Whether you love the Christmas season or you prefer not to think about it until the very last minute, there’s no denying Christmas is right around the corner. The shops are filling up with cheese and crackers, mulled wine, chocolate boxes, and those all-important festive decorations.
The Christmas Pudding Tradition
There’s something about Christmas that makes us want to embrace traditions that have been passed down for generations and one tradition we’re particularly fascinated by is the coin in the Christmas pudding. It might not be everyone’s favourite dessert, but there’s something enticing about a pudding with a hidden coin or two. After all, your serving could have a surprise inside!
But where exactly does the tradition come from and why is it still something we celebrate today? In this article, we will be uncovering the interesting history behind the humble Christmas pudding.
Let’s get started.
What is Christmas Pudding?
A Christmas pudding (also called a plum pudding) is a traditional Christmas dessert commonly served in the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.
The dessert itself is a dense, sticky fruit cake – typically boiled or steamed. It often includes dried fruit and nuts and some recipes use suet to add an extra richness. Depending how you like to cook Christmas pudding, it can be steeped in brandy and served with a thick dollop of cream, hot custard, or ice cream.
For those who really want to bring the party to Christmas dinner, you can pour brandy over the cake and set it alight. The flame burns bright and blue, before soaking up all the alcohol and leaving the dessert ready for serving. It’s a beautiful spectacle and will be the talking point of the night.
The officers and wardroom cook mixing the Christmas Pudding on board HMS HOWE.
The History of the Classic Christmas Pudding
Now that you know what a Christmas pudding is and a few different ways to serve it, let’s take a closer look at its history.
Where Did Christmas Pudding Come from?
Christmas pudding (originally referred to as plum pudding) found its origins as more of a savoury dish – a far cry from the dense and sweet dessert many of us know today.
Originally, plum pudding was made as a porridge, using ingredients like beef, raisins, spices, and wine. It was commonly cooked by poorer families to help fill stomachs prior to a small portion of meat served for Christmas dinner.
This meant less meat needed to be purchased and those with meagre amounts could still enjoy a nice dinner without feeling they had missed out on the extravagance common during the Christmas season.
It wasn’t until the end of the 16th century that plum pudding began evolving into more of the sweet dessert we know today.
Plum Pudding in the Victorian Era
It was not until the 1800s that plum pudding really gained prominence as a sweet Christmas pudding. During the 1830s, in fact, it became increasingly popular as a Christmas dessert. The pudding would be made in much the same way that we make boiled Christmas pudding today; with ingredients such as sugar, flour, suet, dried fruits, and spices. The cake would then be topped with a sprig of holly to represent the crown of thorns Christ wore on the Cross.
The Victorians are well-known for their illustrious parties and certainly their baking did not disappoint. Many wealthy households would bake a Christmas pudding within elaborate moulds, such as towers or castles, while poorer households would choose the simple circular design we all know and love.
Christmas Pudding and the British Empire
The traditional custom of eating Christmas pudding during the festive season quickly spread throughout the British Empire and was soon introduced by British colonists to other parts of the world such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa (to name a few).
During this time, the Christmas pudding was seen as a symbol of unity. In fact, according to Wikipedia, “In 1927, the Empire Marketing Board (EMB) wrote a letter to the Master of the Royal Household, requesting a copy of the recipe […] After finalising the ingredients, the royal recipe was sent out to national newspapers and to popular women’s magazines. Copies were also printed and handed out to the public for free. The recipe was a phenomenal success, as thousands of requests for the recipe flooded the EMB office.”
A silver Indian half rupee coin from a Christmas pudding at the siege of Kut-al-Amara on Christmas Day 1915 and made into a commemorative pendant. The obverse of the coin has been ground smooth and engraved: R.F.A. Xmas Dinner SIEGE OF KUT-AL-AMARA 25 XII 1915 From Ted.
The Christmas Pudding Coin
So, where does the silver coin come in?
Well, it actually started during the Victorian era. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were well-known for their love of Christmas traditions. In fact, according to The English Heritage, “Following the marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the Royal family celebrated Christmas with gusto and the rest of the nation followed their example.”
It was they who decided a silver coin or two should be included within the pudding for an unsuspecting recipient. The idea was to bestow good luck on the receiver and it is a tradition that has stood the test of time and is still incorporated in modern Christmas puddings to this day.
Some researchers believe the tradition dates even further back, possibly to the 1300’s, when a small silver ring or a dried pea was baked into the cake. Whoever found the hidden treasure was crowned as King or Queen for the night.
Well-known Christmas Pudding Traditions
As with many things during the festive season, there are many well-known Christmas traditions related to the making and eating of the Christmas pudding in particular. Here are two of the most well-known:
Stirring the Mixture
In the making of a Christmas pudding, stirring is essential. However, how the mixture is stirred has always held an element of tradition. Again, according to Wikipedia, it was believed that, “the pudding should be made on the 25th Sunday after Trinity, that it be prepared with 13 ingredients to represent Christ and the 12 apostles, and that every family member stir it in turn from east to west to honour the Magi and their journey in that direction.”
Today, families upholding this tradition tend to involve everyone in the making of the Christmas pudding. In other words, every person enjoying the Christmas dinner gets to stir the pudding before it is cooked. It’s a fun tradition and one that involves everyone.
Flaming the Christmas Pudding
As we have briefly mentioned above, the Christmas pudding was also traditionally set alight by covering it in brandy. This is a tradition that stems from the Victorian era. However, it’s one that many families continue to honour today. It’s just a bit of fun and a great way to make the arrival of pudding that much more exciting.
Incorporate Quality Silver Jewellery into Your Christmas Pudding
If you’re cooking the Christmas pudding this year, it’s a great opportunity to incorporate a beautiful ring from our jewellery collection. Not only will you be honouring the Christmas pudding tradition but you will also gift someone a special something on Christmas Day.
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View our jewellery rangeFrom just £300 |
Final Words
As you can see, the humble Christmas pudding is steeped in tradition and rituals that originated hundreds of years ago are still practised today. So, the next time you sit down to Christmas dinner with your family, remember what we’ve shared in this article because it might just come in handy for after-dinner trivia.
IMAGE SOURCES:
Sgt Matt, No. 2 Army Film and Photo Section via: Wikimedia Commons
Royal Navy official photographer, Smith, J H (Lt), via: Wikimedia Commons
James Petts from London, England, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Imperial War Museum photograph, via: Wikimedia Commons
