No Christmas Pudding? Here’s How to Whip Up a Last-Minute Emergency Festive Treat

Many years ago my late Mother had a disaster with the family's Christmas pudding. I can't remember the exact reason why. That's not important. 

But I told my mother that I would come to the rescue and, in the kitchen of my flat, I quickly made an emergency Christmas pudding using the recipe described here. And yes, it was a great success at Christmas dinner!

It’s Christmas Eve, and you’ve just realised—there’s no Christmas pudding! Whether it’s a simple oversight or the result of a pudding gone awry, don’t panic. 

You can still create a show-stopping dessert that captures the essence of Christmas without the weeks of soaking and steaming. Here’s how to make an emergency Christmas pudding that’s quick, easy, and utterly delicious.

Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients

The beauty of this recipe is its flexibility. You can use what you have on hand, but here’s a basic list to get you started:

Dried fruits: Raisins, sultanas, currants, cranberries, or chopped apricots (about 200g total).

Alcohol or juice: Brandy, rum, Guinness, orange juice, or even strong tea (100ml).

Spices: Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.

Flour: Self-raising flour or plain flour with a pinch of baking powder (100g).

Sugar: Brown sugar or caster sugar (50g).

Fat: Butter, margarine, or even suet (50g).

Egg: One large egg.

Optional extras: Chopped nuts, grated apple, orange zest, or a splash of vanilla extract.

Step 2: Soak the Fruits

Place your dried fruits in a bowl and pour over the alcohol or juice. Microwave for 1-2 minutes to warm the liquid, then let the fruits soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. This step plumps up the fruit and infuses it with flavour.

Step 3: Mix the Batter

In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and fat together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then fold in the flour and spices. Stir in the soaked fruits, along with any remaining liquid, and mix until everything is well combined. If the mixture seems too thick, add a splash of milk or juice to loosen it.

Step 4: Cook Your Pudding

For a quick cook, the microwave is your best friend. Grease a microwave-safe bowl or pudding basin, pour in the mixture, and cover with cling film (pierce a few holes to let steam escape). Microwave on medium power for 6-8 minutes, checking for doneness with a skewer—it should come out clean. Alternatively, you can steam the pudding on the stovetop for about an hour if you prefer a more traditional texture. Or you can use a pressure cooker, which is what I did.

Step 5: Add the Finishing Touches

Once cooked, turn the pudding out onto a plate and let it cool slightly. To make it extra special, pour over a little warmed brandy and flambé it for a dramatic presentation. Serve with custard, cream, or brandy butter for the ultimate indulgence.

Bonus Tips for Customisation

Gluten-free: Use a gluten-free flour blend and double-check your baking powder.

Vegan: Replace the egg with a flaxseed or chia seed mix (1 tablespoon seeds + 2.5 tablespoons water) and use a plant-based fat.

Kid-friendly: Skip the alcohol and use orange juice or apple juice instead.

Why This Works

Traditional Christmas puddings are dense, rich, and packed with festive flavours. This emergency version ticks all the boxes without the lengthy preparation. The quick soak for the fruits ensures they’re juicy and flavourful, while the microwave method delivers a moist and tender pudding in minutes.

So, if you find yourself pudding-less this Christmas, don’t despair. With a little creativity and some pantry staples, you can whip up a festive dessert that’s every bit as satisfying as the classic. Merry Christmas!

Stir Up Sunday Comes Early to The Food WorksSW

Stir Up Sunday, the Victorian tradition of stirring the mixture for Christmas pudding and making a wish, has come early to North Somerset's The Food WorksSW with Butcombe Brewery. 

In preparation for the busy festive season in their pubs, the Bristol-based brewery recently produced enough Christmas pudding mixture to make 1,000 Christmas puddings at the food and drink innovation centre in Weston-super-Mare. 

