Julie Goodwin's last-minute Christmas pudding with caramel brandy sauce
Run out of time to make a proper Christmas pudding? You can still have a tasty treat on your festive table with this last-minute recipe thanks to Julie Goodwin.
- 40 mins preparation
- 3 hrs 40 mins cooking
- Makes 1
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Ingredients
Last-minute Christmas pudding
- 2 1/3 cup (375g) raisins, halved
- 1/2 cup (125ml) brandy
- 1/2 cup (125ml) water
- 200 gram butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (165g) firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (70g) stale breadcrumbs
- 12/3 cup (250g) turkish apricots, chopped
- 3/4 cup (110g) plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tablespoon mixed spice
- 2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Caramel brandy sauce
- 100 gram butter, chopped
- 300 millilitre thickened cream
- 1 cup (220g) firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) brandy
Method
Last-minute Christmas pudding with caramel brandy sauce
- 1Grease a 1.75-litre (7-cup) pudding steamer or basin; line base with a round of baking paper. Place a small wire rack or inverted saucer in the base of a large saucepan - make sure the pan is big enough that the lid can fit with the pudding steamer inside. Half-fill the pan with water; cover, bring to the boil.
- 2Combine raisins, brandy and the water in a medium saucepan over medium heat; bring to the boil. Simmer, uncovered, for about 5 minutes or until most of the liquid is evaporated; cool.
- 3Beat the butter and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until just combined after each addition. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
- 4Stir in breadcrumbs, apricots and raisins, then sifted dry ingredients until well combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared steamer; level off the top.
- 5Secure with steamer lid. If steamer or basin does not have a lid, place a sheet of foil on bench, top with a sheet of baking paper. Fold a 5cm pleat crossways through both layers. Place sheets, baking paper-side down, over steamer; secure around steamer with string. Make a handle using excess string tied across the top. Trim away excess foil and paper, leaving about 4cm. Crush remaining foil around string to help form a good seal.
- 6Place steamer in the saucepan with enough boiling water to come halfway up the side of the steamer. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid; steam for 3-4 hours. (Longer cooking time will give a darker pudding). Replenish with boiling water as needed to maintain boil and water level during cooking. Stand pudding for 10 minutes before turning out.
- 7Meanwhile, to make caramel brandy sauce, place all the sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan; stir over heat until the butter melts. Bring to the boil; boil, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
- 8Serve hot pudding with caramel brandy sauce.
Notes
Pudding and sauce suitable to freeze separately. Sauce suitable to microwave.