Sago Christmas Pudding

Coming Events Week 1 of 2012:
Monday 2 Jan 4:30pm *Parliament House 8k jog
Monday 2 Jan 5:30pm *Parliament House speedygeese training
Wednesday 4 Jan 12:15pm BBQ Stakes 6k Woden
Thursday 5 Jan 6:00pm *AACT/ACTVAC track, Bruce
Friday 6 Jan 12:15pm Customs 5k Commonwealth Park
Saturday 7 Jan 7:00am *Metro Runners Acton Ferry Terminal
Sunday 8 Jan 8:00am *Stromlo Forest Park speedygeese training
* = I expect to attend

We will all be carrying water the next three days as summer finally arrives... Christmas left-overs welcome too..

Nanna May’s Sago Christmas Pudding  (notes and additions by Jenny)
Mum started making this pudding about 15 years ago for Christmas, and it has been a great hit ever since then. I have been making it for at least the last 10 years for our extended family Christmas get together. I doubled the recipe (which is actually 1 ½ times Mum’s original recipe because that quantity fits my pudding bowl well) – ie 3 x the original) to make 2 puddings coz it’s too yummy not to have more !!!

Ingredients (for 1 ½ size pudding)

• 1 ½ cups milk
• 5 tablespns sago
• 150g margarine
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspn vanilla essence
• 1 ½ tablespns brandy
• 1 tabspn orange juice
• 1 teaspn mixed spices
• 2 tablespn plum or fig jam
• 1 ½ cups mixed fruit
• 1 ½ cups fresh wm breadcrumbs
• 1 ½ teaspn bicarb soda
• 2 beaten eggs
• ½ cup SR flour

Note – you can delete brandy (my addition) and use 2 ½ tabspn orange juice instead. We have family who don’t like the peel in the mixed fruit, so I make my own mix of whatever is in the cupboard.  The jam is also my addition to the original recipe. We always had homemade plum jam (previous year’s) from our plum trees down the driveway !

Method

• Soak the sago in the milk overnight (fridge) – or longer.
• Soak the fruit and jam in the orange juice and brandy – overnight 
• When you eventually get the time to make this pudding – melt the marg. Add brown sugar.
• Tip the sago/milk, breadcrumbs and fruit mix into a large bowl, add the marg/sugar and mix everything well.
• Dissolve the bicarb into egg mix, and add vanilla. Stir this all in to the bowl.
• Fold the flour in,  and then tip the lot into the pudding basin (lined with glad-bake . it will be quite runny – that’s how it should be!  Cover the top of the pudding with glad-bake and then clip the lid onto the basin.
• Steam the pudding in water to come at least ½ way up the sides of the basin, in a large saucepan for around 3 hours. Keep checking the water level as it cooks.
• Leave in the basin until cooled – can be tipped out, covered with foil and sealed in plastic bag  - for freezing – or if only a few days before Christmas – just keep it in the fridge.
• For hot pudding on the day, - just cut slices and warm each serve in microwave.
• Top with custard, cream or icecream. YUMM – I can taste it now !
• It’s also yummy cold.