If your family groans at the idea of heavy plum pudding after a large Christmas lunch, this might work for you. It’s easy to prepare, you can use any fruit that you like, you can make it alcoholic or non-alcoholic and prepare it in advance. Served with ice cream, custard or cream it’s a great alternative.
How Christmas puddings have changed over the years. Mum always made her pudding, in a ceramic bowl at least two months before Christmas, soaking the fruit and using suet. Yesterday I made mine, barely three weeks before and to make it gluten free used gluten free breadcrumbs. But there’s also nothing nicer, on a hot Australian Christmas Day than a ice cream pudding. The added bonus is that it’s gluten free and if as suggested in this recipe you use chocolate ice cream it even looks like the old traditional version.
These are great, either served as a biscuit with coffee or as an addition to a dessert like chocolate mousse.
I wasn’t too excited when I found this recipe, I thought from the name that these were just going to be fruit toasties….then I realized that before you fried them in butter you soaked them in an egg/milk mixture and topped them off with cinnamon sugar and strawberries. That was when I realized that they were a whole lot more delicious than just an ordinary toasty.
I think the name says it all with this dessert. It’s one of those baked desserts that are easy to make, use ingredients you have in the cupboard, fill the family up and are enjoyed by everyone – especially topped with cream or ice cream.
As I write this it’s Easter Sunday here, maybe not the time to add another chocolate recipe after all the Easter chocolate you’ve enjoyed, but I thought that this microwave pudding might be an easy one for the kids to make over the school holidays. Also, once the chocolate eggs are finished, a you might be ready for a choccy pudding.
Didn’t get around to making a plum pudding yet? Why don’t you try this ice cream one. No need to make it months in advance, the night before will be fine. All you have to do is cut up the fruit, add in the spices and gelatine, stir through the ice cream and put it back in the freezer till you need it. Merry Christmas…..
I always think of this as a very fancy trifle. I think that’s because it doesn’t have the traditional layering that most trifles have. It’s just the sponge base, topped with pureed strawberries, a very creamy, runny custard and lots of berries. It always looks and tastes marvellous.
My father loved and grew rhubarb so I’m guessing that is why Mum kept this recipe. As you can tell from the colour of the paper it’s pretty old, from the 60s I think. I can’t vouch for it’s taste though, as rhubarb is one of the few things my husband totally hates so I’ve never made it. Hopefully it tastes as good as it sounds.
The trick always with poaching pears is to cook them until they’re just right. Too much and they fall apart, not enough and you can’t get a spoon into them. And as the recipe says that all depends on the ripeness of the fruit. Get it right and you’ve got a terrific dessert to serve up to guests.
Beb's Recipe Drawer 