Mini Christmas Pudding Recipe 3 ways.
The other week I headed up to the Waitrose Cookery School courtesy of the lovely folk at John Lewis to join a bunch of awesome foodie bloggers for an evening of cookery challenges. Our mission for the evening (should we choose to accept it) was to road test a mini Christmas pudding recipe under the expert guidance of the cookery school chefs, as well as create a seasonal cocktail to enjoy once the hard work had been done. Now I’m not a master chef by any stretch of the imagination, and I have to admit that the only reason I’ve been known to have a portion of Christmas pud in my youth was to dig for the coins my mum used to like to hide in them…but I do love a foodie photo opp so I high tailed it up there to see what I could learn.
After welcome drinks, we were split into 3 groups – those who were to make a traditional pud, a gluten-free pud and a vegan pud. Being a card-carrying member of the I’ll-eat-anything-that’s-put-in-front-of-me team, I was in the traditional group and my partner for the night was the ever-entertaining Veggie Lad a.k.a. Rob Warren. Here’s the recipe below for you to have a bash at, the gluten-free and vegan versions are at the bottom of the page.
Traditional Mini Christmas Pudding Recipe
You will need…
| 25g | unsalted butter softened, plus extra melted for greasing |
| 60 g | self-raising flour |
| ½ tsp | baking powder |
| Pinch | table salt |
| ¼ tsp | ground nutmeg |
| ½ tsp | ground cinnamon |
| ¼ tsp | ground cloves |
| 1 | medium British Blacktail Free Range Egg, beaten |
| 40ml | black treacle |
| 55ml | brandy |
| 1 tbsp | dark rum |
| Finely grated zest 1 | unwaxed lemon |
| 40g | peeled, cored and coarsely grated bramley apple, mixed with lemon juice |
| 10g | blanched almonds, roasted and chopped |
| 75g | currants |
| 20g | mixed peel |
| 20g | Forest Feast Sour Cherries |
| 200 g | mincemeat |
Here’s what to do…
- Pre-heat the oven to 180c / gas mark 4. Grease 4 mini pudding basins and 4 small circles of baking parchment with a little melted butter and set aside.
- Sift the self-raising flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves into a medium mixing bowl, then add the egg and 25g softened butter. Mix the treacle, brandy and rum together in a measuring jug. Pour this mixture into the bowl and mix everything together thoroughly. Stir in the lemon zest, apple, almonds, currants, peel, cherries and mincemeat.
- Divide the mixture between the prepared basins and top with a circle of parchment
4. Cover each one with an 18cm square of foil and fold under the edges of the basin. Place the basins into a roasting tin and pour in enough boiling water to come 2.5cm up the sides of the basins.
5.Carefully place the tin into the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the puddings are springy and firm to the touch in the centre. Remove from the oven, unwrap, remove the parchment and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Carefully run a small knife around each one and turn onto warm serving plates. Serve immediately with your favourite accompaniment.
Gluten-Free mini Christmas pudding ingredients.
| 25g | unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing |
| 70g | Doves Farm Gluten and Wheat Free Self-Raising White Flour |
| ½ tsp | Doves Farm Free From Gluten Baking Powder |
| Pinch | table salt |
| ¼ tsp | ground nutmeg |
| ½ tsp | ground cinnamon |
| ¼ tsp | ground cloves |
| 1 | medium British Blacktail Free Range Egg, beaten |
| 90ml | black treacle |
| 55ml | Waitrose French Brandy |
| 1 tbsp | Sailor Jerry Dark Rum |
| Finely grated zest 1 | unwaxed lemon |
| 40g | peeled, cored and coarsely grated Bramley apple, mixed with lemon juice |
| 10g | blanched whole almonds, roasted and chopped |
| 75g | currants |
| 20g | mixed peel |
| 20g | Forest Feast Sour Cherries |
| 200g | Waitrose Christmas Cranberry Mincemeat |
Here’s what to do…
- Preheat the oven to 180C, gas mark 4. Grease 4 mini pudding basins and 4 small circles of baking parchment with the butter and set aside.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves into a medium mixing bowl, then add the egg and 25g softened butter. Mix the treacle, brandy and rum together in a jug. Pour this mixture into the bowl and whisk everything together thoroughly. Add the lemon zest, grated apple, almonds, currants, peel, cherries and the mincemeat. Mix everything together well.
- Divide the mixture between the prepared basins and top each one with a small circle of greased parchment. Cover each basin with an 18cm square of foil and fold under the edges of the basins.
- Place the basins in a roasting tin and pour in enough boiling water to come 2.5cm up the sides of the basins. Carefully place the tin in the oven and cook for 45-50 minutes, or until the puddings are springy and firm to the touch in the centre. Remove from the oven, unwrap and remove the parchment, then leave to stand for 10 minutes. Carefully run a small knife around the edge of each one, then turn out onto warm serving plates. Serve immediately with your favourite accompaniment.
Vegan Mini Christmas Pud Ingredients.
| 25g | dairy free soya spread |
| 1 tbsp | milled flaxseed |
| 60g | self-raising flour |
| ½ tsp | baking powder |
| pinch | salt |
| ¼ tsp | ground nutmeg |
| ½ tsp | ground cinnamon |
| ¼ tsp | ground cloves |
| 25g | coconut oil, melted |
| 40ml | black treacle |
| 55ml | Meantime London Irish Stout |
| 1 tbsp | dark rum |
| Finely grated zest 1 | unwaxed lemon |
| 40g | peeled, cored and coarsely grated Bramley apple, mixed with lemon juice |
| 10g | blanched almonds, roasted and chopped |
| 75g | currants |
| 20g | mixed peel |
| 20g | Forest Feast Sour Cherries |
| 200g | mincemeat (vegan) |
Here’s what to do…
- Preheat the oven to 180 C, gas mark 4. Grease 4 mini pudding basins and 4 small circles of baking parchment with the soya spread and set aside. Mix the flaxseed with 3 tablespoons cold water and set aside for at least ten minutes or until it becomes jelly-like and makes ‘flax-egg’.
- Sift the self-raising flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves into a medium mixing bowl, then add the “flax-egg”and the melted coconut oil. Mix the treacle with the stout and rum in a measuring jug. Pour this mixture into the bowl and whisk everything together thoroughly. Stir in the lemon zest, apple, almonds, currants, peel, cherries and mincemeat.
- Divide the mixture between the prepared basins and top each one with a circle of greased parchment. Wrap each basin in an 18cm square of foil and fold under the edges of the basins.
- Place the basins into a roasting tin and pour in enough boiling water to come 2.5cm up the sides of the basins. Carefully place the tin in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the puddings are springy and firm to the touch in the centre. Remove from the oven, unwrap, remove the parchment and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Carefully run a small knife around each one and turn out onto warm serving plates.
Did you know that this weekend is the traditional weekend for prepping your Christmas pud? Known as Stir Up Sunday, it’s the last Sunday before Advent and also the perfect time to make your pudding in order for it to mature by Christmas Day. If this post has got you in the mood to have a go – you can nab all the products used and some general Chrimbo inspo here at John Lewis.
With thanks to John Lewis and the team at the Waitrose Cookery School for the fun evening.