Brandy pudding
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Brandy pudding

By Good Food

This pud is impressive, delicious and makes a great light alternative dessert to a traditional Christmas pudding

  • Prep:45 mins
    Cook:3 hrs
  • Serves 8
  • More effort

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 764
  • fat 42g
  • saturates 23g
  • carbs 84g
  • sugars 74g
  • fibre 3g
  • protein 6g
  • salt 0.8g

Ingredients

  • 250g block stoned dates, finely chopped
  • 125g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 85g light muscovado sugar
  • 140g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 large eggs
  • 50g raisins
  • 50g chopped candied peel
  • 50g dark glacé cherries, halved
  • 50g pecans, chopped
  • 50g stem ginger, chopped
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 100ml brandy
  • butterscotch sauce (see related recipes)
  • 1 holly sprig, to garnish

Tip

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Homemade butterscotch sauce is lovely, but if you don’t want to make your own, serve some bought toffee or caramel sauce instead.How to cover your christmas pudding
Take a large sheet of aluminium foil and sit a large sheet of baking parchment on top. Make a pleat by folding a crease in the centre of both the parchment and foil. Turn onto pudding, parchment side down, and press around the bowl. Tie tightly with a long piece of string, under the basin’s lip. Trim off the excess foil and parchment, leaving about 6cm. Tuck the paper up and fold the foil around to make it watertight.

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put the dates in a bowl, pour over 250ml boiling water and set aside. Butter a 1.5-litre pudding basin and put a disc of baking parchment in the base.

  2. Put the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and eggs in a large bowl, then beat with an electric hand whisk until well blended. Add the cooled date mix and beat again to make a sloppy batter

  3. Stir in the fruits, pecans and ginger, then pour into the pudding basin and cover the basin with pleated baking paper and foil (see tips, below). Put the basin in a roasting tin half-filled with boiling water, then steam in the oven for 3 hrs until a skewer inserted into the pudding comes out clean.

  4. Meanwhile, make the brandy syrup. Put the sugar and 75ml water in a pan and stir over the heat until syrupy. Stir in the brandy and remove from the heat. When the pudding is ready, remove from the oven, take off the foil and paper, and push a skewer into the centre – it should come out clean. Pour over the brandy syrup so it soaks into the pudding, then cover until ready to serve. Will keep in the fridge for a week.

  5. To serve, warm the pudding in the turned-off oven once you have taken out the potatoes, or microwave on High, covered with cling film, for 5 mins. Warm the butterscotch sauce (see related recipes) in a pan or in the microwave on Medium for 2 mins. Turn out the pudding onto a plate, pour over some of the sauce and serve the rest in a jug. Top with the holly sprig and serve with good-quality vanilla ice cream

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