Make your Christmas Pud with our Festive Totty Ruby Porter.

1st November sees the release of our popular and award-winning Festive Totty, just in time for your Christmas pud preparations! 

Once our Totty Pot has been fermented we condition it with ruby port to give a smoother, slightly sweeter taste with hints of chocolate and fruit in the finish.

- Jem Ham

Perfect for matching with cheddar cheese, Christmas cake or dark chocolate the Festive Totty is a seasonal twist on the multi-award wining Totty Pot Dark Porter. The creamy porter and stewed fruit flavours make an exceptional Christmas Pudding Recipe 

Cheddar Ales Christmas Pudding Recipe

Serves 8 - 10.

Ingredients

110 g shredded suet

50 g self-raising flour, sifted

110 g white breadcrumbs

1 level teaspoon ground mixed spice

 A quarter level teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Good pinch ground cinnamon

225 g soft dark brown sugar

110 g sultanas

110 g raisins

275 g currants

25 g mixed candied peel, finely chopped

25 g almonds, skinned and chopped

1 small cooking apple

Grated zest half a large orange

Grated zest half a large lemon

2 tablespoons rum

150 ml Cheddar Ales Festive Totty

2 large eggs

You will also need a 2 pint (1.2 Litre) pudding basin, lightly greased.

Instructions

Christmas pudding is best prepared up to two months in advance. 

Take a mixing bowl and start by putting in the suet, sifted flour and breadcrumbs, spices and sugar. Mix thoroughly, then gradually mix in all the dried fruit, mixed peel and nuts followed by the apple and the grated orange and lemon zests.

Now in a smaller bowl, measure out the rum and ale, then add the eggs and beat these thoroughly together. Pour this over all the other ingredients, and mix very thoroughly. The mixture should have a wet consistency. If you think it needs a bit more liquid add more beer. Cover the bowl and leave overnight.

Next day, pack the mixture into the lightly greased bowl, cover it with a double sheet of baking paper and a sheet of foil and tie it securely with string. Tie a piece of string across the top to make a handle. Place the pudding in a steamer set over a saucepan of simmering water and steam the pudding for 8 hours. If you do not have a steamer, put the basins in a large pan with inverted saucers on the base and pour in boiling water to come a third of the way up the sides of the pudding bowl. Make sure you keep a regular eye on the water level and top it up with boiling water from the kettle from time to time.

When the pudding is steamed let it cool, then remove the steam papers and foil and replace them with some fresh ones, again making a string handle for easier manoeuvring. Now your Christmas pudding is all ready for Christmas Day. Keep it in a cool place away from the light for up to two months.

On Christmas Day, bring a saucepan of water to the boil, place a steamer on top and turn it down to a gentle simmer. Put the Christmas pudding in, cover and leave to steam for about 2 and a quarter hours. Again, you'll need to check the water from time to time.

To serve, remove the pudding from the steamer and take off the wrapping. Slide a palette knife all round the pudding, then turn it out on to a warmed plate. Serve with cream, brandy butter, rum sauce or vanilla custard. 

To pre-order your case of Festive Totty please email sales@cheddarales.co.uk