Rich nutmeg ice cream
This rich ice cream is the perfect way to complement your Christmas pudding
Festive date & pecan pudding
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:
- Cook:
- Easy
- Serves 8
Skip to ingredients
- 250g block dried, stoned datechopped
- 125g butterat room temperature
- 85g light muscovado sugar
- 140g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp ground mixed spice
- 2 large eggs
- 50g raisin
- 50g chopped candied peel
- 85g pecanchopped
- 2 pieces stem gingercut into thin shreds
For the brandy syrup
- 85g light muscovado sugar
- 150ml brandy
To serve
- 25g toasted pecanchopped
- 1 hollysprig
- icing sugarfor dusting
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal526
- fat22g
- saturates9g
- carbs69g
- sugars54g
- fibre3g
- protein6g
- salt0.73glow
Method
step 1
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Pour 300ml boiling water over the chopped dates and set aside. Butter a 1.4-litre pudding basin and put a disc of baking parchment in the base. Put the butter, sugar, flour, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice and eggs into a large bowl, then beat with an electric hand whisk until really well blended. Add the cooled date mixture, then beat again to make a sloppy batter.
step 2
Stir in the fruits, nuts and ginger, then pour into the pudding basin and place on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for 1 hr, cover the top lightly with foil, then return to the oven for 25 mins more until a skewer inserted into the pudding comes out clean.
step 3
Meanwhile, make the brandy syrup. Put the sugar and 50ml water in a pan and stir over the heat until syrupy. Stir in the brandy and remove from the heat. When the pudding is ready, remove from the oven and push a skewer into it in several places. Pour over the brandy syrup so it soaks into the pudding, then cover until ready to serve.
step 4
Turn out onto a plate, scatter with the pecans and top with the holly sprig, dusted with icing sugar. Serve with good-quality vanilla ice cream.
