Light & fruity Christmas pud
By Sara Buenfeld
Cooking time
Prep: 1 hr - 1 hr, 15 mins Plus 3 hrs steamingSkill level
EasyServings
Serves 10An irresistibly tipsy passion fruit and Cointreau-laced pud that steams in half the time of a traditional Christmas pudding
Nutrition and extra info
Additional info
- Freezable
Nutrition per serving
- kcalories
- 550
- protein
- 5g
- carbs
- 66g
- fat
- 27g
- saturates
- 12g
- fibre
- 2g
- sugar
- 20g
- salt
- 0.63g
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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Method
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- To serve: Steam the pudding in a pan of boiling water for 1 hour, to warm it through.
- 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.
Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2002
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Comments, questions and tips
Comments
Not enough stars to rate this recipe!
Having not made my usual puds in good time this year, I chose this recipe on the strength of the reviews. I was not disappointed. I doubled the recipe which made 1 large and 7 mini puddings. I steamed the minis for the same time as the large one andI couldn't wait to cut into one as soon as it was cooked! I was absolutely delighted. It looks just as good those made months in advance and tastes fabulous. I am going to feed the big one tomorrow in preparation for serving Christmas Day with brandy butter. Maybe will try serving with the pecan sauce at New Year or Easter and in future will definitely be using this recipe. Thank you Sara - you have made my Christmas!
Happy Christmas to all at BBC Good Food.
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.
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?!
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?!
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!