Stir up Sunday will be celebrated this year (2017) on Sunday 26^th November. A date in the diary going back to the Victorian times, it ultimately marks the countdown to Christmas, with the baking of a Christmas pudding.

What would happen on Stir up Sunday?

Families would gather on the fifth Sunday before Christmas to make and ‘stir-up’ their Christmas pudding. Stir up Sunday has some strong traditions and religious connotations attached to it. For example, only 13 ingredients (Jesus & 12 disciples) would be added to the pudding. The pudding mix would traditionally be stirred by each member of a family from East to West (to remember the Wise Men of the East that visited Jesus in the Nativity Story). Beyond this, a customary garnish of holly and the addition of a lucky coin would be added.

Our favourite Christmas pudding recipe…

To help you get in the ‘Stir-up’ spirit we wanted to share our favourite Christmas pudding recipe – the cherry pecan Christmas pudding.

This BBC Good Food recipe puts a twist on the traditional pudding recipe, with the addition of cherries and Disaronno. Why not ditch the glacé cherries and replace with frozen cherries, to add moisture and extra tang to your pudding? You can also use frozen orange and lemon zest in this recipe to save waste and add a punchier flavour than freshly grated.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cherry-pecan-christmas-pudding

Simply adding a few extra touches to your Christmas pudding can make a big impact! Take the plunge this Stir up Sunday, and get adventurous with your puddings.

Don’t like Christmas pudding? You can still serve a show stopper of a Christmas dessert with a huge range of high quality frozen desserts. Most can be cooked straight from frozen or simply defrosted before serving, Coppenrath and Wiese have some of our favourites including a Black Forest Kirsch Torte:

http://www.coppenrath-wiese.co.uk/products-and-stockists/coppenrath-wiese-gateaux-tortes/

Once your pud is ready – it’s time to get ready for Christmas…

Stir up Sunday provides a great opportunity to get yourself ready for the Christmas season – and what better place to start, than with your freezer. It’s never too late to organise your food or learn how to stock the perfect freezer. Christmas is often a time where your freezer is filled to the brim with Christmas goodies, so now is time to get organised. Let us help you with these simple steps…

Always follow the ‘top, middle, bottom’ drawer rule when organising your freezer

If you’re not aware of these freezer drawer rules, let us help:

• Top drawer – Cream, brandy butter, ice cream, frozen fruit, pre-made goodies
• Middle drawer – Vegetables, roast potatoes, soups
• Bottom drawer – Turkey, ham and goose

Fill your freezer up – but not too much

The temptation at Christmas is to go overboard and fill your freezer to bursting. Despite freezers working at their most efficient when they’re full, they still require room for cold air to circulate. Filling your freezer to around 75% capacity is the sweet spot you should look for.

Make a Christmas list and stick to it

Making a list for Christmas may seem obvious, but it’s really easy to over-buy. Buying too much and leaving ourselves open to limited freezer space is a common Christmas fail.

Has your Christmas countdown begun? Check out our Top tips for a terrific Christmas blog post to ensure your Christmas runs as smoothly as possible!