Honey and Alcohol in Ultimate Christmas Pudding

Our answer

Nigella's Ultimate Christmas Pudding (from Christmas and on the Nigella website) is made using Pedro Ximenez sherry. The fruits are soaked in the alcohol for up to a week before the pudding is mixed. We have not tried the pudding without alcohol so cannot guarantee the results, but you should be able to use apple or orange juice as an alternative.

We would suggest steeping the fruits in juice for 2-3 days and also storing them in the fridge while they are soaking. Also bear in mind that the alcohol will help the keeping qualities of the pudding, so if not using alcohol then it is probably better to make the pudding only a week in advance of Christmas and storing the pudding in the fridge until the second steaming.

The Christmas Pudding contains 2 tablespoons of honey. The honey adds a little extra sweetness and also as it is hygroscopic (attracts water) it helps to keep the pudding slightly more moist. However it is unlikely that your pudding will be ruined if you omitted the honey. Steaming is a very moist method of cooking and it is unlikely that the pudding will be dry. You could "feed" the pudding with a little extra sherry if you like, by using a skewer to prick some holes in the top of the pudding and drizzling 1-2 tablespoons sherry over before re-sealing or re-wrapping the pudding ready for steaming on Christmas day.