The Original Victorian Christmas Pudding Recipe : 'Food, Glorious, Food': Cooking with Dickens

Dickens’s joy of Christmas illuminates his writing and is especially clear in his scenes of festive feasting; none is more important or joyful than when Mrs Cratchit brings out her flaming Christmas pudding in a Christmas Carol. In this video Pen Vogler shares her recipe to make an original Victorian Christmas pudding to challenge Mrs Cratchit.

Ingredients:
85 grams of plain flour
Pinch of salt
170g Veg or beef Suet
140g of brown sugar
1 teaspoon mixed spice
170g of breadcrumbs
170 grams of raisins
170 grams of currants
55 grams of cut mixed peel
1 apple
3 eggs, beaten
140ml of brandy
Butter for greasing

This video is the first in a series of five videos celebrating our special exhibition, Food Glorious Food: Dinner with Dickens.

Pen Vogler is a food historian specialising in food in literature and guest curator of the exhibition Food Glorious Food: Dinner with Dickens. She is also author of Dinner with Mr Darcy, Tea with Jane Austen, Dinner with Dickens and Christmas with Dickens, and edited Penguin’s Great Food series, published by Penguin Classics in 2011. She has written on food in history and literature for The Guardian Review, BBC History Magazine, Sunday Times, The Lady Magazine, The Oldie, The Observer. She has cooked recipes from the past for Radio 4’s PM and Making History, Mrs Dickens Family Christmas on BBC2 and been interviewed for a number of papers and podcasts. She has given talks and tastings at festivals and events throughout Britain.