> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://thefoodiekitchen.net/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Christmas Pudding with Beef Suet and Brandy Butter - URL: https://thefoodiekitchen.net/christmas-pudding-beef-suet/ - Published: 2026-11-02T19:06:26.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-02T19:06:26.000Z - Description: A traditional Christmas pudding made with beef suet, steamed in a buttered basin and served with brandy butter. Make it on Stir-up Sunday. No seed oils. - Author: Savannah Ryan - Tags: MAHA Recipes A proper Christmas pudding is dark, rich and heavy with fruit, and it is made with beef suet. Not vegetable shortening, not oil: suet. Make it on Stir-up Sunday, let it sit quietly in the cupboard for a month, then steam it again on Christmas Day and bring it to the table with a ring of blue brandy flames and a bowl of brandy butter. It takes a whole day of gentle steaming, but almost all of that is the pan doing the work. Stir-up Sunday is the Sunday before Advent. It takes its name from the collect for the day in the Book of Common Prayer, which begins "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord", and it has become the day for making the Christmas pudding, because the pudding needs weeks to mature (source: [Wikipedia, Stir-up Sunday](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stir-up%5FSunday)). In 2026 it falls on Sunday 22 November. ## Why beef suet? [Suet](https://thefoodiekitchen.net/tallow-vs-suet/) is the hard fat from around a cow's kidneys, and it melts far more slowly than butter. In a steamed pudding that is exactly what you want: the shreds stay solid while the mixture sets around them, then melt into the crumbs and flour during the long steam. The result is a pudding that is moist and surprisingly light for something so rich, rather than dense and greasy. Ask your butcher for fresh suet and grate it while it is cold. ## And why butter? Butter does two jobs here. A thick coat inside the basin means the pudding turns out cleanly, with a glossy outside. And brandy butter, which is nothing more than butter, icing sugar and brandy beaten together, is the only thing a Christmas pudding needs on the side. **Makes:** 1 pudding in a 1.2-litre (2-pint) basin · **Serves:** 8 · **Prep:** 30 minutes, plus overnight soaking · **Cook:** 7 hours steaming, plus 2 hours on Christmas Day ## Ingredients ### For the pudding - 175g raisins - 175g sultanas - 100g currants - 50g chopped mixed peel - Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange - Finely grated zest of 1 lemon - 100ml brandy (or see the FAQ for an alcohol-free swap) - 100g shredded beef suet (see the FAQ on packet suet) - 75g plain flour - 100g fresh white breadcrumbs - 150g dark muscovado sugar - 1 tsp mixed spice - ½ tsp ground cinnamon - ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg - A pinch of fine sea salt - 1 small Bramley apple (about 150g), peeled, cored and coarsely grated - 2 tbsp black treacle - 2 large eggs, beaten - Soft unsalted butter, for greasing the basin ### For the brandy butter - 100g unsalted butter, softened - 100g icing sugar, sifted - 3 tbsp brandy, plus 3 tbsp more if you want to flame the pudding ## Method 1. The day before: put the raisins, sultanas, currants, peel, orange zest and juice, lemon zest and brandy in a large bowl. Stir, cover with a clean tea towel and leave overnight so the fruit drinks up the liquid. 2. Butter a 1.2-litre (2-pint) pudding basin thickly, right up to the rim, and press a small disc of baking parchment into the base. 3. In your largest mixing bowl, combine the suet, flour, breadcrumbs, sugar, spices and salt, rubbing out any lumps of sugar. Add the soaked fruit with every drop of its liquid, the grated apple, the treacle and the eggs. Stir thoroughly. This is the moment to get everyone in the house to take a turn and make a wish. 4. Spoon the mixture into the basin, pressing it down gently, and level the top. It should come to about 2cm below the rim. 5. Lay a sheet of baking parchment over a sheet of foil, fold a 3cm pleat across the middle of both so the pudding has room to rise, and place it, parchment-side down, over the basin. Tie it on tightly under the rim with string, then loop the string over the top and tie it to the other side to make a handle. 