Mom's Christmas Plum Pudding

I love this dessert so much that now my mother makes one for dessert on Christmas and a separate one for me to take home. This pudding is very rich and small servings go a very long way. It's delicious for weeks afterward in the refrigerator. Cut a slice, add brandy sauce, microwave, and indulge while your New Year's resolution is looking the other way!

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 3 hr
• Total Time: 3 hr 15 mins
• Calories: 493 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 ½ cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup milk
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
• ¾ cup melted butter
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3 tablespoons brandy
• ⅓ cup half-and-half
• 2 (15 ounce) cans purple plums - drained, pitted, and chopped
• 16 ounces gingersnaps, crushed

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Generously grease a 12-cup steamed pudding mold and its lid.

Step 2

Stir together plums, crushed gingersnaps, flour, sugar, milk, butter, eggs, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg for the pudding. Pour into the prepared pudding mold and cover with the lid. Place the mold on a rack in a deep, 8-quart pot. Add boiling water to halfway up the side of the mold, making sure water does not touch the lid.

Step 3

Cover the pot and simmer for 3 hours 45 minutes, adding more boiling water, if necessary. Remove the pudding mold from the pot and cool on a wire rack until pudding pulls away from the side of the mold, about 30 minutes.

Step 4

While pudding is cooling, combine sugar, half-and-half, butter, brandy, and corn syrup in a small, heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until butter melts, and sugar dissolves, 3 to 5 minutes.

Step 5

Invert pudding onto a platter and serve immediately alongside warm brandy sauce.