This is when you should make your Christmas pudding or cake - and the best recipes to try

This Sunday, 22 November, is known as 'Stir-up Sunday' - a day which marks the last Sunday before Advent, and is the traditional time to make your Christmas pudding or cake.

Like many Christmas traditions in the UK, Stir-up Sunday comes from the Victorian age.

While the humble Christmas pudding has roots in Medieval times, it was Prince Albert who made it fashionable again in the 19th century. To this day, many families and keen cooks make their own every November.

How did Stir-up Sunday get its name?

Making your Christmas pudding or cake on Stir-up Sunday gives it time to mature (usually by being ‘fed’ brandy) in the run up to the big day. The tradition takes its name from the general prayer read in churches, which includes the line, “Stir up, we beseech thee O Lord, the wills of they faithful people."

Traditions and superstitions

As with many age-old rituals, there are certain traditions and superstitions surrounding Stir-up Sunday. Many believe that the whole family should be present in the kitchen while the eggs, fruit and flour are mixed in order for everyone to get a shot.

The youngest should start the mixing, and carry on up the ages, with the oldest giving a final stir. It is said that the mixture should be stirred east to west, to mark the journey made by the three wise men.

To continue the Christian festive theme, many traditions say that there should be 13 ingredients used, to represent Jesus and his 12 disciples.

Charms, tokens or coin are hidden in the mixture before it it cooked, and if you’re lucky to find a charm or coin when eating, you can make a wish.

Recipes to try

The tradition of Stir-up Sunday is to make a Christmas pudding, but you can also make a Christmas cake, as both these festive treats need time to mature.

Neil Forbes Christmas pudding

Chef Neil Forbes shares his recipe for how to make Christmas pudding.

Ingredients

125g sultanas125g currants125g raisins20g glacé cherries, chopped20g mixed peel½ bramley apple, grated20g carrot, grated2 tsp finely grated orange zest40g prunes, stoned and chopped50g plain flour20g ground almonds60g bread crumbs1 tbsp milk50g soft dark brown sugar75g proper beef suet1 tbsp golden syrup1 eggPinch each of salt, mixed spice and cinnamonGlug each of brandy, sherry and rum4 tbsp stout

Method

Place the sultanas, currants and raisins in a large bowl. Add the alcohol and leave to soak overnight.

Line a two pint pudding basin with muslin, leaving enough spare to tie at the top.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl of soaked fruit and mix well.

Fill the lined pudding basin with the mix and tie up the muslin with a piece of string.

Gently steam the pudding for two hours in a lidded pot (water covering half the pudding basin).

Don’t allow to boil dry.

Before serving, check that the centre of the pudding is piping hot.

Serve with brandy sauce or pouring cream.

Mary Berry’s Christmas pudding

BBC Good Food has shared Mary Berry’s classic Christmas pudding recipe.

For the pudding

450g/1lb dried mixed fruit (use a mixture of sultanas, raisins, and snipped apricots)1 small cooking apple, peeled, cored and roughly chopped1 orange, finely grated rind and juice3 tbsp brandy, sherry, or rum, plus extra for flaming75g/3oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing100g/3½oz light muscovado sugar2 free-range eggs100g/4oz self-raising flour1 tsp mixed spice40g/1½oz fresh white breadcrumbs40g/1½oz whole shelled almonds, roughly chopped

For the brandy butter

100g/3½oz unsalted butter, softened225g/8oz icing sugar, sieved3 tbsp brandy, rum or cognac

Method

Measure the sultanas, raisins, apricots and apple into a bowl with the orange juice. Add the measured brandy (rum or sherry), stir and leave to marinate for about one hour.

Put the measured butter, sugar and grated orange rind into a large bowl and cream together with a wooden spoon or a hand-held whisk until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little of the measured flour if the mixture starts to curdle.

Sift together the flour and mixed spice, then fold into the creamed mixture with the breadcrumbs and the nuts. Add the soaked dried fruits with their soaking liquid and stir well.

Generously butter a 1.4 litre/2½ pint pudding basin. Cut a small disc of foil or baking parchment and press into the base of the basin.

Spoon into the prepared pudding basin and press the mixture down with the back of a spoon. Cover the pudding with a layer of baking parchment paper and foil, both pleated across the middle to allow for expansion. Tie securely with string and trim off excess paper and foil with scissors.

To steam, put the pudding in the top of a steamer filled with simmering water, cover with a lid and steam for eight hours, topping up the water as necessary.