Santa's Whiskers

Plum Pudding

Originally called Christmas pudding, the connection with Christmas dates back to Medieval England when the Catholic Church decreed that the pudding should be made on the twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity, that it be prepared with thirteen ingredients to represent Christ and the twelve apostles, and that every family in turn stir it from east to west to represent the direction of the Magi’s journey. The pudding was not a desert. It was served at the beginning of the meal and was a fairly liquid dish made from chopped beef or mutton, onions, dried fruit and root vegetables. http://www.foodtimeline.org/christmasfood.html  

​By the mid-1800s, except for suet, meat and root vegetables had disappeared from the recipe. Instead of serving at the beginning of the meal the pudding was now served as a dessert and instead of having a stew or pudding consistency the dish was now more of an aged dense spongy cake. One classic British recipe for plum pudding is: http://britishfood.about.com/od/christmas/r/xmaspud.htm