Try this lighter Christmas pudding recipe made with top quality Waitrose Fairtrade ingredients.
This Christmas pudding recipe is a little lighter than the traditional Christmas pud. And instead of custard or brandy butter, it’s topped with a decadent chocolate sauce. Add some candied clementines and it makes a rather pretty centrepiece.
You can find the Fairtrade ingredients from your nearest Waitrose store.
Happy stirring!
Ingredients
- 60g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
- 125g raisins
- 125g sultanas
- 125g currants
- 75g mixed peel
- 75g Armagnac
- 120g Fairtrade light brown muscovado sugar
- 2 clementines, zest of both and juice of 1
- 2 large eggs
- 50g plain flour
- 2 tbsp Fairtrade cocoa powder
- ½ tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 100g fresh breadcrumbs
- 50g ground almonds
- 150g Fairtrade dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- 1 small Bramley apple, peeled and finely chopped
Candied clementines
- 200g Fairtrade caster sugar
- 2 clementines, sliced into rounds the thickness of a £1 coin
Chocolate sauce
- 50g Fairtrade dark chocolate
- 100ml double cream
Method
- For the pudding, lightly grease a 1.1 litre basin and line the base with a disc of baking parchment. Put the dried fruit and peel in a bowl and pour over the Armagnac; set aside for a few hours to soak.
- Using electric beaters, beat the butter, muscovado sugar and clementine zest in a bowl until light and fluffy – about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each. In another bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, spices, breadcrumbs and almonds, then add to the mixture, along with the soaked dried fruit, chocolate, apple and clementine juice. Mix with a wooden spoon until combined.
- Scrape the mixture into the pudding basin and level. Put a sheet of baking parchment on top of a sheet of foil and fold a pleat in the middle. Place foil-side up on top of the pudding and fold the excess down over the sides of the basin. Tie with string to secure in place, and cut off any excess foil/parchment.
- Fill a large saucepan halfway with water and place an upturned saucer on the bottom. Bring the water to the boil and put the pudding on top of the saucer. Reduce the temperature to a simmer, then cover and steam for 3 hours 30 minutes. Check every so often; top up with water if needed. If you are making the pudding on the day, use the time while it is steaming, make the candied clementines.
- Carefully lift the pudding from the pan. If you are making the pudding ahead, let it cool then leave it still in the foil, in a cool dark place until Christmas for the flavours to mature.
- If serving, carefully unwrap the pudding, invert onto a plate and set aside.
- To make the candied clementines, preheat the oven to 100°C, gas mark ¼. Put the sugar and 200ml water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the clementine slices, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook until the fruit looks translucent – about 2 hours. Carefully lift the slices from the syrup and place on a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake for about 45-60 minutes or until they’re a little less wet (just slightly tacky). Set aside until needed.
- For the sauce, put the chocolate and cream in a small pan and stir together over a low heat until smooth. Pour over the pudding and decorate with a few of the clementine slices (the rest can be left to dry overnight and then kept in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks).