Traditional Christmas Pudding with Rum Sauce

Every year we used to buy a Christmas pudding to steam for dessert, usually for Boxing Day, and proceed to smother it with rum sauce and dive in. Personally I was not a huge fan of the actual Christmas pudding but drown it in enough rum sauce and it was delicious. 

The last 2 years we haven't been able to find any Christmas pudding in town so I decided to make my own this year. I figured it would be something really complicated and expensive to make. Nope. Turns out it is pretty darned easy and not expensive at all. 

Best of all? It tastes even better than store bought. 

I found this recipe in the tin under our cupboard so I'm not sure who to credit for the original recipe. The rum sauce recipe is our mother's. 

Traditional Christmas Pudding with Rum Sauce

Pudding

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, room temp

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 cups raisins

1 cup grated carrot

1 cup peeled and grated potato

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cloves

1 tsp baking soda

Rum Sauce

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup whipping cream (or heavy cream)

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp rum

Directions

Prepare pudding - Spray heat safe bowl with cooking spray, set aside. (Makes one large pudding or 2 or 3 medium sized puddings)

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until smooth, scraping down bowl as needed. Add in raisins, carrot, potato, and egg.

Beat until well combined.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, spices, and baking soda.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well combined. Batter will be very stiff. 

Fill the prepared bowls with the batter, leaving about 1 inch between the top of the bowl and the pudding for it to rise. 

Cover the bowl with a piece of parchment paper, followed by a piece of tinfoil, secured with a string. 

Place in the top of a double boiler.

Cover the double boiler with a lid and steam the pudding for 2 to 3 hours, until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. (I did 3 medium puddings and 2 hours was just right. A larger pudding will require more time!) Be sure to check that the bottom of the double boiler does not run dry! 

When pudding is done, remove from steamer and place bowl on wire rack.

Run a knife around the inside of the bowl, then invert on to a serving plate. Serve warm with rum sauce. **NOTE** - Pudding can also be made to this stage, cooled, and then either frozen or placed in fridge. Puddings can be frozen for several months or refrigerated for several days if covered well. 

If you freeze your puddings, simply let thaw in the fridge and then steam again for about 20 minutes to reheat. No need to cover the pudding, just place it in the top of a double boiler and steam until heated through. 

While pudding is steaming, prepare rum sauce.

Prepare rum sauce - In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, cream, and vanilla. Bring to a boil and then simmer, stirring constantly, for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in the rum. Serve warm over the pudding.

To serve - Place warm pudding on a serving plate.

Cut slices and place on individual serving plates. 

Pudding can be served like this.... but is ever so much better with rum sauce!

Top with as much of the warm rum sauce as you like. 

Add a dash of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. This is optional but makes it even more amazing. 

FYI - If you don't have a double boiler you can steam the puddings by using a large pot. Simply place a mason jar ring or something similar on the bottom of the pot, place the bowl of pudding on top of the ring to keep it off the bottom of the pot, pour water into the pot, no more than 1/3 of the way up the side of the bowl, then cover the pot and steam for 2 - 3 hours, until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Make sure the pot doesn't boil dry. 

Who knew carrots and potatoes could make such a delicious dessert?