The ultimate guide to Stir-up Sunday 2022

• What is Stir-up Sunday?
• The Stir-up traditions
• Where does Christmas pudding come from?
• Do I have make a Christmas pudding in advance?

Christmas is approaching, and to us that means one thing: Stir-up Sunday. So, on Sunday, 20 November 2022 make sure you’re prepared to make your best Christmas pudding or Christmas cake yet.

What is Stir-up Sunday?

It is a tradition that harks back to Victorian times when the family would gather together to stir the Christmas pudding five weeks before Christmas, the last Sunday before advent begins. In recent years, keen cooks have also used Stir-up Sunday as an opportunity to make their Christmas cakes and mincemeat for mince pies as well.

Christmas pudding with glace cherry and pecan topping

The Stir-up traditions

• Christmas pudding would traditionally contain 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his disciples.
• It is traditionally stirred (while making a wish) by each member of the family from East to West, to resemble the Wise Men that visited Jesus in the Nativity Story.
• The customary garnish of holly represented the crown of thorns. Be warned: the holly berry is very toxic, so instead adorn your Christmas pud with fake foliage!
• Adding coins, originally charms, to your Christmas pudding was said to bring luck if you found them in your portion on Christmas Day. The traditional lucky charms were a silver coin for wealth, a wishbone for luck, a thimble for thrift, a ring for marriage, and an anchor for safe harbour. Biting down anyone of these could cause a trip to the dentist with a cracked tooth, so we wouldn’t recommend this.

Christmas pudding 2013 – pudding in basin

Where does Christmas pudding come from?

There is speculation about the origins of Christmas pudding. It is said to have been documented first in 1858, in Anthony Trollope’s Doctor Thorne, although its beginnings apparently go back hundreds of years.

In the Middle Ages, a Christmas porridge called Frumenty was popular and may be a savoury ancestor of the Christmas pudding. The recipe evolved over the years into plum pudding, containing dried fruits, eggs, breadcrumbs, and beers or spirits to increase its shelf life. In the 19th century, Prince Albert declared his love for the Christmas pudding and made it fashionable – it was at this time that it became a Christmas staple.

Rum plum Christmas pudding Christmas pudding tips

Why not try to make one of our Christmas pudding recipes for Stir-up Sunday, and make it a social affair with family and friends? You’ll feel very smug about your get-ahead efforts when you triumphantly light the pud and make your entrance into the dining room on Christmas Day.

Do I have make a Christmas pudding in advance?

Don’t worry if you can’t celebrate Stir-up Sunday. Some will swear that a matured pudding tastes better for having the time to mellow and develop.

However, having made countless Xmas puds and tasted them straight after cooking, to see if their flavour is up to scratch before we commit to triple-testing them (all part of our recipe development process at Good Housekeeping), we can truthfully say that you can absolutely make a pudding closer to the time or even on Christmas Day (if you have time!).

This Cherry and Pecan beauty tastes just as perfect when freshly made, or if you’re short on time on the big day, our microwave recipe below can get you out of a tight spot.