Calvados, or cider brandy, gives a lovely, fruity warmth to this pudding and balances the sweetness. You can replace it with extra apple juice if you prefer to keep it booze-free.
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Yields:
8 serving(s)
Prep Time:
25 mins
Cook Time:
4 hrs 30 mins
Total Time:
4 hrs 55 mins
Cal/Serv:
346
Ingredients
150g
raisins
100g
sultanas
100g
soft dried apples, chopped
75ml
cloudy apple juice
75ml
calvados
butter, to grease
150g
grated Bramley apple
125g
dark brown soft sugar
75g
fresh white breadcrumbs
50g
plain flour
50g
vegetable suet
75g
black treacle
1
large egg, beaten
1Tbsp.
mixed spice
1tsp.
vanilla extract
Directions
1 Put the dried fruit, apple juice and Calvados into a large non-metallic bowl. Stir, cover and leave to soak overnight at room temperature. 2 Lightly grease a 1 litre pudding basin and line base with a disc of baking parchment. Put a 30cm square of foil on top of a square of baking parchment the same size. Fold a 4cm pleat across the centre and set aside. 3 Add remaining ingredients to the soaked fruit; mix well. Spoon into prepared basin, pressing down to level. Put pleated foil and parchment square (foil-side up) on top of the basin and smooth down to cover. Using a long piece of string, tie securely under the lip of the basin and loop over again and tie to make a handle. 4 To cook, put a heatproof saucer in the base of a large, deep pan that has a tight-fitting lid. Lower in the prepared pudding and pour in enough water to come halfway up sides of basin, taking care not to get any on top of the pudding. Cover pan with the lid, bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 4 1⁄2hr, checking the water level periodically and topping up as necessary. Carefully remove the pudding from the pan; cool completely. 5 If storing, cool completely. Wrap basin, still with its foil lid, tightly in clingfilm, followed by a further layer of foil. Store in a cool, dark place to mature for up to 2 months.
To reheat To reheat on the day, remove foil and clingfilm, as well as the lid. Re-cover with fresh baking parchment and foil as per instructions in steps 2 and 3. Following method in step 4, reheat for 2hr, until piping hot in the centre when pierced with a skewer. Remove from pan and allow to sit for 5min. Carefully remove lid and invert on to a serving plate. Peel off baking parchment and serve. To flame your pudding Pour 50ml fresh brandy, rum or whisky into a large metal ladle. Warm carefully over a low gas hob. If you don’t have a gas hob, heat in a small pan instead. Carefully light the alcohol using a gas lighter or long match and slowly pour over the pudding.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
