Golden glow Christmas pudding
Serves: 8
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Martin Poole
Golden glow Christmas pudding
Studded with apricots and heady with Grand Marnier, this gorgeous golden pudding is a lighter alternative to traditional Christmas pud
Serves: 8
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
506Kcal
Fat
14gr
Saturates
8gr
Carbs
78gr
Sugars
63gr
Fibre
5gr
Protein
7gr
Salt
0.8gr
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Ingredients
- 250g dried apricots, roughly chopped
- 200g golden sultanas (or jumbo raisins and cranberries mix)
- 75ml Grand Marnier, plus 3 tbsp extra to flame
- 100g soft salted butter, plus extra to grease
- 75g light brown sugar
- 4 tbsp golden syrup
- zest and juice of 3 clementines (easy peelers)
- 2 large eggs
- 125g self-raising flour
- 75g brioche, whizzed into crumbs
- 2 tsp ground mixed spice
Step by step
Get ahead
The pudding can be made up to a month ahead and stored in a cool dark place, or can be frozen for up to 1 year.
- Put the apricots and sultanas in a bowl with the Grand Marnier and leave to steep for an hour. Generously butter a 1.5 litre pudding basin and cut a small disc of baking paper for the base.
- Cream the butter, sugar and syrup with the clementine zest. Add the eggs, beating well after each addition, then fold through the flour, brioche crumbs and mixed spice. Finally, stir through the citrus juice and steeped fruit and transfer to the prepared basin.
- To cook, put a trivet at the bottom of a deep saucepan – you can use a jam jar lid for this if you don’t have a trivet. Make a handle from a long piece of folded foil and place over the trivet, with the ends of the strip hanging over the edge of the pan.
- Cut a large square of baking paper, and butter one side. Cut an equal-sized piece of foil and place the baking paper on top, buttered side up. Fold a pleat in the middle, securing the two pieces together, then place over the pudding basin, with the buttered side of the baking paper facing down. Fold over the edge of the basin and secure with string.
- Sit the basin on the trivet, making sure that the foil handle is under the bowl. Pour in boiling water so that it reaches halfway up the pudding basin. Cover the pan and leave to simmer for 3 hours. Keep a check on the water and top up as necessary to keep the level roughly the same throughout the cooking time.
- To serve straight away, lift the pudding basin out of the pan, using the foil handle. Remove the foil and paper lid and place a serving plate on top of the bowl. Invert the pudding and turn out. Warm the extra Grand Marnier in a small pan, take it immediately to the table, pour it over the pudding and light with a long match. Leave the flames to extinguish themselves before serving.
- To store the pudding, allow it to cool completely before removing the foil lid. Wrap the entire pudding basin in foil and store in a cool place until ready to use.
- To reheat, cover with a new buttered paper and foil lid as above, and cook in the same way for around an hour to heat through. Follow the instructions in step 6 for serving.
