Sticky Currant, Walnut & Ginger Puddings

Preparation 10 Minutes

Cook 30 Minutes

Serves 6

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease 6 x 1 cup ramekins.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, ginger, salt, and brown sugar. Add currants, walnuts and ginger and toss to coat in the flour mixture. Add the milk and butter, and stir until just combined.

Divide mixture into prepared ramekins and bake for 25 – 30 minutes, until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

To make the caramel sauce, combine brown sugar and milk in a saucepan and stir well.

Place over medium heat. When bubbles form around the edge of the pan, reduce heat to medium-low and cook 2 – 3 mins, gently swirling the pan but not stirring, until caramel is thickened and is just starting to smell toasty. Remove from heat, and immediately stir in butter and vanilla.

Serve puddings in ramekins, or turn out onto plates. Spoon over the caramel sauce and serve warm – with cream or ice cream if desired.

Tips

Divide batter into 12-hole muffin tin, greased or lined with cupcake papers. Check for doneness from 20 min.

If caramel is made in advance, re-warm over low heat or in the microwave, until smooth and pourable.

Ingredients

2 cups self-raising flour (260 g)

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup brown sugar (160 g)

100 g Sunbeam Australian Currants

50 g Sunbeam Walnuts, roughly chopped

50 g crystalised ginger, finely chopped

1 cup milk (250 ml)

1/4 cup butter, melted (60 g)

CARAMEL SAUCE

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (120 g)

1 1/2 Tbsp milk (30 ml)

1/4 cup unsalted butter (60 g), cut into small cubes

1 tsp vanilla extract

Recipe Collection

Easter Carrot & Sultana Cake

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line two 20cm cake tins.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb, spices and salt. Stir to combine.

In a stand mixer, beat the eggs, sugars, oil and vanilla until smooth. Add half of the flour mix and mix on low speed until combined. Add remaining flour mix and mix on low speed again until all of the flour is incorporated. Add the pineapple and sultanas. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine.

Divide evenly between the prepared tins and bake for 40 mins or until cooked. Rotate the cakes after 20 mins. (You can test with a skewer, and the cake is ready when the skewer comes out clean.)

Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 mins, then transfer to cooling racks and leave until cooled.

Meanwhile, prepare the icing.

In a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until very pale and creamy, about 4 mins. Add half of the sifted icing sugar and beat on low speed for about 1 min. Increase speed to medium to combine. Add remaining icing sugar and reduce speed to low for a further minute, then increase to medium speed for another few minutes until all of the icing sugar is combined. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk. Beat for 1 minute or until combined. Add extra tablespoon of milk of you would like a thinner frosting.

Divide the frosting between the centre of the cakes, reserving the remainder for the top and the sides.

Decorate with topping of choice.

Custard-stuffed Hot Cross Doughnuts

Place the water, sultanas, currants, cinnamon, vanilla bean and honey in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a simmer to cook for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Liqueur 43 (if using). Set aside for 30 minutes to steep and cool. Discard the vanilla bean and cinnamon quill. Drain through a sieve set over a jug, reserving the steeping liquid. Set aside.
To make the custard, place custard powder in a saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and mix until smooth and well combined. Stir in the remaining milk, then add the cream. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens. Add the chopped chocolate and mix until smooth. Set aside to cool. Spoon into a piping bag and place in the fridge until required.
Place the warmed milk in a jug. Add the yeast and 3 tablespoons of reserved steeping liquid to the warm milk. Set aside in a warm spot for 5-10 minutes until foaming. Place flour, mixed spice and butter into the bowl of a large food processor (your processor needs to be at least 12 cups). Process until butter is incorporated. With the motor running, pour the milk mixture and egg. Process for 1-2 minutes or until dough has formed a ball and is smooth and elastic. If the dough is a bit to sticky, add more flour, a tablespoon at a time, until it is the right consistency. Add drained sultanas and pulse to combine. Turn onto a floured surface and bring the dough together. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl. cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour or until mixture has doubled in size.
Line two trays with baking paper. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2 minutes, knocking the air out. Cut the dough into 16 even portions. Roll each portion into a ball and place on the lined tray and flatten slightly, allowing a little room between each to expand. Cover with a tea towel and set aside for 30 minutes to prove.
Place 4 doughnuts in the wire basket of an air fryer and brush with melted butter. Air fry at 180°C for 8 minutes or until crisp and golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining doughnuts. (Alternatively, heat a saucepan of vegetable oil to 160°C and deep-fry doughnuts, turning halfway through, for 2-3 minutes or until golden and cooked through).
Brush the doughnuts with the remaining reserved steeping liquid and set aside for 5 minutes to set.
Place the melted white chocolate melts into a piping bag. Snip the corner and pipe a cross over each doughnut. Set aside for 5 minutes to set.

