A light in the eye is worth 10 on the tree so let us aim to keep the light in the eye over the Christmas season.

A sure way of doing this is to plan and make an early start.

Rice Wine
Here is a very easy recipe for making rice wine
1/2 lb. paddy rice
Peel or zest from one orange
3/4 lb. raisins
1/2 lb. prunes
2 lbs. clear (brown) sugar

1/4 yeast cake or quarter pack of dried yeast
1/2 of an orange, peeled and sliced
2 qts. water boiled and cooled.

METHOD
1. Wash Rice
2. Add peel from one orange
3. Place in jar along with other ingredients
4. Set aside for three weeks

5. Strain and bottle

COOKING TIP
Before bottling, rinse bottles with proof rum. Shelled rice may be used if paddy is unavailable

Christmas Pudding
To make approximately 8 lbs. of mixture (enough to fill two nine-inch baking tins)
1 lb. butter
1 lb. granulated sugar
2-3 Tbsp. browning
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp. almond flavouring
2 tsp lime juice
2 tsp lime or orange rind
12 eggs
8 cups mixed fruits (raisins, currants, pruned, citron, cherries, dates)
12 ox. bread crumbs
12 oz. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. mixed spice
1 cup rum
1 pint port wine/brandy optional
1 cup chopped nuts (not peanuts) optional

METHOD
1. Prepare tin by lining sides with two thicknesses of paper and the bottom with four thicknesses of brown paper and one of grease proof paper.
2. Grease with shortening
3. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Mix in browning, vanilla and almond flavouring lime juice and rind.
5. Add eggs one at a time and beat in well. Add soaked fruit, cherries, dates and nuts.
6. Mix bread crumbs, flour, baking powder, salt and mixed spice.
7. All alternately with rum and port wine
8. Pour into prepared baking tins or steaming basins 3/4 full.
9. Cover and make steaming basin watertight.
10. Place in steamer or put over boiling water.
11. Continue to add boiling water until pudding steams, approximately 3- 3 1/2 hours. Cooking time varies with size of container.

Serve with hard sauce or hot wine sauce.

COOKING TIP
You may steam in the oven by setting baking tin in water or set la pan of boiling water below the pudding. Puddings can also be cooked in the pressure cooker.

Christmas Cake
Use the same ingredients as the recipe for Christmas pudding. Make one mixture and divide in two tins. Bake one tin and steam the other.

COOKING TIP

1) Christmas cakes and puddings can be made up to four weeks before serving as they actually improve with age. I use granulated sugar instead of brown sugar because it creams quicker.

2) Always taste browning before adding to mixture as sometimes it can be very salt.

3) Draining off liquid from fruits, allows the cork to be better able to judge the amount of liquid added to mixture.

4) Toast nuts and cool before adding to cake mixture.

Hard Sauce
Yields 1 cup
6 oz. icing sugar
3 oz. butter
2 Tbsp. rum

Cream butter and sugar until soft and fluffy. Gradually beat in rum. Use piping bag and rosette tip and pipe rosettes of hard sauce onto waxed paper and chill.

Hot wine Sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup of butter
1/2 cup of port wine
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1. Place wine and sugar in a saucepan on slow heat.
2. Add nutmeg and butter.
3. Pour over Christmas pudding.

Yields 1 cup.

copyright Jamaica Gleaner Jamaica Limited, date of publication November 5, 1998

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