Chocolate Christmas pudding

Recipe

Fruits

ingredients preparation
  • 55g
    dates
  • 55g
    apricot cubes
  • 55g
    Cranberries
  • Q.S.
    brandy
  • 1zest
    orange(s)
  • 1Q.S.
    orange juice
  • 50g
    fresh fig

Soak the fruits in the orange juice and the alcohol for 3 days.

Pudding mix

ingredients preparation
  • 100g
    butter
  • 100g
    Muscavado sugar
  • 75g
    self-raising flour
  • 15g
    cocoa powder
  • 5g
    spice mix
  • 2Q.S.
    whole egg(s)
  • 1Q.S.
    pear cubes
  • 50g
    breadcrumbs
  • 75g
    Guinness
  • 45g
    811NV
  • 450g
    W2NV

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Slowly add in the eggs. Sieve the dry ingredients together and then fold into the mix. Add in the Guinness and grated pear. Fold through the macerated fruits. Fold in the chocolate callets. Butter and flour a pudding basin. Place a disc of silicon paper on the base of the pudding basin to prevent the pudding sticking.

Orange and Brandy syrup

ingredients preparation
  • 100g
    sugar
  • 70g
    orange juice
  • 30g
    brandy

Bring all ingredients to the boil and then use to soak the pudding.

Chocolate and Baileys sauce

ingredients preparation
  • 100g
    811NV
  • 150g
    liquid whipping cream
  • 20ml
    Baileys

Bring the cream to the boil. Pour over the chocolate and allow to stand for 1 min. Add the baileys. 
Whisk all ingredients together. Serve warm.

Variants of the chocolate sauce

Infuse the cream at 60 ᵒc with earl gray tea and use milk chocolate. 
Infuse different spices into the cream like cardamom, star anise, cinnamon; all of these will add an extra dimension to your sauce. 
You could take some of the cream out and replace with fruit puree. 
Dark chocolate and raspberry sauce. 
White chocolate and passion fruit sauce.