use the food processor, removing crusts first if they are crusty and hard). Sprinkle bread crumbs into the sherry, mixing with a fork. Add to the fruit mixture. Add the beaten egg yolks; mix thoroughly. Last, fold in beaten egg whites. Prepare two pudding molds. This recipe makes enough for one 2-quart mold, and the remainder can be steamed in a coffee can - a 26-ounce can makes a round pudding about 3" tall. (You could make one huge pudding if you have a container.) Grease molds with butter and then sprinkle them with sugar or dust with flour. Arrange candied cherries in molds, if desired (cherries should be dusted with flour). Fill 2-quart mold no more than 2/3 full with batter. Cover pudding mold with its lid, fasten with clamps or tie on securely. For the coffee can, cover with its plastic lid, tie it on and wrap all with aluminum foil. (The plastic will split.) For a bowl without a lid, cover the top with layered waxed paper tied down securely, then do the same with aluminum foil. Place each pudding in its own steaming container on a rack placed over gently boiling water (see note). Cover each kettle with a tight-fitting lid and steam puddings - 7 hours for pudding in a 2-quart mold (6" tall, 7" across the top) filled 2/3 full; 6 hours for the smaller one. Check the water level every hour or so, replenishing with boiling water as needed. When the pudding has finished steaming, uncover it and let it cool. Remove the pudding from the mold, if it is metal, and sprinkle 2 tb. or so of brandy, sherry, rum or fruit juice over the pudding. Wrap it in clean, unbleached muslin, then wrap it in foil and store it in the refrigerator to ripen for at least three weeks. Open from time to time and sprinkle judiciously with more liquor - or add it to the pudding cloth. When ready to serve, return to the pudding mold and steam as before for 1 1/2 hours.
To make hard sauce: Using the small bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add confectioners' sugar gradually, beating until mixture is creamy, about 5 minutes. Add the brandy. Press hard sauce through a pastry bag to form decorative shapes and decorate them with candied red cherry halves and green fruit peels. (If the mixture is too soft, place in refrigerator to stiffen.)
To serve: Place hot pudding on a warmed platter. Place a sprig of holly in the center and decorate sparingly with candied fruit or angelica. Carefully warm several tablespoons of brandy, and pour a bit at the rim of the platter. Ignite brandy with a long-stemmed match and carry flaming to the table. Serve with hard sauce and/or brandy-flavored whipped cream.