Happy Sunday Bread Heads!
I have a bit of a problem, since I have promised two things for this week, Gingerbread Men and Christmas pudding. Since the pudding recipe is a little more rare than the Gingerbread Men, I am going to go with that one, sorry for those looking of the cookies, I promise that next year I’ll do them early and thoroughly.
Now, let’s talk Christmas pudding. This is a really traditional English dish. It is a cake made of bread crumbs, and studded with dried or candied fruit that is cooked in a mold surrounded by boiling water over several hours.
The real deal Plumb Pudding is made with suet, which is the beef version of lard. You can make this recipe with suet, which is really good and tasty no matter how much you squirmed reading about it, but it is not always easy to find, so I am going with butter instead.
The recipe I am giving you today is my own take on Christmas pudding. I come from a family that inexplicably does not like rum nor brandy which are the traditional flavors for the cake and the hard sauce that go with it. So I have changed things around to us Amaretto and Grand Marnier.
This gives a wonderful almond and orange flavors to the dish that contrast nicely with the fruit which is raisins (white and regular), candied cherries and the special twist ingredient of candied pineapple.
This recipe, like all traditional feast foods takes some advanced preparation, it is going to take a couple of days to candy the fruit (unless you want to commit the heresy of using the candied fruit from the store, in which case you may be cursed onto the seventh generation. Just sayin’) and you will need to make a loaf of bread for the bread crumbs, and there is a need for part of the recipe to sit overnight in the Amaretto.
So, all told if you want to have a pudding for Solstice or for Christmas Eve or Day you have to get started today!
For the bread I use either French Bread or English Oatmeal Bread. By clicking on the links you can find the recipe for each.
Before we start, I have to warn you, this is an unlovely if tasty dish. It is not going to have the pristine look of a cake that is iced or even the smooth texture of bread, it is going to look more like what it is, a bread pudding. But if you can get around that it is delightfully tasty!
But enough cautions and warnings, let’s make a Almond Christmas Pudding with Grand Marnier Butter!
Ingredients:
For Grand Marnier Butter:
¾ cups (1 ½ stick) butter, slightly softened
1 cup powdered sugar
5 tablespoons Grand Marnier
For Candied Cherries and Pineapple:
1 can pineapple chunks (drained)
1 can cherries in water (drained )
8 cups sugar
8 cups water
For the Pudding:
¾ cup Sultana (white) raisins
¾ cup raisins
½ cup candied cherries
½ cup candied pineapple
¾ cup prunes (finding fresh plumbs at this time of year is a drag, but you can’t have a plumb pudding without them, so prunes it is)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg (freshly shaved preferred)
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup Amaretto (I like Lazzaroni but DiSarrono is the one that you are most likely to find, don’t use a cheap off brand whatever you do).
3 cups fresh bread crumbs (use French Bread or English Oatmeal Bread if you can)
½ cup packed brown sugar (dark preferred but light will work as well)
6 tablespoons of flour
½ cup finely chopped almonds
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
3 eggs
¼ cup whole milk (no sense in scrimping at this point, eh?)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
Equipment:
1 2 quart mold – There are special molds for this. But any bowl or soufflé pan that you can cover with a lid will do. I used to have a mold but I gave it to my sister and started using my soufflé dish.
1 pot large enough to fit your bowl or mold
1 grate or Mason jar ring
Method:
For Grand Marnier Butter:
In a large bowl or the work bowl of your stand mixer beat the butter until it is smooth. Beat in the sugar. Then beat in the Grand Marnier.
This can be made up to 1 week ahead. Just place the butter in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow it to come to room temperature before serving.
For the Candying Cherries and Pineapple:
You can use the same method for both the cherries and the pineapple, but don’t do them in the same pot, as the cherries will make the pineapple a very unappealing color.
In a large pan, bring 4 cups of water and sugar to boil. Clip on your candy thermometer and let it cook until it comes to 228 degrees (216 above 5K feet). Carefully add the cherries or pineapple. Reduce the temperature and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to stand for 8 to 24 hours uncovered.
Bring the syrup back up to 228 (216 at 5K feet or above), reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to stand overnight. Bring the syrup up to a boil, then pour the fruit and syrup out into a colander. When the syrup has drained turn the fruit out onto a wire cooling rack to dry. When just tacky (about 8 hours) toss the fruit in a bowl filled with sugar to coat the outside. Store in an air tight container for up to 3 months.
For Pudding:
Chop the raisins, pineapple and plumbs into ¼ pieces and, in your largest bowl, combine them with both types of raisins, the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Pour the Amaretto over the whole thing and stir to combine. Let stand for 30 minutes while you get the bread crumbs sorted out.
We want fresh not dried bread crumbs for this recipe so we need to start with fresh bread and make bread crumbs. Start by cutting the crust off of about half a loaf of the bread you’re going to use. The easiest way to make the bread crumbs is in a food processor. Just cut some thick slices and plop them in the work bowl with the metal blade attachment. Pulse 10 or 12 times until you have a nice even small crumb.
Now, if you don’t have a food processor, it is a little more work but not that much. The best way is to use a bread knife to cut really thin slices from the half loaf after you’ve taken the crust off. When you have them put them in a bowl and then use your fingers to shred them into a fine crumb. Take your time and don’t rush. It’ll take about 10 minutes or so. You won’t get the evenness of the food processor but it will not matter at all in the end result.
In a medium bowl mix the bread crumbs, the brown sugar and flour together until it is evenly mixed. Pour this mixture into the fruit and Amaretto mixture and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and let it stand on a counter for at least 8 hours or overnight.
Combine the almonds, baking powder, melted butter, eggs, milk, vanilla and almond extracts in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
Remove the plastic wrap and stir the milk mixture into the fruit and bread mixture.
Thickly butter the bottom and sides of the mold that you are going to use. For the love of the FSM do not skip this step! Your pudding might adhere to the sides of the bowl and that would be a disaster!
Pour the mixture into your mold and press down firmly all around. Now it is time to boil this bad boy!
Place a rack or a Mason jar ring in the bottom of your largest pot. I like to tie four piece of kitchen twine to the ring to use a way to lift my soufflé dish out of the water. Place a pot lid over your mold or bowl or soufflé pan (it is there to keep water off the top of your pudding, not to make a seal). Fill the pan with boiling water up to the middle of the mold. Cover the pot and put it over medium heat for about 2 hours. The pudding is done when a tester comes out clean from the middle.
You want to keep an eye on the water level; you will almost certainly have to add more to keep it from boiling dry.
When the pudding is done, remove it from the pot and let it stand on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Invert it onto a serving dish and serve with the Grand Marnier butter.
The great thing about this dish is you can make it ahead and then re-heat it to serve. Just unmold it and let it cool completely. Then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it.
To bring is back, just rebutter the mold, put it in cover and put in a pot of boiling water half way up the sides of the mold. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 45 minutes. Then treat it just like the first time, 5 minutes on the wire rack and unmold.
So there you have it Bread Heads, the way to make an updated version of the English Christmas pudding; sweet, moist with bright fruit flavors and smooth almond taste. Enjoy!
The flour is yours!
