This recipe is extra special to me, as it was passed down to me from my grandmother. She has made this carrot pudding for Christmas family gatherings for as long as I can remember. I have just recently started to carry on that tradition, and I now make it every year — exactly the same way she does.
Actually, the only slight change I’ve made over the years is not with the pudding itself, but what it’s topped with. Normally, as part of our family tradition, this pudding is served warm and topped with “hard sauce”, a sweet dessert sauce made from butter, powdered sugar, and brandy.
I have so many wonderful childhood memories of helping my great-uncle make hard sauce (sans the alcohol), which we dyed green, red, and white to be extra festive for the holidays.
Though I still love hard sauce, nowadays I have started topping my carrot pudding with a dollop of my perfectly sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting (click for recipe)…. It’s just heavenly!
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO STEAM CHRISTMAS PUDDING?
My grandmother always steams her Christmas pudding in a 46-ounce aluminum can (the kind you get pineapple juice in), and it works beautifully. I have done this up until recently, when I (finally) got my hands on a real pudding basin that I have a newfound love for.
HOW TO ENSURE CARROT PUDDING COMES OUT PERFECT EVERY TIME
Although it doesn’t always make sense to me why, the order of combining all of the ingredients makes a huge difference to the final result. I recommend the following tips to ensure that your carrot pudding comes out perfect every time:
- Grate the carrots and potatoes using the smaller shredding holes on your box grater.
- Pre-mix the baking soda with the grated potatoes.
- Mix the sugar in with the grated carrots and the grated potatoes/baking soda mixture before adding in the rest of the ingredients (otherwise, the mixture seems to come out a bit dry).
CAN YOU MAKE CARROT PUDDING AHEAD OF TIME?
Yes, absolutely! Carrot pudding freezes perfectly well. It can be made months in advance and stored in an airtight container in the freezer. To serve, you can either re-steam the entire pudding, or simply slice it into individual servings and heat it in the microwave.
If using a pudding basin, grease the basin with butter and place a small circle of parchment paper in the bottom to prevent any pudding from sticking. Set aside.
Place a stock pot (large enough to fit whatever container your pudding will steam in) on a low heat with just enough water to come about halfway up your pudding basin. Cover and bring the water to a gentle simmer while you assemble the pudding.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Set aside.
In another small bowl, toss the raisins and currants in 2 teaspoons of flour until evenly coated. Set aside.
In a third small bowl, sprinkle the baking soda over the grated potatoes and stir to combine. Though I am still not exactly sure why (scientifically speaking), traditional wisdom says this improves the texture of the pudding!
In a large bowl, add in the grated carrots, the grated potatoes/baking soda mixture, and the sugar. Mix with a spoon until combined.
Next, add in the flour-coated raisins and currants, followed by the suet, and stir until evenly distributed.
Add in the flour/spice mixture, and stir just until combined.
Place the mixture into a pudding basin or 46-ounce aluminum can, pressing the mixture down gently and then covering the top with a piece of aluminum foil.
Secure the foil by tying a piece of kitchen twine around the circumference of the container. You can also attach a second piece of string to two points along the circumference of the first piece, which forms a “handle” to lift the pudding in and out of the steamer.
Place the pudding basin into your stock pot with the barely simmering water, ensuring that the water still comes up to about halfway up the pudding basin, and cover with a lid. Steam the pudding for at least 3 hours, adding in any additional water, as needed, to keep the water level at the halfway mark.
After three hours, check that a toothpick inserted into the center of your pudding comes out clean (you can do this by piercing through the foil).
Allow the pudding to cool, uncovered, for 10 minutes before unmolding.
Serve warm, topped with a dollop of cream cheese frosting.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer for up to 4 months.
Christmas Carrot Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 cup carrots (packed), finely grated (about 2 carrots)
- 1 cup potatoes (packed), finely grated (about 2 potatoes)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup beef suet
- ¾ cup raisins
- ½ cup currants
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (plus 2 tsp for coating dried fruit)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking soda
- unsalted butter (for greasing the basin)
Equipment
- 17cm (1L) pudding basin OR
- 46oz (1.36L) aluminum can
Instructions
- If using a pudding basin, grease the bottom and inner sides of basin with unsalted butter. Cut a small circle of parchment paper large enough to cover bottom of basin. Set in bottom and grease top side with more butter. Set aside.If using a 46-ounce (1.36L) aluminum can, simply remove top lid with a can opener, empty contents, and set aside.
- Set a large stock pot on stove over low heat. Pour in enough water so that water level will reach about ½ way up the pudding basin when later immersed. Cover and bring water to a gentle simmer.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Set aside.1 cup all-purpose flour½ tsp ground cinnamon½ tsp ground cloves½ tsp ground nutmeg
- In a separate small bowl, toss the raisins and currants in 2 tsp of flour until evenly coated. Set aside.¾ cup raisins½ cup currants
- Grate carrots and potatoes. In a small bowl, sprinkle baking soda over grated potatoes and stir to combine.1 cup potatoes (packed), finely grated1 tsp baking soda1 cup carrots (packed), finely grated
- In a large bowl, combine grated carrots, the grated potatoes/baking soda mixture, and sugar. With a spoon, mix until well combined.1 cup granulated sugar
- Add in flour-coated raisins and currants. Stir to combine.
- Add in suet. Stir to combine.¾ cup beef suet
- Add in flour/spice mixture. Stir just until combined.
- Transfer pudding mixture into pudding basin or aluminum can. With the back of a spoon, press mixture down gently into the container.
- Cover top of container with aluminum foil, securing the foil with a piece of kitchen twine tied around the circumference. To form a handle for easy lifting, cut a second piece of kitchen twine and tie each end to the first piece of twine at two places across from one another.
- Set container into stock pot of simmering water, ensuring that water level still reaches about ½ way up. Cover stock pot with lid and bring water back to a gentle simmer. Add in additional hot water, as necessary, to maintain water level.
- Allow pudding to steam for at least 3 hours, until a toothpick inserted into the top of the pudding comes out clean (at this point, you can piece through foil).
- Remove container from stock pot and allow the pudding to cool, uncovered, for 10 minutes before unmolding.
- Serve warm, topped with a dollop of cream cheese frosting (click for my perfectly sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting recipe)
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer for up to 4 months.
Notes
- Grating the Carrots and Potatoes: I recommend using the smaller shredding holes on your box grater — sometimes used for finely grating cheese — to grate the carrots and potatoes. I find this improves the final texture of the pudding.
- Order of Mixing Ingredients: I recommend first mixing the baking soda with the grated potatoes, then adding in the grated carrots, the sugar, the flour-coated raisins and currants, the suet, and the flour/spice mixture, in that order, ensuring that each new ingredient is well incorporated before moving onto the next!
- Suet Substitutions: You can substitute the beef suet in this recipe with vegetable suet. I have also seen some carrot pudding recipes where the suet is substituted with unsalted butter (but haven’t yet attempted that).
- Make It Ahead: Carrot pudding freezes perfectly well for several months. In fact, I recommend making it ahead and storing it in the freezer for the holidays. You can either re-steam it for about an hour, or simply cut out individual slices and heat them up in the microwave.
