FESTIVE CHRISTMAS PUDDING

This Festive Christmas Pudding is giving us the Christmas feels. Serve it with a delicious salted caramel sauce and your guests will leave smiling.

This Pudding can be cooked in a flash using the LG NeoChef Microwave. Salted Caramel sauce is so on-trend at the moment and it makes a great addition to this otherwise traditional pudding.

Ingredients

• 500 g mixed cake fruit

• 125 g mixed peel

• 100 g red cherries, chopped

• 150 ml brandy

• 150 ml sherry

• 10ml bicarbonate of soda

• 250 g butter or hard margarine

• 200 g soft brown sugar (250 ml)

• 3 large eggs, beaten

• 130 g cake flour (280 ml)

• 10ml ground cinnamon

• 2 ml ground cloves

• 2 ml ground ginger

• 3 ml ground nutmeg

• 1 ml ground allspice

• 100 g toasted almonds, chopped

• 100 g flaked almonds

• 250 g raw grated carrots (500 ml)

• 50 ml golden syrup

• The rind of l lemon and l orange

• 125 ml sweet orange marmalade

• 10 ml chocolate colouring/ 60 ml cocoa or 8 squares melted dark chocolate

Method

1. Firstly Mix the cake fruit, mixed peel, and cherries in the brandy and sherry. Then Add in the bicarbonate of soda and leave overnight.

2. Secondly, Cream the butter and sugar very well for at least 5 minutes in an electric food mixer.

3. Then Add the eggs alternatively with the sifted dry ingredients.

4. Add in the soaked fruit mixture and mix in the breadcrumbs, nuts, carrots, golden syrup, lemon and orange rind, marmalade, and chocolate colouring/cocoa or chocolate. Mix well together.

5. Spoon into 2 x greased medium-size heat resistant pudding bowls or smaller bowls if making individual puddings.

6. Cover with plastic wrap. Place on a microwave rack or upturned saucer in the microwave oven.

7. Cook on 70% power for 12 – 14 minutes. Until the edges come away from the sides of the container, but there is still a damp spot or two here and there on the surface of the pudding. Remove the plastic wrap immediately.

8. Allow to cool, turn out. Wrap up and store in the refrigerator or freezer.

9. When serving, heat through from room temperature on 70% power for 3 – 4 minutes for large pudding and heat 4 – 6 small puddings together for 1 – 2 minutes. Serve with custard, ice-cream, brandy butter, brandy sauce or salted caramel sauce.

SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE One of the latest food fashions is to mix sweet and sour/savoury. This sauce is excellent as it has so many uses. Store in the refrigerator and use liberally.

• 400 g sugar (500 ml)

• 180 g butter (180 ml)

• 250 ml cream

• 5 – 7 ml Sea salt flakes

1. Place the sugar and butter into a large Pyrex dish

2. Melt in 30-second intervals until the sugar is dissolved

3. Add the cream and cook for further 30 second intervals until the sauce has thickened. Be careful when making this sauce as it can easily boil over in the Microwave.

4. Once thickened stir through the salt flakes and enjoy!

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