Ashley Palmer-Watts’ recipes for alternative Christmas puddings

3 weeks ago 9

The perennial problem with traditional Christmas pudding is that most sensible people are already stuffed to the gills with smoked salmon, turkey, roast potatoes, sprouts and all the rest by the time dessert comes around. And in those circumstances – which somehow recur every year without fail (no, I have no idea how, either!) – the last thing we want to be faced with is heavy stodge for afters. So here are two ideas that are a little lighter than that daunting black orb of flaming pudding, but no less celebratory and festive for it.

Warm whisky apple with oat crumble and whisky caramel (pictured top)

A fruity, boozy and mercifully insubstantial way to round off proceedings before everyone heads to the sofa to watch Elf for the millionth time and fall asleep.

Prep/soak 1 hr
Cook 1 hr 20 min
Serves 6

For the crumble
50g flour
30g oats
35g unrefined caster sugar
1 small pinch ground cinnamon
1 small pinch fine sea salt
40g butter, diced into small cubes

For the apples
300g unrefined caster sugar
100g butter
125ml apple juice
60ml whisky, whichever is your favourite, plus 1 tbsp extra to finish, or to taste
¼ vanilla pod, split in half lengthways and seeds scraped out
1 small pinch fine sea salt
1 small fresh bay leaf
3 large braeburn apples, or chantecler

To serve
Vanilla ice-cream, softened
6 drams of whisky

Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4. Combine all the dry crumble ingredients in a bowl, then add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Scatter the crumble evenly over a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper, then bake for about 20 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Remove, leave to cool, then roughly break up the crumble and store in an airtight container until required.

Put the sugar in a medium saucepan and heat slowly, stirring occasionally, until it melts. When the sugar turns to caramel, carry on cooking until it’s a rich, golden colour (around 160C), then take off the heat. Carefully stir in the butter, apple juice, whisky, vanilla seeds and pod, salt and bayleaf, return to a medium heat and cook for five or so minutes, until you have a nice caramel.

Peel the apples, then cut them in half from top to bottom and remove the cores. Lay the apple halves flat side down in the caramel, cover with a circle of greaseproof paper, and cook on a low heat, turning regularly, until they soften, absorb some of the caramel and then almost magically firm back up again – depending on the size and variety of the apple, this should take 45 minutes to an hour. Take off the heat, leave to cool completely, then lift out the apples on to a plate.

Return the caramel pan to the hob, and cook, stirring regularly, on a medium heat for about 10 minutes, until thickened and reduced to a sauce consistency. Once the sauce is to your liking, stir in the extra tablespoon of whisky (or more, to taste).

Heat the oven to 140C (120C fan)/275F/gas 1. Put the cooled apples flat side up on a baking tray, then gently warm through in the oven for about 10 minutes. Put an apple half flat side up in the centre of each bowl and brush with the cooled whisky caramel. Scatter a generous amount of the crumble mix on top, then top that with a scoop of ice-cream. Drizzle generously with more caramel, so it gets in amongst the ice-cream, and serve with a wee dram on the side.

Christmas bread-and-butter pudding

One of the unwritten rules of Christmas hosting is that there is always lots of Christmas pudding left over, seeing as most people can manage only a spoonful or two at most. Here’s one way to use it up. As with most baking, I usually weigh out the ingredients, because it’s just more precise that way. You’ll need a 20cm square ceramic dish.

Prep 20 min
Cook 1 hr 40 min
Serves 6-8

For the pudding mix
250g leftover cooked Christmas pudding
Finely grated zest of ½ orange, or of 1 large clementine
80ml pedro ximénezFor the custard
800g double cream
800g milk
2 vanilla pods, slit open lengthways
18 egg yolks
225g caster sugar
60-100ml pedro ximénez, to finish (or to taste)

To build the pudding
25g large raisins, soaked in boiling water for an hour
100g softened unsalted butter
8 thick slices white bread, crusts removed
850g custard (see above and method)

For the cinnamon sugar
10g caster sugar
5g ground cinnamon

Crumble the Christmas pudding into a bowl (and roughly chop any nuts that might be in there), then mix in the citrus zest and sherry, and leave to macerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the custard. Put the cream and milk in a large saucepan, scrape in the vanilla seeds and chuck in the empty pods. Put the pan on a low-medium heat, bring to simmering point (80C), then take off the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.

While the milk is infusing, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat a quarter of the infused hot milk into the egg mix, then repeat until all the milk is incorporated. Measure out 850g of the custard and set aside for later, then pour the rest into a suitable saucepan. Put this on a medium heat and cook, stirring, until it comes to a simmer (80C). Immediately turn down the heat to the lowest possible setting and cook, stirring, for another five minutes, to thicken. Pour the custard through a fine sieve into a container, then cover and chill until needed.

Heat the oven to 130C (110C fan)/250F/gas ¾. Drain the raisins, then scatter them over the base of a 20cm square baking dish. Generously butter all the bread on one side, then arrange four of the slices on top of the raisins, overlapping them slightly. Pour half the reserved 850g uncooked custard over the bread, then press down gently with a fish slice or similar, so it’s submerged in the custard, and leave for five minutes. Scatter three-quarters of the macerated Christmas pudding mix over the top of the soaked bread.

Cut the remaining slices of buttered bread into quarters diagonally, to make 16 triangles in all, then arrange in neat rows on top, overlapping them slightly. Pour the remaining 425g uncooked custard over the bread and leave to soak in for 20 minutes, pressing down on the bread every five minutes, so it gets properly soaked.

Sprinkle the rest of the macerated Christmas pudding on top, then bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the pudding hits 72C at its centre. Remove and leave to settle for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the cinnamon sugar by combining the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

To finish the dish, pour the chilled custard into a saucepan, gently warm it through, then stir in 60-100ml pedro ximénez (or to taste; I used about 10ml per 60ml of custard). Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the top of the rested pudding, then put under a hot grill (or use a blowtorch) until caramelised. Put a large spoon of pudding in the centre of each bowl, pour the hot custard all around it and serve.