Halal-conscious recipe
Christmas pudding without brandy
A classic steamed Christmas pudding of raisins, apple, candied peel, almonds and nutmeg made with grated butter rather than suet, with orange juice in place of the brandy and an orange and ginger butter to serve.
Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.
Photo: James Petts · CC BY-SA 2.0
Why Halal checks matter here
Christmas pudding is mixed with brandy, served with brandy butter and flamed with warm brandy at the table; many traditional recipes also use beef suet.
A traditional Christmas pudding has brandy in three places: in the mix, beaten into the brandy butter, and warmed and set alight over the pudding at the table. This version takes it out of all three.
It follows Orlando Murrin's classic Christmas pudding for BBC Good Food, which is already made with grated butter rather than suet. The 2 tbsp of brandy in the mix becomes orange juice, the butter is flavoured with orange zest and stem ginger alone, and the pudding is served unflamed. Orange juice is our substitution, and we have not tested how the pudding keeps without brandy, so make it nearer the day and keep it in the fridge.
The puddings steam for 8 hours and cool overnight, then need 1 more hour of steaming on the day.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Brandy in the pudding The published recipe mixes 2 tbsp of brandy or cognac into the pudding. Brandy is an alcoholic drink and is Haram, and steaming does not change that on this site. Use orange juice, as here, or leave it out. See Brandy.
- Brandy butter and flaming The published recipe beats 4 tbsp of brandy into the butter and flames the pudding with 3 to 4 tbsp of warm brandy at the table. Leave the brandy out of the butter and skip the flaming.
- Suet This source uses butter, but many Christmas pudding recipes use suet, and UK beef suet has no Halal mark. If you use a recipe with suet, use vegetable suet. See Suet.
Safe substitutes
- 2 tbsp brandy or cognac in the mix → 2 tbsp orange juice
- 4 tbsp brandy in the butter → Nothing; the orange zest and stem ginger flavour it
- Flaming with warm brandy → Serve it unflamed
Allergens
tree nuts (almonds), gluten (flour, breadcrumbs), eggs, milk (butter)
Ingredients
Puddings
- 50 g blanched almonds, coarsely chopped
- 2 large Bramley cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
- 200 g candied peel in large pieces (or citron), chopped by hand
- 1 whole nutmeg, three quarters of it grated
- 1 kg raisins
- 140 g plain flour
- 100 g soft fresh white breadcrumbs
- 100 g light muscovado sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tbsp orange juice (instead of 2 tbsp brandy or cognac)
- 250 g butter, straight from the fridge
Orange and ginger butter
- 175 g unsalted butter, softened
- ½ grated zest of half an orange
- 5 tbsp icing sugar
- 2 pieces stem ginger, finely chopped (the brandy left out)
Method
- Prepare the fruit and nuts. Chop the almonds coarsely. Peel, core and chop the apples. Chop the candied peel by hand. Grate three quarters of the nutmeg.
- Mix. Mix the almonds, apples, peel, nutmeg, raisins, flour, breadcrumbs, sugar, eggs and orange juice in a large bowl. Holding the butter in its wrapper, grate a quarter of it into the bowl and stir, then repeat until all the butter is in. Stir for 3 to 4 minutes, until the mixture subsides slightly after each stir.
- Fill and wrap the basins. Butter two 1.2 litre basins generously and put a circle of baking parchment in the bottom of each. Pack in the mixture. Cover with a double layer of pleated parchment, tie with string and trim. Stand each basin on a large sheet of foil, bring the edges up over the top, add a second sheet over the top and bring it down underneath to make a watertight parcel, then tie with more string and make a handle.
- Steam. Boil or oven-steam the puddings for 8 hours, topping up with water as needed. Lift out and leave to cool overnight, then re-wrap in fresh parchment, foil and string. We have not tested how this version keeps without brandy, so make it nearer the day and keep it in the fridge.
- Make the butter. Cream the butter with the orange zest and icing sugar, then beat in the chopped stem ginger. Put it in a small bowl and chill to set.
- Serve. On the day, boil or oven-steam the pudding for 1 hour, then unwrap and turn out. Serve with the orange and ginger butter, and skip the flaming.
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Classic Christmas pudding' by Orlando Murrin (makes two 1.2 litre puddings, each serving 8: 50 g chopped almonds, 2 Bramley apples, 200 g candied peel, three quarters of a nutmeg, 1 kg raisins, 140 g flour, 100 g breadcrumbs, 100 g light muscovado, 3 eggs and 2 tbsp brandy or cognac, with a 250 g pack of cold butter grated in; packed into buttered basins, wrapped in parchment and foil, boiled or oven-steamed 8 hours, then 1 hour more on the day; brandy butter of 175 g butter, orange zest, 5 tbsp icing sugar, 4 tbsp brandy and stem ginger; flamed with 3 to 4 tbsp warm brandy). We replaced the 2 tbsp brandy in the mix with orange juice, left the brandy out of the butter, and dropped the flaming. The source already uses butter rather than suet. Orange juice is our substitution and we have not tested how the pudding keeps without brandy. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Technique and ingredient sources
-
Classic Christmas pudding — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
By Orlando Murrin. Makes two 1.2 litre puddings, each serving 8; prep 20 minutes, cook 8 hours: almonds, apples, candied peel, nutmeg, raisins, flour, breadcrumbs, muscovado, eggs, 2 tbsp brandy and 250 g grated butter, steamed 8 hours and 1 hour on the day; brandy butter; flamed with brandy. We replaced or removed all the brandy.
-
Brandy analysis — isithalal.food
Retrieved:
Why brandy is Haram, including brandy in puddings and sauces.