Cornish Food Market

Stir up Sunday - 20th November 2011

November 17, 2011 in Christmas | 0 comments

Stir up Sunday is traditionally the last Sabbath before the Christmas season of Advent gets started, this year it falls on November 20th. The term comes from the openning words of the collect for the day in the Book of Common Prayer of 1549:

'Stir up, we beseech three, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded'

Stir-up Sunday is the day when the whole family gather to prepare and make a traditional British Christmas pudding. Taking place 5 weeks before Christmas, once the Christmas pudding is made, it marks the start of preparations before Christmas.

Early Christmas puddings contained meat usually mutton or beef as well as onions, wine, spices and dried fruit. The tradition of Christmas Pudding didn't appear in England until it was introduced to the Victorians by Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. The main point of difference between a Christmas Cake and a Pudding is that a cake is baked rather than steamed.

As the name suggests, the traditional recipe involves stirring. The custom states that each family member has a turn stirring the pudding whilst making a wish and adding coins and charms. Finding a coin or a charm in your piece of the pudding on Christmas day is said to bring wealth, health and happiness.

The perfect pudding should be dense, moist and oozing decadence of rich fruits and brandy. Making a Christmas pudding does take time, traditionally the recipe has 13 ingredients to represent Christ and his disciples and involves time to weigh, marinate and steam – the whole process lasting approximately 7 hours. Once made, the pudding only needs a further hour of steaming on Christmas day itself.

There are many recipes for a Christmas pudding, the best one is down to personal taste. For example, if you don’t like nuts or currants, try substituting with apricots and dates for a more gooey consistency. Christmas pudding reheats well – perfect for Boxing Day.

Try our Christmas Pudding recipe