Christmas pudding with muscovado brandy butter recipe

By Matthew Drennan

Serves 8
Takes 30 minutes to make, about 5 hours to steam (1 hour to reheat), plus cooling and chilling
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A straightforward-to-prepare yet traditional yummy Christmas pudding. Can be made ahead for all the family.

Christmas pudding with muscovado brandy butter

Ingredients

100g ready-to-eat dried figs, roughly chopped
200g sultanas
150g raisins
100g currants
50g chopped mixed peel
1 Bramley apple, peeled, cored and coarsely grated
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
50ml milk
50ml brandy
50g skinned hazelnuts, chopped
100g self-raising flour
2 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
175g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
200g panettone, whizzed into crumbs in a food processor
3 medium eggs, lightly beaten
100g dark muscovado sugar
Icing sugar, for dusting
For the muscovado brandy butter
350g unsalted butter, softened
200g dark muscovado sugar
6 tbsp brandy

Method

1. Put the dried fruits, peel, apple, zest, milk and brandy in a large bowl and mix together. Leave to soak in a cool place for a few hours or overnight, stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, toast the nuts under a preheated grill for 1-2 minutes, until golden – watch them as they’re easy to burn! Set aside to cool.
3. Sift the flour, spices and a pinch of salt in a separate bowl. Melt the butter and pour over the soaked fruit. Stir in the hazelnuts, panettone crumbs, eggs, sugar and spiced flour.
4. Grease and base line a 1.5-litre pudding basin. Tip in the pudding mixture and level the surface, so you have a 1.5cm gap at the top. Lay a circle of baking paper on top of a circle of foil (both should be larger than the top of the pudding basin), butter the baking paper side and make a pleat down the centre of both. Put buttered-side down on the pudding, and secure with string – tie this around the rim, loop over and tie at the other side to make a handle.
5. Put an upturned saucer in a deep saucepan. Sit the pudding basin on top and fill the pan with boiling water to come halfway up the basin. Cover, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat slightly and steam for 5 hours, keeping the water topped up during this time. Test the pudding with a skewer – it should come out clean. Cool slightly in the basin, then turn out and cool completely. Wrap in baking paper, then double-wrap in foil and keep in a cool dark place.
TO REHEAT ON CHRISTMAS DAY
1. Cook the pudding in the same way as above (steps 4-5) but for 1 hour, until piping hot.
2. Meanwhile, cream together the butter and muscovado sugar. Gradually beat in the brandy. Chill for 30 minutes.
3. Turn the pudding out onto a plate, dust with icing sugar and decorate with fresh juniper berries and bay leaves or a holly sprig. To flame the pudding, see the Christmas cook's guide in the Know How section.