Every week is a big week when youre preparing a pud for Christmas.
Welcome back to my Christmas Pudding Chronicles.
Its week three of documenting my endeavor to make one of the United Kingdoms most ubiquitous holiday cakes.
Normally a Christmas pudding is made five Sundays before Christmas and fed once a week on Sundays.
That being said, feel free to jump in at any time.
I confess, feeding the pudding is one of the steps Ive been most looking forward to.
Im not a fiend for alcohol, but I do love a good culinary process to keep up with.
If that happens to be when I dose my cake with alcohol, so be it.
Her website also gives abit of adviceon how to feed it.
Choosing a brandy
However, before I could get to soaking, I needed a proper brandy.
This week, I made it a point to patronize a very pretty liquor store in Manhattan.
Sorry, wine andspiritsstore.
No shade on them, they just dont specialize in sherry.
The brandy should be a high enough caliber to sip out of a glass alongside the Christmas pudding.
Its an American Christmas pudding, so this New York-made brandy seemed just right.
Uncover the Christmas pudding and poke holes into it.
Then I made another concentric ring of holes an inch and a half inside from the first ring.
Generally, it looks like two tablespoons of brandy, or other high-proof alcohol, is the maximum.
The only warning is, while you cant under soak the pudding, you might definitely over soak it.
Too much alcohol will make the pudding gummy or even muddy.
Theres plenty of opportunity for alcohol in this desserts lifetime, so I used one tablespoon.
Recover the bowl with the lid or plastic wrap and put it back in its storage space.
The pudding seems well hydrated, if not slightly drier than on steaming day.
I suspect weekly brandy anointments and keeping it tightly covered will help maintain a moist cake.
Until then, happy brandy soaking, pudding fam.
