I've baked this rather special Chocolate and Apricot Figgy Pudding for the Holidays for a few years now, and it's always been a resounding success, both a decadent and moist and light dessert to indulge in until midnight strikes! I wanted to try something a bit different this year, and made this very Fruity Christmas Pudding. Laden with all sorts of dried fruit, mellowed and softened in Cognac, it is just as beautiful as the chocolate one! Happy Christmas, dears!!!
Ingredients (serve 6 to 8):
half a dozen large Medjool dates
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup good quality Brandy or Cognac (like Hennessy)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened + more for greasing
1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled
1/4 cup very good Fig Jam (I used Fig and Almond Jam we brought back from our trip to Menton)
1 clean two pence or one pence coin
1/3 cup good quality Brandy or Cognac (like Hennessy)
The day before, pit and dice Medjool dates and plums. Dice dried apricots.
In a medium bowl, combine dice dates, plums and apricots with sultanas and dried cranberries. Grate in the zest of both satsumas, and thoroughly squeeze in their juice. Add the Cognac. Stir to mix well. Cover with cling film, and leave to soak, at room temperature, overnight.
The next day, cream butter and demerara sugar with a wooden spoon in a large bowl, until light, pale yellow and fluffy. Grate in fresh ginger, and stir until perfectly blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and Mixed Spice. Gradually stir flour mixture into egg mixture; fold in gently until well-mixed.
Add Brioche Crumbs, almond meal, flaked almonds, Fig Jam and soaked fruits with their soaking liquid to the batter, and stir well. Drop the two pee in the pudding, make a wish, give a good stir, and give it to stir to anyone who’s at home, so they can make their wish too (from the oldest to the youngest!)
Generously butter a 2-quart pudding basin. Cut a small disc of baking paper and press into the base of the basin. Butter generously as well.
Spoon pudding batter into the prepared basin and press it down with the back of your wooden spoon. Cover the pudding with a layer of baking paper and foil, both pleated in the middle and tie securely with string. Trim off excess paper and foil with scissors.
Put a metal jam lid upside down at the bottom of a large pot to act as a trivet. Place a long double strip of of foil, letting it hang on both edges of the pot, to help you lift the pudding once it is cooked.
Lower the pudding in the pot, sit it on the band of foil, on the jam lid. Pour boiling water in the pot until it comes halfway up the pudding basin. Cover with a lid and bring back to a boil over medium-high heat. Once water is boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 7 hours, regularly checking and adding boiling water so it is always halfway up the basin.
When cooked through, lift the pudding out of the pot. It should be a deep brown colour. Let cool a little, 15 to 20 minutes and turn pudding out onto serving plate. If you’re making it in advance, months ahead of Christmas, let cool completely and wrap tightly in cling film. Then place in a large metal tin (like a biscuit tin), and store in a cool, dark, draft-free place until Christmas.
On Christmas Day (or Eve, depending when you have it!) unwrap pudding and place in a buttered pudding basin, securing again with baking paper, foil and a string. Steam for about an hour.
Just before serving, quickly warm Brandy or Cognac, in a small saucepan, about 1 minute over low heat. Ignite carefully with a long match, and pour gently over the pudding, to flambé.
When flames die out, serve warm Fruity Christmas Pudding with Brandy Ice Cream.
