Christmas pudding ice cream

Every year, we always find ourselves stuck with a Christmas pudding at the back of the cupboard long after the festivities have ended. It generally ends up in the bin since it’s not something we can really cope with eating at any other time of year.

I’m not sure why I bother buying one, since I’ve never been a big fan. I think it’s just one of those things you’re supposed to have. It’s always there in case one of our many visitors suddenly has an urge to consume pudding on top of everything else we’ve already fed them.

So when I saw a recipe idea in the December edition of Red magazine for Christmas pudding ice cream I had a feeling it might come in very handy. And indeed it did. It’s a much lighter dessert with a lovely hint of Christmas. You get all the festive flavour but without the dense stodginess.

I didn’t bother putting the ice cream in a bowl lined with cling film, nor turning it out before eating and decorating with walnuts and chocolate-dipped orange peel as the magazine suggested, although I’m sure this would look wonderful. Just the ice cream on its own was lovely, and one people find irresistible even if they don’t like Christmas pudding normally.

So if you’ve still got a pud lurking at the back of your cupboard, why not give this a whirl?

Ingredients

1 small Christmas pudding (or whatever you happen to have left over)
2 litres good vanilla ice cream
Slug of brandy (optional)

Cook your pud and allow to cool. Leave the ice cream at room temperature to soften a little and add the broken up pudding and brandy (if using). Mix well.

Pour into your container of choice (lined with cling film if you want to turn out for serving) and freeze for at least a couple of hours.

Decorate with nuts and fruits before presenting to your guests or, like me, simply serve on its own straight from the tub.

Because trifle is for life, not just for Christmas

As I tucked into my bowl of trifle on Christmas Day, it occurred to me that we don’t eat trifle nearly as much as we should do.

It’s such a magnificently luxurious dessert, but one that is so easy to prepare. And so versatile too – you can be as creative as you dare trying out new combinations of fruits, alcohol, cake and toppings.

Trifle deserves to be dished up more often, rather than being reserved for the festive season.

So I offer you my most recent take on the glorious trifle, combining the sumptuous warming tones of Amaretto with the light fruitiness of white grapes and the crunch of toasted almonds.

You really ought to make your own custard but I had enough on my plate (quite literally) this Christmas. I reckon it’s perfectly acceptable to cheat and use a ready-made custard instead. Just make sure you use a good quality one, preferably with lots of vanilla.

I also made a non-alcoholic version of this for the children, replacing the Amaretto with apple juice.

So please do give this a try in the new year. I’ll be finding an excuse to make it again myself as soon as I can.

Amaretto and white grape trifle

8 large trifle sponges
Apricot jam
Half a glass of Amaretto
600 ml of fresh custard
500 g white seedless grapes, halved
600 ml whipping cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp icing sugar
100g almond flakes

Cut the trifle sponges in half, spread with the jam and sandwich back together. Arrange these in the bottom of a large, suitably pretty glass bowl; depending on the size of your bowl you may end up with two layers of sponge.

Sprinkle the Amaretto over the sponges. It’s hard to advise how much to use as this is very much down to personal taste. I love Amaretto and I love a boozy trifle, so I use lots. I generally pour some on, let it soak in, then add a bit more. I stand back and watch it soak in again, before adding some more. So use your own discretion here.

Place the grapes on top of the sponges and cover with a layer of custard.

Pour the cream into a large glass bowl and add the vanilla and sugar. Whip the cream with an electric whisk until it forms soft peaks. Carefully spoon the cream over the custard.

In a dry pan, lightly toast the almonds. Leave to cool for a few minutes before scattering liberally over the cream. Chill in the fridge for as long as you can resist before diving in!

The icing on the cake

I promised myself some time off over the Christmas break from blogging and tweeting and the like, but my six-year-old daughter Jessie has persuaded me to come online to show you her drawing of the Christmas cake I made this year.

This was my first ever attempt at a Christmas cake. I baked it back in November and then dutifully ‘fed’ it whisky every week before icing it a few days before Christmas. We’ve all been very impressed with the result, even if the icing looks a little on the haphazard side! Despite all that whisky, it’s still very light, more like a stollen than the rich fruit cake you might be expecting.

I used a recipe by Guardian food writer Felicity Cloake and followed Nigel Slater’s instructions for the icing.

So here is Jessie’s picture of my festive creation. She hopes you like it.

And here’s a photograph of it today.

Excuse the state it’s in, but at least you can see it’s being enjoyed.

Merry Christmas!

Mulled fruit punch

It was the Christmas Fair today at my daughter Jessie’s primary school and as a devoted PTA committee member I was tasked with organising a non-alcoholic version of mulled wine to serve with mince pies.

This was a bit of a tall order as for me the whole point of a mulled drink is that it’s warming and boozy. But eventually I came up with this little number and you know what, it’s really rather good. It turns out you can have a Christmas drink that’s warming and non-boozy after all. Which is probably a good idea when you’re in charge of hundreds of children under the age of eleven.

Non-alcoholic mulled fruit punch

3 litres apple juice
3 litres cranberry juice
3 oranges, sliced
4 cinnamon sticks
5cm ginger, peel and chopped
Handful of cloves
Handful of star anise

This couldn’t be simpler. Into a large pan, pour in the apple juice and cranberry juice. Add the orange slices and spices and bring to simmering point. Keep just under boiling for about ten minutes before serving. People will come running when they smell those spices that just sing out “It’s Christmas!!!”