planning ahead. way ahead.
Sep 18, 2009 This is crazy talk, but I have to confess that I’m already thinking about the holidays. This is a sickness, I know. I hate that the drugstore has been pushing Halloween since mid-summer. Now I’m no better than they.
But of course, I’m about to try and justify this madness. My in-laws were going to come to California from Ireland for the holidays, and that made me want to try and replicate Christmas puddings we have over there, complete with brandy cream. And that requires some planning ahead.
I dug out a recipe from the holy grail of Irish cooking, the Ballymaloe Cookbook. Apparently, the puddings need to mature for about six weeks, so I can cool my gung-ho pudding craze for the moment. But I do need to secure some shredded beef suet, which apparently is fat around beef kidneys. That might take me a while.
In the meantime, here’s another make-ahead-for-the-holidays project. It’s called bachelor jam, and the recipe is from my beloved go-to preserving book. Everytime I open the book, I'm plunged into daydreams of wellies and hedgerow fruit and Irish stovetops.
As author Pam Corbin explains, this isn't really a jam, but a cocktail of rum-soaked fruit:
“The idea is that the mixture of fruit, alcohol and sugar is added to gradually, as different fruits ripen throughout the growing season. This preserve is usually prepared with Christmas in mind, when the potent fruity alcohol is drunk and the highly spirited fruit can be served on its own or with ice cream and puddings. “
How delicious does that sound? And I love that you just kick back and let alcohol take care of business. Much like our holidays usually go.
We started with the strawberries below, and have since added raspberries, blackberries from our urban foraging, and late-summer peaches. No strange animal lard required.
bachelor jam, christmas puddings in make
Reader Comments (7)
Kelly, you just took me back to my mum's kitchen. Every October she (and later on , we) would begin baking for Christmas. Every three years she would make pudding - she had three pudding bowls and the theory is that the puddings get better with age. She ordered the suet from our butcher, she also used it when making mincemeat for pies. We also made cakes every year and I still do those. (My grandmother described them as a bit of cake holding a lot of fruit and alcohol together!) Anyway - thanks for the trip down memory lane and jogging me a bit to get thinking about my own baking. Good luck with the suet hunt. If I come up with alternative (I know there are some), I'll let you know.
Would you be able to get suet from your butcher?
Oh der, I just saw that Charlotte suggested that too. Oops!
Hi Kelly, I just recently started reading your blog and am really enjoying it. You reminded me to get busy with my fruitcakes! I have a recipe that my Grandmother brought with her from England when she married. Someone in our family hasmade it every year since and for the past few years it's been me. I'm thinking of embarking into brandy butter myself. We used to live in Dublin and I miss being able to pop down to M and S for an easy jar of the stuff. But hey, Homemade has to be better, right?
Charlotte, Prue, and Gillian
You're all making me feel so much better about my over-planning! There's something that feels so comforting and un-hurried about making these before the holiday season kicks in.
Gillian, you gave me a pang of M&S lust!
And Charlotte, I love your grandmother's description! xo
Hey it totally new information for me and i appreciate it lol.
Actually i am mad for strawberrys and jelly chocalates.
THANK YOU so much for the preserving book link. I just got my copy and read it cover to cover - the recipes look amazing and it's so refreshing to find a book that doesn't include the USDA guidelines to making mush from anything. I have one other River Cottage book that I love; perhaps it's a sign that I need the whole library... :)