Vegetable Tagine

  1. Add oil to a large pot and cook onion, garlic and ginger for 3-4 minutes until tender. Stir in spices and cinnamon stick, cooking a further minute until fragrant.
  2. Add the sweet potato, capsicum, cauliflower, stock and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 20 minutes. Add zucchini, chickpeas and prunes and cook a further 5 minutes uncovered. Season well.
  3. Serve tagine with almonds and parsley, accompanied with rice.

30 Minute Christmas Pudding

  1. Place fruit and brand in microwavable bowl and heat for 1 minute or until warmed through. Set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.
  2. Beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Sift flour and mixed spice over butter mixture, then stir in breadcrumbs and fruit mixture. Mix well. Grease and flour a 1.5L microwavable bowl. Spoon mixture into bowl and smooth top. Cover with a pleated, double layer or baking paper secured with kitchen string.
  3. Cook in microwave on defrost setting (300W) for 30 minutes, rotating the bowl after 20 minutes. Test with a skewer inserted into pudding. If it doesn’t come out clean, microwave at 5 minute intervals until done. Leave pudding to stand for 10 minutes before turning onto a plate.

Optional meringue peak: In a heatproof bowl combine 90g egg whites with 150g caster sugar, place over a small saucepan of boiling water and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Use a stand mixer or handheld beater to whisk until very stiff peaks form (about 8-10 mins).  Dollop the meringue on top of the pudding and use a kitchen blowtorch to toast.

Bircher Muesli

  1. Combine oats, water, lemon juice and sultanas in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
  2. Stir in yoghurt, apple and honey.
  3. Top with almonds and hazelnuts.

Walnut & Sultana Monkey Bread

Prepare the dough: The dough comes together with a mixer. You can also make the dough by hand, but it requires a bit of arm muscle. After the dough comes together in the mixing bowl, it’s time to knead. You can simply continue beating the dough with the mixer for this step or you can knead the dough by hand.

Let the dough rise: The dough rises in about 1-2 hours in a relatively warm environment.

Punch down the dough: Punch down the dough to release the air.

Shape & coat dough balls: Pull off little pieces of dough and roll into balls. Dunk the balls into melted butter, then coat with cinnamon sugar. Little bakers love to help out with this step! Good thing to note: the heavier the cinnamon-sugar coating, the more these little monkey bread bites will taste like gooey cinnamon rolls.

Let the shaped monkey bread rest for 20 minutes: Arrange the coated balls in a flat oven proof pan or a cast iron pan, cover lightly, then set aside to rest as you preheat the oven. The balls will slightly rise during this time.

Top with buttery brown sugar sauce: Before baking the monkey bread, mix melted butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract together. Stir in the nuts. Pour any remaining sauce sauce all over the dough balls.

Bake:

Bake until the top is lightly browned, about 40 minutes.

Invert onto serving plate: Allow the monkey bread to cool for 5-10 minutes, then invert it onto a serving plate.

Drizzle with vanilla icing: Whisk confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla extract together until smooth. Drizzle all over the warm monkey bread. Top with extra nuts

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