Sunbeam Christmas Pudding
Preparation 15 MINS + overnight cooling
Cook 6 hours
Serves 12
Method
In a large saucepan combine all dried fruits with 300ml water, butter and caster sugar. Stir well to combine, then bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and stir over a simmer for 8 mins. Turn off the heat and stir in bicarbonate of soda. Cover and allow mixture to cool completely overnight.
Soak breadcrumbs in milk until just absorbed. Add to the mixture with lemon zest, almonds, carrot, flour and spices. Mix well then stir in eggs, brandy and orange juice.
Grease the base and sides of a 2L lidded pudding basin. Spoon the mixture into the basin then smooth the surface and cover with a round of baking paper before closing the lid.
Place a trivet into the bottom of a large saucepan and rest the pudding basin on top. Fill the saucepan with enough boiling water to come half way up the basin. Cover the saucepan with lid, bring the water to a boil then reduce to very low simmer and leave the pudding to steam for 6 hours.
Check that the pudding is done by gently pressing gently the centre. If it springs back it’s ready (f not, re-cover and steam for a further 30 mins, repeating if necessary).
Allow pudding to cool in the tin for an hour then invert onto a baking rack to cool completely.
Ingredients
250g Sunbeam Raisins
250g Sunbeam Sultanas
165g Sunbeam Currants
125g Angas Park Prunes, roughly chopped
125g Angas Park Mixed Peel
165g butter
165g caster sugar
1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
165g fresh, white breadcrumbs
125ml milk
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
60g blanched almonds
1 medium carrot, grated
85g plain flour
¼ tsp sea salt
2 tsp mixed spice
2 eggs, lightly whisked
60ml brandy
165ml orange juice
Recipe Collection
Christmas Cake Gift Jar
As a gift idea
- Place flour in bottom of jar and add spices and bicarbonate of soda
- Pour in fruit and push down lightly
- Next place brown sugar and finish with slivered almonds.
- Attach a gift card with the following instructions:
YOU WILL NEED
250g butter, melted
3 eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup brandy
METHOD
- Preheat oven 150°C. Double line a 20cm round tin with baking paper
- Combine gift jar contents, butter, eggs and brandy and stir until combined
- Spoon into prepared tin and bake for 1 hour or until skewer inserted comes out clean.
Carrot & Walnut Cake Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
Whisk together your plain flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon
In a separate bowl, mix your wet ingredients, milk, white vinegar, vegetable oil, eggs and brown sugar
Once your wet ingredients are well combined, stir in your carrots, shredded coconut, pineapple, walnuts and raisins.
Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over mix.
Fill your muffin tins with your patty pans and then with a spoon or a lever ice cream scoop, fill them to the top.
Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Let cool completely before decorating with meringue.
Once your muffins are cool you can start on your meringue. Mix your egg whites and caster sugar together in a bowl over a pot of water on the stove. Once the heat from the pot has dissolved the sugar in your egg whites, put your bowl on your electric mixer and whisk until stiff peaks.
Using a piping bag or a large ziplock bag with the corner cut off, pipe the top of your muffins in any shape you like. If you have a blow torch, give them some colour, or leave them natural and decorate with your favourite easter eggs.
Carrot, Walnut & Raisin Cake
Preheat oven to 180℃.
Grate young fresh carrots to give one full cup & strain the juice from 440g can of crushed pineapple.
In a bowl mix 1 cup of plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 3/4 tsp bicarb soda, 1/2 tsp each of salt & cinnamon & 3/4 cup caster sugar. Add 2 eggs and 5 Tbsp oil (just under 1/3 cup).
Sir in the grated carrot, crushed pineapple & 1/4 cup Sunbeam walnuts, chopped. Bake in a moderate oven 175 oC for 40 – 45 minutes and cool before covering with topping. (Note: We slightly froze the cake to make firm to slice into layers to add frosting in between)
To make cream cheese topping, place in a bowl butter, cream cheese, vanilla, icing sugar and beat very well. If too thick add a small amount of milk to give a smooth consistency.
Muesli Bar Slice
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 28cm x 18cm x 3cm tin
- In a large bowl mix together the oats, oat bran, bran, sunflower kernels, flour, apricots and sultanas.
- Melt the butter, honey and brown sugar in the microwave for 1 minute and add to the dry ingredients. Stir in the egg and milk until well combined.
- Press into greased and lined tin and bake for 15 minutes. Cut into slices when cooled.
Australian Ice-cream Pudding
Preheat oven to 180oC.
Brush a 2 litre pudding basin with vegetable oil, then line with plastic wrap, trying to keep wrap smooth without wrinkles. Place in the freezer to chill. In a bowl combine Sultanas, Raisins, cranberries, apricots, Macadamias and orange liqueur. Leave to soak for 30 minutes. Place softened ice cream in a large bowl stir in soaked fruit. Fold in whipped cream and pour mixture into prepared pudding basin. Place in the freezer and freeze for 4 hours or overnight.
To prepare orange cake, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in Almond Meal, orange juice and rind. Pour into a greased and paper lined 20cm cake tin and bake for 1 hour. Allow too cool in the tin, before turning out onto a board.
To finish pudding, ease ice-cream pudding from basin and place on top of cake. Trim the cake edges if required and serve cut into thick slices.
Rum & Raisin Trifle
Place the raisins, sultanas, currants, mixed peel, almonds and dates in a bowl and pour over 3/4 cup rum. Cover and allow to macerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. Keep additional raisins seperate and add 1/4 cup rum these will be used for garnishing the trifle.
Pre heat the oven to 140 degrees C.
Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well.
Place the butter mixture, soaked fruit mixture, flour bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and allspice in a large bowl and stir to combine.
Line a 20cm square cake tin with two layers of non-stick baking paper.
Spoon in the mixture and bake for 2 hours or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
Cool in the tin. Once the cake has cooled remove from tin and freeze to semi-firm
Cut the fruit cake into 3cm pieces and decoratively line the base of trifle bowl & pour over the extra rum
Layer custard over fruit cake and repeat cake & custard layers if desired.
Whip caster sugar & thickened cream until stiff and add to trifle
Garnish with rum soaked raisins, and crushed ginger snaps
To make spun sugar, combine sugar with the water in small heavy-based saucepan. Stir over heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves; bring to the boil.
Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, without stirring, until mixture is golden brown. Remove from heat; stand until bubbles subside. To make spun sugar, drizzle toffee between 2 wooden spoons over baking paper-lined oven tray.
Shape & stand at room temperature until set.
