Christmas pudding ice cream

Christmas pudding ice cream

Impress your guests with this showstopping Christmas dessert, which can be made up to one month ahead

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

plus cooling and freezing
Freezable

Method

  1. Mix all of the boozy fruit ingredients together in a bowl, then microwave on High for 3 mins. Stir, then leave to cool completely, ideally overnight.
  2. For the ice cream, put the spices in a saucepan and gently heat for 3 mins or so, stirring once or twice, until fragrant. Tip in the cream and vanilla seeds, and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, whisk the yolks and sugar together. Whisk the hot cream into the egg mix, then tip the mix into a clean pan and gently heat for 5-10 mins until it coats the back of a wooden spoon. Pour everything into a bowl or plastic container and leave to cool completely. If possible, chill it overnight as this will infuse the ice cream with a stronger Christmassy spice flavour.
  3. Pass the mix through a sieve into another container, then freeze for 5 hrs, stirring in the frozen edges with a fork every hour until you have a smooth, thick mix. Oil a 1.4 or 1.2-litre pudding basin and line with cling film.
  4. Drain the boozy fruit in a sieve, mix the fruit with the ginger nuts and zests, then quickly stir into the ice cream. Tip into the basin, cover the surface with cling film, then freeze for at least 6 hrs.
  5. For the topping, put everything into a small pan, gently heat until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for 2 mins. Cool completely. To turn the pudding out, let it sit at room temperature for about 15 mins, then turn onto a plate. Ease the cling film away. Spoon the cranberries and syrup over to serve.

675 kcalories, protein 4g, carbohydrate 61g, fat 45 g, saturated fat 24g, fibre 0.2g, sugar 55g, salt 0.15 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2009.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo jools

    26 November 2009

    jools commented on this recipe

    made this last year for family and friends mmm mmmm mmmm

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  • Binder photo Sue

    07 December 2009

    Sue rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    I made this at the w/end. Very easy. However, 15 minutes at room temp before serving was not enough time. Fortunately I had another pudding to offer whilst we waited for it to be soft enough to cut through. Sufficient for 8 people, and it did look stunning. I thought it looked better than it tasted.

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  • Binder photo Allie

    10 December 2009

    Allie commented on this recipe

    I don't have a mircrowave - how long / hard should I cook boozy fruit.. Looking forward to making this ...

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  • Binder photo Maggiemay

    14 December 2009

    Maggiemay commented on this recipe

    I agree with Sues comments about looking better than it tasted but the people I served it to loved it and there were some serious cooks amongst them. I would use less fruit next time as the ice -cream didnt get a chance to shine as there was so much stuff in the mix.

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  • Binder photo Tara

    15 December 2009

    Tara commented on this recipe

    I made this over the course of a couple of days and got to reap the reward yesterday - so tasty! I doubled the recipe as I have 10 for Christmas and wanted some left overs. I don't have a microwave either so, I just brought the fruit to the boil and then simmered them for about 3 minutes. I would make this again over and over!!

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  • Binder photo Tara

    15 December 2009

    Tara rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Polly

    16 December 2009

    Polly commented on this recipe

    Can't really rate this as yet as I have just this minute finished the final mix with the fruit and put it in the freezer ready for Xmas day. Having seen the mixture it seems more fruit than ice cream, as I have mixed on the hour and tasted I have to reserve raving about it as I was a bit unsure of the taste, perhaps too many spices for my liking. I will see on the day how my guests rate it. It may be better with no spices apart from the vanilla and much less fruit.

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  • Binder photo smartie

    26 December 2009

    smartie rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo patsbinder

    27 December 2009

    patsbinder rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo nat eve

    09 January 2010

    nat eve rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo BENJO

    21 January 2010

    BENJO rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Terri's

    17 December 2010

    Terri's rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    being the owner of a small freezer, but an ice cream maker with built in freezing, I don't do this as the bombe, just as normal ice cream. It was so successful last year that I have a list of people looking for batches to be made for this year! I infused the cream/custard for 2 days rather than overnight and it makes a huge difference to the flavour. I also do the dried fruit in spiced rum rather than brandy, which I find a little harsher.

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  • Binder photo Pippa

    24 January 2011

    Pippa rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this for the second year running, as is so tasty and such a brilliant alternative to heavy pudding. Beware though of timings, this does take a good couple of days if soaking and marinading are to be observed. Quite dense with fruit, so understand Maggiemays comments, as the ice cream on its own is so gorgeous.

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  • Binder photo CT

    23 November 2011

    CT rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is always a favourite in our house- I use Cherry Brandy to make it really fruity .

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  • Binder photo Jayne

    23 November 2011

    Jayne rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I've just made this ready for Christmas and it's absolutely delicious. Roll on Christmas!

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  • Binder photo Million miles from home

    13 December 2011

    Million miles from home rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    SOOOOOOOOO delicious!!! I added more brandy than the recipe demanded ;-) Will make every single year! LOVE IT!!!

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  • Binder photo Roz

    28 December 2011

    Roz rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    This was yummy! only quibble would be that the cranberries (I used fresh) in the mixture froze quite hard and were a bit tart, despite being soaked in the brandy. Next time I might cook them down more with a bit of sugar first, like with the sauce. But other than that, great!

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  • Binder photo AdamS

    30 July 2012

    AdamS rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Tastes awesome. Check out this new royally good ice cream concept: http://www.btlbrands.biz/diamond-jubilee-ice-queen/ What do you think of the Ice Queen?

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  • Binder photo woozle

    07 December 2012

    woozle rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I make this every year for Christmas, everyone loves it and asks for it again and again. I use less fruit than in the recipe and I tend to change the alcohol, I mixed it with Cherry brandy last year and it was lovely. I don't put in the ginger biscuits either as I don't like them! I left my fruit soaking in the alcohol for around a week before I made this, I also left the custard and spices for around a day so they had a really nice flavour. I don't make the pudding either, I freeze it in a loaf tin and cut it into slices. Lovely :)

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

plus cooling and freezing
Freezable

Ingredients

FOR THE BOOZY FRUIT

  • 85g raisins
  • 85g sultanas
  • 85g pack dried cherries
  • 100g fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 6 tbsp brandy
  • 2 tbsp dark muscovado sugar

FOR THE ICE CREAM

  • 2 cinnamon sticks , snapped in half
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp caraway seeds
  • 4 cloves
  • 600ml pot double cream
  • 1 vanilla pod , split and seeds scraped out
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 100g golden caster sugar
  • oil , for greasing the bowl
  • 6 ginger nut biscuits, broken into chunks
  • zest ½ lemon and ½ an orange

FOR THE CRANBERRY SYRUP TOPPING

  • 85g caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp brandy
  • 100g fresh or frozen cranberries
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675 kcalories, protein 4g, carbohydrate 61g, fat 45 g, saturated fat 24g, fibre 0.2g, sugar 55g, salt 0.15 g

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