Light & fruity Christmas pud

Light & fruity Christmas pud

An irresistibly tipsy passion fruit and Cointreau-laced pud that steams in half the time of a traditional Christmas pudding

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 10

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr - 1 hr 15 mins

Plus 3 hrs steaming
Freezable

Method

  1. Put the dried fruits, dates, cranberries and ginger in a pan with the orange zest and juice, and the orange liqueur, then warm gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the juices are absorbed and the mixture looks sticky. Set aside to cool.
  2. Lightly grease a 1.3 litre/21⁄4 pint pudding basin, and line the base with a small disc of greaseproof paper. Beat the butter, sugar, eggs and flour together in a food mixer or large bowl until creamy, then stir in the cooled fruits, breadcrumbs, cinnamon and nuts.
  3. Spoon the mixture into the pudding basin, cover the bowl with greaseproof paper and foil, and tie on securely with string. Put a long strip of folded foil under the basin and bring it up round the sides so that you can use it as a handle to lift the pudding in and out. Put the basin in a large pan and pour a kettle of boiling water into the pan so it comes halfway up the bowl, then cover and steam for 3 hours, topping up with boiling water every now and then. Leave it to cool, then store in a cool place for up to 1 week or freeze for 1 month.
  4. The sauce can be made up to a day ahead. Melt the butter and sugar together in a frying pan. Tip in the pecans and cook, stirring, for a minute or two to toast them. Add the cranberries, orange juice and liqueur and continue to bubble until rich and syrupy. Cool, then tip into a bowl, cover and chill until ready to eat.
  5. To serve: Steam the pudding in a pan of boiling water for 1 hour, to warm it through.
  6. Put the pecan sauce in a pan, and gently warm through until melted and bubbling. Meanwhile, turn out the pudding. Peel the lining paper from the pudding and pile the nuts and cranberries from the sauce on top, and then generously spoon over the buttery sauce. Decorate with holly and dust lightly with icing sugar. Serve the pudding with the sauce and cream.
Try

Classic brandy butter

If you prefer to serve classic brandy butter instead of the pecan sauce, cream 100g/4oz butter with 85g/3oz golden caster sugar and 50g/2oz light muscovado sugar. Beat in 4 tbsp brandy, spoon into a dish and fork attractively. This can be made up to 2 weeks ahead or frozen.

Per serving

550 kcalories, protein 5.0g, carbohydrate 66.0g, fat 27.0 g, saturated fat 12.0g, fibre 2.0g, sugar 20.0g, salt 0.63 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2002.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo Victoria

    12 November 2007

    Victoria rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is a fabulous recipe that makes a super end to Christmas lunch. My family like it so much they wish it was christmas more often!

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  • Binder photo sheepcat

    08 January 2008

    sheepcat rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    The first Christmas pudding I have made and the best I have tasted, easy to prepare and enjoyed by all.

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  • Binder photo Sarah

    24 January 2008

    Sarah rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was the best Christmas pudding I've had. I'm not a big fan of Christmas puddings, they're generally to rich & heavy for me, but this is a lovely recipe! The pecan sauce & topping is to die for too :-)

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  • Binder photo Paula

    03 February 2008

    Paula commented on this recipe

    My first ever attempt at making Christmas pudding. The main requirements were a recipe that didn't take six hours to steam, and a pudding that wasn't too dense. I made a large pudding and also a small 'test' pudding in a ramekin dish. The 'test' pudding tasted so good that I had no qualms about serving the large pudding on Christmas Day. It was perfect and an absolute success. Thank you BBC Good Food!

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  • Binder photo ToniM

    16 March 2011

    ToniM rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was my first attempt at making a christmas pud, I don't eat it myself so was for the husband and kids.... they loved it - so much so that a month later my husband asked if I had the recipe that I used because I better not change it next year!!

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  • Binder photo sinead

    14 December 2011

    sinead rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was also my first attempt at a christmas pud. I made it christmas 2010 and I'm back to dig out the recipe to make again this year. yum yum! drooling at the thought of it...

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  • Binder photo Maeve S.

    21 December 2011

    Maeve S. rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is the lightest and tastiest pudding I have ever made. Well worth a try especially if you find normal pud a litte heavy...

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  • Binder photo MrsNiiPii

    23 December 2011

    MrsNiiPii commented on this recipe

    HELP!! If anyone's got a sec to help me I would appreciate it! When it says put the basin in a pan... do you put that pan over heat? I.e. on the stove? I just put the basin in a pan and put boiling water in it and sealed it but left it like like (topping up water occassionally) and after 4 hours it's still raw?!

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  • Binder photo MrsNiiPii

    23 December 2011

    MrsNiiPii commented on this recipe

    HELP!! If anyone's got a sec to help me I would appreciate it! When it says put the basin in a pan... do you put that pan over heat? I.e. on the stove? I just put the basin in a pan and put boiling water in it and sealed it but left it like like (topping up water occassionally) and after 4 hours it's still raw?!

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  • Binder photo bunties

    27 December 2011

    bunties rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made this recipe for Christmas this year and can't rate it highly enough. It was gorgeous! As the title suggests it was light and very fruity, but with all the flavour you would expect to find in a traditional christmas pudding - made in October and matured for Christmas. The added bonus is that none of us had the indegestion problems the mature variety have come to give us as we've become used to a more modern lighter diet. One concern I had with the recipe was the 100ml of Cointreau, as a number of my guests don't drink alcohol, as well as children being part of the party, so I added the juice of an orange and topped up to the required fluid quantity with the Cointreau. The end result was absolutely delicious and much enjoyed by all. It was a great modern update to our families really quite traditional Christmas menu. I'll definitely be remaking next year and I think many more to come.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 10

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr - 1 hr 15 mins

Plus 3 hrs steaming
Freezable

Ingredients

  • 250g packet dried mixed fruits with apricot and passion fruit
  • 175g ready-to-eat stoned dates , roughly chopped
  • 85g dried cranberries
  • 1 tbsp freshly grated root ginger
  • grated zest and juice of a large orange
  • 100ml/3½ fl oz Cointreau or Grand Marnier
  • 100g butter , at room temperature
  • 100g dark muscovado sugar
  • 2 large eggs , beaten
  • 50g self-raising flour
  • 85g fresh white breadcrumbs
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 85g pecans nuts, roughly chopped

PECAN TOPPING AND SAUCE

  • 100g butter
  • 100g light muscovado sugar
  • 50g pecans
  • 50g dried cranberries
  • 1 orange
  • 3 tbsp Cointreau or Grand Marnier
  • sprig of fresh holly
  • icing sugar , for dusting
  • thick double cream , to serve
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Per serving

550 kcalories, protein 5.0g, carbohydrate 66.0g, fat 27.0 g, saturated fat 12.0g, fibre 2.0g, sugar 20.0g, salt 0.63 g

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