Day 08- A holiday dessert of your choosing

[strange_complex]

There are not actually that many specifically Christmassy desserts, are there? I mean, OK - mince pies, Christmas pudding, Christmas cake, maybe Yule log. I can't think of any more beyond those, though.

Still, luckily for me I genuinely love Christmas pudding (and sprouts, and parsnips, and roast turkey - which makes Christmas a very good time for me all round, really). I'll admit that it sometimes seems a bit daunting after what's already been a huge Christmas meal - but that's kind of the point at Christmas, isn't it? I probably wouldn't want to eat it more than a few times a year, either. But those few times I do genuinely look forward to.

My perfect Christmas pudding is moist, rich, aromatic, fruity, and smothered in brandy butter, thick brandy cream and hot brandy sauce. If I can only have one of those, it's the brandy cream which is most important, as it is light and cool and helps to counteract the stodgy rich hot pudding.

I actually made a Christmas pudding three years ago, which I'm happy to report came out very well - genuinely one of the nicest I have ever eaten, in fact. I enjoyed doing it, and I'd love to live the kind of lifestyle where I had the time to do that every year. But it does take a lot of time and effort, and realistically a good-quality pudding from the supermarket is much better value for time, and cheaper to boot.

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Comments

[biascut.livejournal.com]

Oh, and last year I used spare pudding to make Christmas pudding ice-cream - a proper egg-custard, cooled, and then a Christmas pudding mashed and stirred into it and fully frozen. It was AMAZING! Thinking of getting a couple of shop-bought puddings and doing that again.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Yes, inbetween_girl's answer to this question also spoke highly of things like Christmas pudding ice-cream and cheesecake - basically lighter, creamier derivatives which keep the fruity, spicy taste of the pudding, but in a less stodgy medium. That's effectively what I'm making in my own bowl, too, when I ladle copious quantities of brandy cream all over my pudding.

Using a pressure cooker sounds incredibly sensible. When I made mine, I just steamed them in pans, and I seem to remember it taking about 8 hours!