Deck the halls for this modern, Christmas day dessert with no trimming spared!
Ingredients
- 1 cup finely chopped dried pineapple
- 1 cup finely chopped dried peach
- 1 cup finely chopped dried apple
- 1/2 cup diced dried apricots
- 1 large granny smith apple, peeled, cored, grated
- 1/2 cup brandy
- 250g butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons mixed spice
- 3 cups fresh breadcrumbs
- 1 cup almond meal (ground almonds)
- 1 3/4 cups plain flour
- Custard, to serve
Method
- Step 1Combine dried fruit, apple and brandy in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Stand overnight in a cool place.
- Step 2Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until just combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined. Stir butter mixture into fruit mixture. Add bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice, breadcrumbs, almond meal and 1 cup flour. Stir to combine.
- Step 3Pour hot water into a large saucepan until three-quarters full. Cover. Bring to the boil over high heat. Add calico cloth to pot. Boil for 1 minute. Wearing gloves, remove cloth from pot. Squeeze out excess water. Spread cloth on bench. Rub remaining flour into centre of cloth to form a 40cm circle (leave flour thicker in centre of cloth where pudding ‘skin’ will need to be thickest).
- Step 4Spoon pudding mixture on centre of prepared cloth. Gather edges around mixture, pulling tightly to avoid deep pleats. Shape pudding into a round. Tie up tightly with string. Place pudding in pan. Lower pudding into water. Tie string to handle of pan. Ensure water covers pudding at all times (add boiling water if needed). Cover with a tight-fitting lid. Boil for 3 hours.
- Step 5Untie string from handle. Remove pudding. Hang pudding to dry, ensuring base doesn’t rest on bench (this will result in a flat-topped pudding). Place bowl under pudding to catch water. Set aside for 15 minutes or until cloth has dried.
- Step 6Place pudding on a plate or board. Remove string. Peel back top of cloth. Turn onto a plate. Carefully peel cloth from pudding to prevent ‘skin’ from sticking to cloth. Set aside for 20 minutes or until pudding becomes firm. Serve.
- High fibre
- High protein
- Vegetarian
Nutrition
3636 kj
Energy
37g
Fat Total
18g
Saturated Fat
9g
Fibre
15g
Protein
180mg
Cholesterol
543.65mg
Sodium
70g
Carbs (sugar)
106g
Carbs (total)
All nutrition values are per serve
Notes
You’ll need 2.5m unwaxed kitchen string, rubber gloves and 60cm square unbleached calico cloth.
If calico is new, soak in cold water overnight. Drain, squeezing out water. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Boil cloth for 20 minutes. Rinse. Cloth is ready for use.
- Author: Liz Macri
- Image credit: Cath Muscat
- Publication: Super Food Ideas
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