6. Put an upturned saucer or a trivet in the bottom of a large, deep saucepan, stand the basin on it and pour in boiling water to come halfway up the side of the basin. Cover with a tight lid and keep at a gentle simmer for 7 hours. Check every hour or so and top up with boiling water from the kettle; the pan must never boil dry. 7. Lift the basin out by its handle and let it cool completely. Remove the damp parchment and foil, replace them with a fresh pleated layer, tie it on again and store the pudding in a cool, dark cupboard until Christmas. 8. For the brandy butter, beat the butter until very soft, then beat in the icing sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the 3 tablespoons of brandy a spoonful at a time. Pile into a small dish, cover and keep in the fridge. Take it out 30 minutes before serving. 9. On Christmas Day, steam the pudding in the same way for 2 hours. Run a palette knife round the edge and turn it out onto a warmed plate. 10. To flame it, warm the extra 3 tablespoons of brandy in a small pan over a low heat, take it to the table, carefully set it alight with a long match and pour it over the pudding. Serve in wedges with the brandy butter. ## Tips - Keep the water at a gentle simmer, not a rolling boil, and keep the kettle hot for topping up. - A pleat in the parchment and foil matters. The pudding rises slightly as it steams, and without a pleat it can split the cover. - When flaming, warm the brandy gently and never pour it straight from the bottle near a flame. Turn the lights down so everyone can see the flames. - Making the mince pies too? The suet mincemeat in our [suet mince pies with lard and butter pastry](https://thefoodiekitchen.net/suet-mince-pies-lard-pastry/) uses many of the same ingredients, so you can shop for both at once. ## FAQ ### Is there meat in Christmas pudding? No. Beef suet is the hard, raw fat from around the kidneys, so the pudding contains no meat, but it is not vegetarian. Everything else is fruit, sugar, spice, eggs, flour and breadcrumbs. ### Can I use packet suet? Yes, but read the label. Many packets of shredded beef suet are tossed in flour to keep the shreds separate, which matters if you avoid wheat. Vegetable suet is a different product made from vegetable fats, so check its ingredients if you are cooking without seed oils. Fresh suet from a butcher, grated while cold, is the simplest option; our [tallow vs suet guide](https://thefoodiekitchen.net/tallow-vs-suet/) explains how it differs from rendered tallow. ### Why butter the basin so thickly? Butter stops the pudding sticking during the long steam, so it turns out cleanly in one dark, glossy dome, and it browns lightly against the basin and adds flavour to the outside. Oil or a spray would do neither as well. ### How far ahead can I make it? That is the point of Stir-up Sunday: the pudding is made weeks before Christmas and then reheated on the day. Keep it wrapped in fresh parchment and foil in a cool, dark, dry cupboard. If you like, unwrap it once or twice before Christmas and spoon over a little more brandy. ### Can I make it without alcohol? Yes. Soak the fruit in the same amount of orange juice or strong cold tea instead of brandy, and flavour the butter with orange zest. Without the brandy the pudding does not keep as well, so store it in the fridge and make it nearer to Christmas. ### Can I make it gluten-free? Yes. Use gluten-free plain flour and gluten-free breadcrumbs, and use fresh suet or a packet suet that is not coated in wheat flour. ### My saucepan is not big enough. What can I do? Use any deep pan or stockpot that takes the basin with the lid on, or split the mixture between two 600ml basins and steam them for 4 hours, then 1 hour to reheat. More ideas: [suet mince pies](https://thefoodiekitchen.net/suet-mince-pies-lard-pastry/) · [Yorkshire puddings in beef dripping](https://thefoodiekitchen.net/yorkshire-puddings-beef-dripping/) · [tallow roast potatoes](https://thefoodiekitchen.net/tallow-roast-potatoes/) · [bonfire treacle toffee](https://thefoodiekitchen.net/bonfire-treacle-toffee-butter/) · [seed-oil-free desserts](https://thefoodiekitchen.net/seed-oil-free-desserts/).