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The three bushel* Plum Pudding
Lord Mountbatten of Burma opening the official stirring ceremony of our 1968 pudding
(note a young Cherie Booth-Blair to the left of him … and, fourth from right, Sandra Ann Goodrich who was later to find fame as the popular entertainer Sandie Shaw.
Ingredients:
1 pint of Hennessy Ellipse brandy (available exclusively at Harrods it is made from seven eaux-de-vies dating from 1800 and possesses preservative qualities which are absolutely essential to this recipe)
20 large Bramley apples, chopped
3 lbs of breadcrumbs
20 ozs sliced citron
1 tablespoon Poacher's Pickle (*1)
3 pints fresh cow's milk
5 lbs chopped suet
half pint fresh pig's blood
6 lbs soft brown sugar
30 free range goose eggs
4 lbs mixed candied peel
1 lb sweet almonds
1 lb bitter almonds
6 roots ginger
1 teaspoon formaldehyde
1 teaspoon ethyl alcohol
1 tablespoon salt
7 lbs dried (stoned) prunes
12 clean sixpenny pieces
3 10oz carrots
4 lbs plain flour
1 half pound jar Major Grey's mango chutney (*1)
1 egg cup of baking powder
1 wine goblet of rum
5 lbs raisins
2 lbs finely shredded mutton
1 teaspoon Fortnum & Mason's Gentleman's relish (*1)
1 honeycomb
3 lbs pine kernels
4 lbs butter
1 whole coconut (desiccated)
5 anchovies
* 2 gallons = one peck, three pecks = one bushel; a three bushel plum pudding is therefore of adequate size for an average sized family and all its hangers-on; if insufficient, simply double or treble all the ingredients as appropriate.
(*1) all available from the Fortnum & Mason convenience store
Method:
Place the ingredients into a suitable receptacle (I use my old birthing pool, or occasionally our sheep bath) and get one of your men to stir it for 30 hours. Add a pinch of black pepper. Wrap the mixture in a clean cotton sheet and boil on a low heat for 8 days. Allow to cool for seven weeks. Place in a lead lined storage casket, seal and place in the family vault - clearly labeling for the date of preparation and the proposed date for consumption (recommended 100 years).
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