Mary Berry shares delicious Christmas pudding recipe - with boozy brandy butter

16 December 2023 , 12:30

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You can make the batter before the big day to save you time in the kitchen (stock photo) (Image: Getty Images)

The queen of baking is here to make the big day super scrumptious.

There's nothing more traditional than finishing your festive feast with a Christmas pudding. Loaded with fruit and nuts, Mary Berry's take on the classic dessert also features a boozy brandy butter to help get you merry.

This recipe can be quite time-consuming, but makes enough to feed the whole family, and is guaranteed to "win over the harshest critics" according to the baking legend herself. You can always prepare the pudding mixture ready to the steam for the next day if you're a little strapped for time.

Mary's top tip is to not sieve the icing sugar if you're making your brandy butter in the an electric processor - just dump it in!

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

Pudding:

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• Unsalted butter, softened (75)
• Self-raising flour (100g)
• Light muscovado sugar (100g)
• Whole shelled almonds, roughly chopped (40g)
• Fresh white breadcrumbs (40g)
• Dried mixed fruit: sultanas, raisins, snipped apricots etc. (450g)
• 1tsp mixed spice
• 3tbsp brandy, sherry, or rum (plus a splash for flaming)
• 1 orange: finely grated rind and juice
• 1 small cooking apple: peeled, cored, roughly chopped.
• 2 free-range eggs

Brandy Butter:

• Unsalted butter, softened (100g)
• Icing sugar, sieved (225g)
• 3tbsp brandy, rum, or cognac.

Method

• Mix the dried fruit together with the orange juice and brandy. Stir, then let it marinate for about one hour.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and grated orange rind with a wooden spoon or hand-held whisk until light and fluffy. Then, gradually beat in the eggs. If the mixture starts to curdle, you can add a little of the measured self-raising flour.
• Sift together the flour and mixed spice then fold the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, along with the breadcrumbs and nuts. Add the soaked dried fruit and boozy liquid and stir well.
• Generously butter a 1.4 litre pudding basin and cut a disc of foil or baking parchment for the base of the tin. Spoon in the mixture, pressing down with the back of a spoon. Cover the pudding with another layer of parchment paper and foil, both pleated across the middle. Tie securely with string and trim off any excess paper/ foil.
• Steam the pudding on the top of a steamer filled with simmering water. Cover with a lid and steam for eight hours, topping up with more water when necessary.

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• To boil the pudding, place a metal jam jar lid into the base of a large plan. Then, put double strips of foil in the pan, making sure the ends of the strip hang over the edges of the pan. Lower the pudding onto the trivet and pour enough hot water to come half way up the side of the bowl. Cover with a lid and bring back to boil then simmer for about seven hours - topping up with water when necessary.
• For the brandy butter, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat the sieved icing sugar (or non-sieved if you're using an electric whisk) until smooth. Add brandy to your required taste then store in the fridge.
• Remove the cooked pudding from the pan and cool completely. Discard the paper and foil and replace with fresh and store the dessert in a cool, dry place.
• To serve, on Christmas Day, steam or boil the pudding for about two hours to reheat. Turn the pudding onto a serving plate. To flame, warm the brandy or rum in a small pan, pour it over the hot pudding and set light to it. Serve with brandy butter.

Et Voila! A Mary Berry Xmas recipe that will make sure you have a merry time.

What's your favourite Christmas recipe? Let us know in the comments section below

Liam Gilliver