A staple festive dessert, the indulgent Christmas pudding is one that must find its way onto the menu at some point for those who love to include all of the traditions of the season. Fruity, rich and a dessert to impress, the good news about the Christmas pudding is that it is actually best prepared well in advance to allow the flavours to fully develop and mature, so if you want to get ahead of the Christmas cooking then you’ve come to the right place.
This recipe for a vegetarian-friendly Christmas pudding by Brittany Woodruff of Naturally.B is steamed in a STAUB Cocotte for four to five hours, which we promise is worth the wait! It can also be easily adapted to suit vegans and gluten-free diets too.
Ingredients
100g raisins
100g cranberries
50g apricots (chopped)
50g dates (chopped)
50g flaked almonds
40g pecans (chopped)
60g vegetarian suet
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
100g wholemeal flour
20g cacao powder
1 pear
150ml apple juice
2 eggs
Method
1. Pre heat the oven at 160 Degrees C and grease (with butter) a 500ml pudding basin. Cut a small circler piece of baking paper and stick to the bottom (inside) of the pudding basin to prevent sticking.
2. Mix the dried fruit, flaked almonds, pecans, vegetarian suet, nutmeg, cinnamon and ground ginger in a large bowl.
3. Chop the pear to de stalk and place in a food processor and blitz until a puree is formed. Then stir through the fruit mixture.
4. Beat the eggs with the apple juice and stir through the fruit mixture.
5. Combine the flour and cacao powder together then fold through the fruit mixture.
6. Spoon the mixture into the pudding basin, cover with doubled greaseproof paper folded in the middle then a layer of foil and tie in place with with string.
7. Place the pudding basin into a STAUB Cocotte, and pour in water to halfway up the basin, then cover with the lid.
8. Place in the centre of the pre heated oven for four to five hours, make sure you check the water levels so the Cocotte doesn’t dry out.
9. Remove the basin from the pot, discard the greaseproof paper and cover it with new. Allow to cool.
10. Store in a cool place.
11. On the big day, re-steam for one to two hours or reheat in a microwave for three to five minutes. Serve with a generous scoop of ice cream.
Note: This vegetarian Christmas Pudding recipe can also be made with gluten free flour instead of wholemeal, and the eggs replaced with ‘no egg’ replacer or a chia egg (1 tbsp chia seeds and 3 tbsp water) for a vegan Christmas pudding served with vegan ice cream.