As well as making Christmas pudding, Butcombe's chefs from across the country, including chefs from  the Liberation pub group in Jersey, spent a week in the specialist kitchens at The Food WorksSW perfecting some of the brewery's delicious Christmas creations and training for the holiday season under the watchful eye of Butcombe's Head Development Chef Jasper Prickett. 

Forthcoming delicious festive dishes prepared by the chefs included sticky figgy pudding, toffee apple, fig and chestnut crumble, mince pie ice cream, gilt head bream and Ox Cheek Wellington.

Butcombe Brewery hires the state-of-the-art kitchens at The Food WorksSW for menu development, training and business meetings throughout the year and make full use of the food and drink innovation centre's specialist equipment and spacious well-equipped kitchens.

Jasper says, “The Christmas pudding mixture we made in the commercial kitchen at The Food WorksSW is now currently steeping and will be ready to be shaped and steamed for the festive season and sent to all our pubs for Christmas Day."

He added: "We're really big fans of The Food WorksSW and we absolutely love it there. It offers so much and meets all our needs for menu development, training, equipment, storage, even meeting space. It's also in a great location just off the motorway so it's easy for all our staff to get to.”

Zoe Plant, who is new product and innovation manager said, “Whether it's equipment you need or expert technical advice, if you are a food or drink brand, be it big or small, you'll find everything you need at Food WorksSW and at very reasonable rates, too. You can hire any of our five specialist kitchens for just one day if that's all you require as we understand everyone's needs and budgets are different.

"Our top-of-the-range equipment within each of our kitchens, like the commercial kitchen Butcombe used, really do offer the perfect space for chefs and producers the chance to come in, experiment, develop and fine-tune food and drink products or menus.”

The only centre of its kind in the south west, The Food WorksSW is based in the heart of the Weston-super-Mare Enterprise Area, under half an hour from Bristol, and close to Junction 21 of the M5 motorway.

"It has state-of-the-art facilities including five product development kitchens available for flexible short-term contract hire for food and drink businesses of all sizes to test, develop and manufacture their products, prices begin at start just £96.90 per day (inc VAT).

Technical support packages are also available at the centre where a team of food industry experts provide technical support to businesses navigating their way through a range of food disciplines, from new product development and quality assurance, hygiene and food safety and efficiency. The team helps food and drink businesses develop products in a safe and efficient way.

For more information on how The Food WorksSW can help businesses, visit them at foodworks-sw.co.uk, or stay up-to-date follow @foodworks_sw on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. A range of case studies can be found on the website and on The Food WorksSW YouTube.

Want the perfect Christmas pudding? The Experts at DukesHill Share their secrets!

DukesHill's award-winning Christmas pudding is weighed, steamed and matured in-house, with an immense amount of passion and pride by the team.

For over four decades, DukesHill has remained committed to making Christmas puddings by hand to their traditional family recipe, with no commercial shortcuts in sight. 

Bursting with plump, vine-ripened fruits, cherries and free-range eggs, the team generously steep the puddings in the finest of French Brandy before allowing it to mature properly. This process allows the pudding to slowly absorb the rich aromas and develop a deeper taste profile.

And DukesHill's Christmas puddings uses butter in their recipe rather than of suet, which not only makes the puddings vegetarian, but also gives the pudding a much cleaner finish on the palate. The puddings are mixed in small batches to keep the texture light and prevent the fruit being crushed. 

Nicky Biddulph, Master Pudding Maker says, “A proper Christmas pudding is at the heart and soul of a Christmas feast, it's important to end the celebratory meal on a high note. Our team enjoys the cathartic process of making these puddings and we can't get enough of the rich, festive aromas in the air when it's Christmas pudding time. 

"Our recipe is time consuming to make and we only source the finest ingredients, but we know in our hearts that it's the closest way you can enjoy a genuine, traditional pudding, made in exactly the same way as you would at home.”

DukesHill Christmas Pudding weighs 454g and costs £14.50 available at www.dukeshill.co.uk/products/family-christmas-pudding