Fig, date and orange blossom Christmas pudding
Try this scrumptious Christmas pudding recipe, made with sweet dried fruit and a splash of orange liqueur, and beautifully decorated with orange slices and fresh figs. Recipe and image courtesy of Matthews Cotswold Flour, cotswoldflour.com and Aimee Twigger, @twiggstudios
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 4 hrs
Total: 4 hrs 20 mins
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
- 180g Dried figs (finely chopped)
- 175g Dates (chopped)
- 85g Candied peel (chopped)
- 1 Small ball of stem ginger in syrup (chopped)
- 80g Golden sultanas
- 1 Orange (juice and zest)
- 1½ tsp Orange blossom water
- 100ml Cointreau or orange liqueur
- 85g Brioche breadcrumbs
- 65g Blanched whole or flaked almonds (chopped)
- 100g Unsalted butter at room temperature
- 100g Dark muscovado sugar
- 2 Large eggs
- 50g Matthews Cotswold self-raising flour
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Ground cardamom (or 8 cardamom pods ground with a pestle and mortar)
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ground ginger
- 3-4 Large fresh figs and a large orange to line the basin (optional, add 15g more breadcrumbs if adding this)
Method
Step 1
Lightly grease a 1.75 litre/20cm pudding basin and add a disk of baking paper at the bottom.
Step 2
Put the chopped figs, dates, mixed peel, ginger and golden sultanas into a pan. Add the orange zest and juice, the orange blossom water and orange liqueur. Gently simmer for 8-10 minutes until the liquid has absorbed into the fruits and it has become sticky. Leave to cool.
Step 3
Cut the crusts off some brioche bread and discard. Use a food processor to make 85g of fine breadcrumbs with the rest. Roughly chop the almonds into small chunks, add to a bowl with the breadcrumbs and set aside.
Step 4
In a bowl, whisk the butter for a minute to soften it. Add the sugar and eggs, whisk, then add the flour, salt, and dried spices and whisk until creamy. Add the cooled fruit and breadcrumbs/almond mix and combine.
Step 5
Slice the figs and orange as thinly as possible. Stick to the inside of the basin, then spoon the mixture on top.
Step 6
Cover with a layer of baking parchment, pleating it to allow for expansion, then add a layer of tin foil. Tie with string and trim off any excess paper. Tie more string to create a handle to easily lift out the pudding.
Step 7
Place an upturned saucer in the bottom of a large pan with a lid and place the basin on the saucer (so it is not touching the base of the pan). Fill with boiling water to halfway up the basin. Cover and steam for 3 hours, topping up with boiling water, as needed. Leave to cool.
Step 8
To serve, steam the pudding in a pan of boiling water for 1 hour to warm it through. Serve with clotted cream or custard.
