Holiday Ayo - Christmas pudding is sweet dried-fruit pudding traditionally served as part of Christmas dinner in Britain and other countries to which the tradition has been exported. 

It has its origins in medieval England, with early recipes making use of dried fruit, suet, breadcrumbs, flour, eggs and spice, along with liquid such as milk or fortified wine. 

Later, recipes became more elaborate. In 1845, cookery writer Eliza Acton wrote the first recipe for what she called "Christmas pudding".

The dish is sometimes known as plum pudding (though this can also refer to other kinds of boiled pudding involving dried fruit). 

The word "plum" was used then for what has been called a "raisin" since the 18th century, and the pudding does not in fact contain plums in the modern sense of the word.

In the late Victorian period, a tradition grew up that Christmas puddings should be made on or immediately after the Sunday "next before Advent", i.e., four to five weeks before Christmas.

It was common practice to include small silver coins in the pudding mixture, which could be kept by the person whose serving included them. 

The coin was believed to bring wealth in the coming year, and came from an earlier tradition, defunct by the twentieth century, wherein tokens were put in a cake (see Twelfth Cake).

Other tokens are also known to have been included, such as a tiny wishbone (to bring good luck), a silver thimble (for thrift) or an anchor (to symbolize safe harbor).

Many households have their own recipes for Christmas pudding, some handed down through families for generations. 

Essentially the recipe brings together what traditionally were expensive or luxurious ingredients — notably the sweet spices that are so important in developing its distinctive rich aroma, and usually made with suet. 

It is very dark, almost black in appearance due to the dark sugars and black treacle in most recipes, and its long cooking time. 

The mixture can be moistened with the juice of citrus fruits, brandy and other alcohol (some recipes call for dark beers such as mild, stout or porter).