Frances Bissell's Low-Fat Christmas Pudding

* Exported from MasterCook *

FRANCES BISSELL'S LOW-FAT CHRISTMAS PUDDING

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Desserts Low fat

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
230 g (8 oz, 4 loosely packed
Cups) fresh wholemal
Breadcrumbs
230 g (8 oz, 2 cups) EACH of
Roughly chopped muscatel
(black) raisins,
Sultanas (yellow raisins)
And dried apricots
60 g (2 oz, 3/4 cup) crumbled
Almond macaroons or
Amaretti
60 g (2 oz, 3/4 cup) chopped
Almonds
60 g (2 oz, 1/2 cup) ground or
Flaked almonds
1 Grated appple
1 tb Grated orange zest
1 t Ground cinnamon
1 t Ground mace
1/2 ts Ground cardamom (I had none,
So used cumin, which worked
As well!)
1/2 ts Ground cloves (I used whole,
And put them in the food
Processor
With the bread! Again, it
Worked)
1/2 ts Ground allspice
2 tb Orange marmalade or candied
Orange peel
Juice of 1 orange
4 md Free-range eggs
6 tb Or 1 miniature bottle of
Cognac
140 ml (5 fl oz, scant 2/3 cup)
Fortified muscat wine, port,
Marsala
Or rich oloroso sherry

Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix
thoroughly. Put the marmalade, orange juice, eggs,
brandy and wine in another large bowl, or in the
blender or food processor, and beat until well blended
and frothy. Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients.
Mix until moist. Cover, and let sand for a couple of
hours at least and, if possible, overnight to let the
spice flavours develop.

Oil or butter the pudding basin and spoon in the
mixture. As it contains no raw flour, it will not
expand very much during the cooking, so you can fill
the basin to within 1.25 cm (1/2 inch) of the rim.
Take a square of greaseproof or waxed paper, oil or
butter it (I didn't bother, but did oil the basins. I
don't have a 3-pint one, so used 1 2-pint and 1 1-pint
one, 2 pints being ample for my family for Christmas
dinner) and tie it over the top of the basin with
string.

Steam in boiling water for 5 hours. Allow pudding to
cool completely before wrapping it, still in its
basin, in fresh greaseproof paper plus a layer of
foil. Store in a cool dark place.

On Christmas Day, steam for a further two hours.

Bissell/Levy suggest serving this with creme fraiche,
rather than the traditional brandy butter (don't ask -
not to be discussed on THIS mailing list!!!), and I do
think this is one occasion when a LITTLE cream is
permissible!



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