You can see from the typing that this is an old recipe. I used to make it back in the 70s and 80s and serve it as an entree with thin slices of toast. It was cheap and easy to make – ideal. I rediscovered it this year and now make it to have with drinks. It freezes well so I just put out what I need and keep the rest for later. If you don’t want to do that you can easily halve the recipe.
This recipe sent me off googling ‘apple brandy’ as I thought sprinkling that instead of straight brandy on to the fruit might give it an extra kick. I had Calvados in mind, but I discover there’s other apple flavoured liqueurs on the market these days, so maybe it would be worth trying one of those instead.
There’s still plenty of time to make your Christmas Pudding, but if you end up needing to make one on Christmas Eve there’s no need to panic – this recipe is the answer.
I always marinate the fruit for my Christmas Cake in brandy and then slosh a bit more onto the cake hot from the oven. It makes a wonderfully rich cake which is great at Christmas, but is a bit too rich for other times of the year. This recipe has a great tip to substitute the brandy with cold tea. I’ve turned a failed Christmas Pudding into a cake by doing that, but this is the recipe I’ve come across that suggests using it from the beginning.
I think the idea of pre-making a large batch of beef casserole, freezing it in batches and then jazzing it up when needed is a great one. This Diane-style version would be a quick way to make a tasty dish when you don’t have much time or energy left after a busy day.
To be honest I can’t imagine why Mum would have cut out and saved this recipe. I doubt she’s ever tasted bourbon in her life and while she likes a glass of sherry or white wine, I’ve never seen her drink either brandy, cognac or whisky. She does like and often used to make the old style bread and butter pudding, maybe she thought one day she’d go wild…..
This is very much a dessert from the 70s. Brandy Alexander Pie together with its twin Grasshopper Pie were all the fashion back then. They are basically the same recipe but this one has brandy and creme de cacao and the other has creme de menthe and creme de cacao. I liked this one, but I think you can see why they both went out of favor.
