Stir Up, We Beseech Thee: A Kitchen Choir for Pudding Sunday 2026

There's a moment on Stir-Up Sunday that no shop-bought pudding can ever give you. It's the smell — dark sugar, mixed peel, a slug of brandy — rising out of a bowl while someone argues about whether the sixpence should go in before or after the mixture is divided. This year it lands on Sunday 22 November 2026, the last Sunday before Advent, and it deserves better than a silent kitchen and a podcast.

So put the radio on, put the kettle on, and let's make a chorus of it.

Why the 22nd Matters

The name comes from the old Book of Common Prayer collect for the day: "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people." Generations of British families heard that line in church and thought, quite sensibly, about pudding. The tradition stuck — everyone in the household takes a turn at the bowl, gives it a stir, and makes a wish.

That's the whole job, really. A stir, a wish, and a song. We're just here for the third part.

The Kit, and the Bit Everyone Forgets

You'll want your fruit soaked overnight in brandy or stout, suet or butter, breadcrumbs, dark sugar, mixed spice, a lemon and an orange, eggs, and a pudding basin greased and lined like it's going into battle.

The forgotten bit? Time. A proper steamed pudding wants six to eight hours over simmering water, topped up regularly, lid clamped down. That's a long afternoon. Which is exactly why you need a soundtrack with a beginning, a middle and a finale.

And yes — the sixpence. Modern coins aren't silver and aren't food-safe, so most families now use a wrapped charm, a dried bean, or a proper pudding token. Whoever finds it makes the wish. Or does the washing up. Traditions vary.

Ten Songs for the Stir, the Steam and the First Taste

The stirring

1. "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" — Traditional Start here because everyone knows the words, including your uncle who claims he doesn't. The chorus is a warm-up lap.

2. "Merry Xmas Everybody" — Slade The first proper shout of the season. Best deployed the moment the wooden spoon goes in.

3. "Step Into Christmas" — Elton John Relentlessly cheerful, slightly ridiculous, perfect for the bit where someone drops a currant and the dog gets there first.

4. "Fairytale of New York" — The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl Officially this is for the brandy argument. If your family doesn't have a brandy argument, this will start one.

5. "Christmas Wrapping" — The Waitresses For the chaotic middle stretch — greasing the basin, hunting for the muslin, discovering you're two eggs short.

The steaming

6. "In the Bleak Midwinter" — Traditional The pudding is now doing its long, quiet work. So should you. Sit down. Put your feet up. This is the calm bit.

7. "Stay Another Day" — East 17 That chiming intro is essentially the sound of a kitchen timer. Stay another hour, pudding. Stay another hour.

8. "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" — Wizzard Crank this when you do the first water top-up. The kids will appear from nowhere. It's science.

The first taste

9. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" — Brenda Lee For Christmas Day, when the pudding comes out dark and glossy and everyone gathers round with a spoon and far too much brandy butter.

10. "Silent Night" — Traditional Because after all that, the first mouthful deserves a moment of quiet. Then someone will say "needs more brandy" and it all kicks off again.

Chorus Rules for the Kitchen

A few house rules to make the stirring a proper event rather than a chore:

• Everyone stirs, everyone wishes. Youngest first, oldest last, no exceptions, no skipping.
• One stir, one line of the song. Slow it right down. It should take longer than it needs to.
• Stir clockwise, all together, and mean it. Wishes work better in unison.
• No phones during the chorus. Photos between songs only. You'll want one of the bowl.
• The person who drops the spoon sings the next verse solo. This is the law now.

The Long Steam

Once the pudding's in the pot, the afternoon stretches out. Use it. Loop the playlist, let the windows steam up, and let whoever wanders past the kitchen add a song to the queue. That's the whole spirit of the day — the pudding is just the excuse.

Set a timer for the water top-ups and let the music do the rest.

Then You Wait

Hang the pudding somewhere cool and dark, feed it a spoonful of brandy now and then like it's a houseplant with expensive tastes, and wait for Christmas Day. It'll be better for the wait. Everything is.

But the memory you'll actually keep isn't the pudding. It's the noise in that kitchen on a grey November afternoon — the spoon, the singing, the daft argument about the sixpence.

Send Us Your Stir-Up Sunday Setlist

What's your family's stirring song? Is there one tune that means Christmas has officially started in your house? Tell us at Songs4U and we'll add our favourites to the kitchen choir list for the festive season.

One bowl, one spoon, one whole room singing. Go on — stir up.