Mini Christmas Puddings | Recipe

Makes: 3 x 500ml puddings | Takes 45 minutes + soaking time + 5 1/2 hours steaming time

Two of the most common questions I get asked about my Christmas pudding recipe (in my second book) are: how do I make multiple smaller Christmas puddings in a 1-pint tin? And how long do I steam them  for? In case you didn’t know, the original recipe was for one big Christmas pudding, so here I give timings and instructions to make 3 smaller puddings instead.

Ingredients

• 150g raisins
• 150g currants
• 150g candied mixed peel
• 1 small cooking apple, such as Bramley, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 4 tbsp brandy or sherry, plus an extra
• 4 tbsp to serve
• 75g (1/3 cup) butter, softened
• 150g (¾ cup) light muscovado sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 90g (2/3 cup) gluten-free plain
• (all-purpose) flour
• 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• ½ tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 slices of gluten-free bread, blitzed into breadcrumbs

For the brandy butter

• 125g (generous ½ cup) butter, softened
• 200g (scant 1½ cups) icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted
• 4 tbsp brandy
• Grated zest of ½ orange

Freezable: Once steamed and cooled, freeze in an airtight container for  up to 1 year. once defrosted, continue with the second steam.

Method

Place the raisins, currants, mixed peel and apple in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest and juice and brandy or sherry. Allow to stand for a minimum of 2 hours, or ideally overnight. The longer the better!

Grease three 500ml pudding basins and line the bases with circles of non-stick baking parchment. If your pudding basins don’t have a lid, create them by cutting three circles of foil and baking parchment that are roughly 3cm larger than the basin’s diameter. Place one foil circle and one paper circle on top of one another and create a pleat down the middle. Repeat twice more and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing between additions. Add the flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, nutmeg and breadcrumbs and mix until well combined. Lastly, stir through all of the soaked fruit, along with the soaking liquid, and mix once more.

Divide the mixture between the prepared pudding basins, ensuring that the mixture is flat and even on top by compacting it down. Secure the lids in place. If you made the lids from foil and baking parchment, use some string to secure them in place. If your pudding basins came with lids, I’d recommend wrapping each in foil after popping it on, just to be safe.

Place all three puddings in a large saucepan and add boiling water so that it comes just over a third of the way up the basins. Place the lid on the pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 4 hours. Keep an eye on the water level, as you may need to top it up halfway through.

Once cooked, remove the pudding basins from the water, remove the lids and allow to cool completely in the basins. once cool, cover and store in a cool, dry place until Christmas day.

On Christmas day, pop the lids on your pudding basins – if you made your own, you’ll need to create them again. Place in a large saucepan again and fill once again with boiling water, just over a third of the way up the pudding basins. Pop the lids on, bring to the boil and simmer for 1½ hours.

While they are steaming, whip up the brandy butter. I use a stand mixer for this, but an electric hand whisk will do the job just fine too. If making by hand, just ensure you mix for longer. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on a medium speed for about 5 minutes until a lot paler. Add the icing sugar and mix until completely incorporated, then add the brandy and orange zest and mix once more. Transfer the puddings to individual serving plates and keep the brandy butter refrigerated until you serve everything up.

To serve, warm up the extra 4 tablespoons of brandy in a small saucepan (don’t let it boil) and then pour a little over the hot Christmas puddings. Carefully set light to each and serve immediately with the brandy butter.