Eve’s Pudding

Perfect for a winter’s day, we devoured this yesterday after a snowy walk and a hearty roast dinner. Reminiscent of school sponge puddings, custard is the ideal accompaniment but it’ll work just as well with cream or ice cream.

Ingredients: (serves 6)
800g Bramley apples
150g butter (softened)
1 lemon (zest and juice)
150g demerara sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
150g caster sugar
150g self raising flour
Handful of flaked almonds (optional)
Handful of sultanas (optional)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180*C and get a large ceramic baking dish ready.
2. Peel and core the apples, then roughly chop.
3. Put the chopped apples in the baking dish with the lemon juice and zest, cinnamon and demerara sugar and toss through until well combined. (You could add the sultanas here if you fancy them.)
4. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and caster sugar. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well. Fold in the flour.
5. Spoon the sponge mix over the apples and spread evenly. Top with a sprinkling of Demerara sugar and the flaked almonds if using.
6. Place in the oven for 35-40 minutes until golden and well risen.
7. Ta-da! Serve with custard and enjoy!

My absolute favourite dessert – Caramelised Oranges

This dessert has been a tradition in my family for the many years since I first tried it and fell in love with it! And not just at Christmas – thanks to my mum it was the first thing I ate on British soil after trekking through the amazon rainforest and up the Andes mountains many years ago! It’s a great recipe for using up any extra oranges you have lying around at Christmas time.

Ingredients: (serves 8)
16 medium oranges
450g granulated sugar
300ml cold water
Handful cloves

Method:
1. Thinly pare the rind from 5 of the oranges being careful to avoid including the pith. Slice the rind into thin strips an place in a saucepan. Cover with cold water and heat until boiling. Lear to simmer for 10 minutes and remove from the heat.
2. Peel and slice the oranges into slices approx 1cm thick. Place the slices into a large bowl. Save any juice where you can and add to the bowl with the oranges.
3. Place the sugar, cloves and 300ml water into a large heavy-bottomed pan and stir while heating. Heat to boiling point (the sugar should have dissolved by now) and leave to boil until it reaches a golden colour. Remove from the heat.
4. Carefully add the orange syrup and rind slices to the caramelised liquid and stir through. Pour over the oranges an leave to cool.

This is best made a day in advance do that the syrup can mature and mix with the juice. These don’t hang around long in my house – i’ll even eat a sneaky bowl for breakfast. They’re light and refreshing, perfect for after a big meal. For an added kick you could spike the syrup with a shot of Gran Marnier before adding it to the oranges.

Chocolate Chip Panettone Bread & Butter Pudding

An adapted recipe from a yellowing Woman and Home Christmas edition, this is a fab dessert for chocolate lovers and can be assembled in just 30 minutes!  I’ve supplemented Tia Maria instead of rum to give it a coffee ‘Tiramisu’ likeness, but you could add Gran Marnier for an orange twist, stick with the brandy, or add any liqueur that takes your fancy!

I used a 12 x 10″ dish to serve this in which served six and left me with enough leftovers to savour for a couple of days!

Ingredients: (Serves 10)

400g dark chocolate (broken)

600ml double cream

60g butter

100g sugar

3tbsp Tia Maria (or other liqueur)

2 eggs (whisked)

1 (500g) chocolate chip panettone

Method:

1. Heat the butter, sugar, cream, chocolate and liqueur in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture has fully combined.  Leave to cool for 10 minutes.

2.  Cut the panettone into slices approx 1cm thick.  Cut these in half diagonally to form triangles and layer in an ovenproof dish.

3.  Add the eggs to the chocolate mix once slightly cooled and stir through.  Pour the chocolate sauce over the bread and leave to soak.  Cover and chill in the fridge until needed.

4.  Heat in an oven at 150°C for 30 minutes and serve the piping hot chocolate dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.  Heaven!

 

Happy Christmas all! x