A festive Christmas dish that contains no plums (the English, who created it, called most dried fruits plums). Making it requires patience: Slow cooking is necessary so that the suet melts before the flour particles expand. If cooked too fast, the pudding will be hard. Many cooks set aside a calm day early in the holiday season for this project, for the pudding will only improve and mature while stored. An Irish friend’s mother steams her pudding a year in advance and stores it covered in the refrigerator, “feeding” it whiskey every other month (for more, see About Fruitcakes).

To make a single large pudding, use a 3-quart pudding mold, a 3-quart pudding basin, or a deep heatproof glass or ceramic bowl with a capacity of 3 to 3 ½ quarts. To make smaller puddings, use 2 or 3 molds, basins, and/or baking dishes with a total capacity of 3 to 4 quarts. Very generously grease the mold(s) with vegetable shortening.

Bring to a boil in a large saucepan:

Cover tightly and simmer gently for 20 minutes, then uncover and cook, stirring, until nearly all the liquid has evaporated. Let cool to room temperature. Combine in a large bowl:

Rub together lightly with your hands just until the suet particles are separated. Add:

Rub together just until blended. Whisk together thoroughly in a separate bowl:

Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture, then stir in the raisin mixture. If desired, also stir in:

Pour the batter into the prepared mold(s), leaving at least 1 inch of headspace for expansion. If you are using a pudding mold with a cover, grease the inside of the cover and snap it in place. Otherwise, crimp a sheet of foil over the rim of each mold allowing little or no overhang down the sides, and cover with an inverted plate.

Set a rack or folded kitchen towel in the bottom of a pot large enough to hold the pudding comfortably. Set the pudding inside and pour enough boiling water into the pot to come two-thirds of the way up the sides of the mold(s). Cover the pot tightly. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then adjust the heat to maintain a brisk simmer. Replenishing the pot with boiling water as necessary, steam a single large pudding for 6 to 7 hours, 2 smaller puddings for 4 to 5 hours, or 3 small puddings for 3 to 4 hours. When done, the pudding should be very dark in color nearly to the center. At this point, a large pudding can be kept warm in the covered pot, with the heat off, for 3 hours; smaller puddings for about 1 ½ hours.

Remove the pudding(s) and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes, then invert onto a platter. If you wish to flame the pudding, warm to barely lukewarm in a small saucepan:

Drizzle the liquor over the pudding and then, standing back, ignite with a long match, lighter, or torch. Serve with:

To store the pudding, cool to room temperature in the mold(s), then turn out. Wrap first in plastic, then in foil; refrigerate for up to 1 year—the pudding will become softer, darker, and more flavorful with age. To reheat, return the pudding to its original mold, well greased, and steam again in briskly simmering water for 1 ½ to 2 hours for a large pudding, about 1 hour for smaller puddings, or until a knife inserted in the center for 15 seconds comes out hot.