21 December 2023 , 07:00
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There are many food controversies over Christmas, but one right at the top of the list - just after Brussels sprouts - is Christmas pudding, because you either love it or hate it.
If anything can change your mind about hating it, it would be Nigella Lawson's Christmas pudding recipe. While she claims it has the ability to "convert" haters, the chef has conceded that you are either a lover or a hater and there is no point nagging.
In a recipe posted to her website Nigella.com, and originally published in her book Nigella Christmas, she says: "Christmas pudding isn't for everyone and, even though I have faith in my pudding's ability to convert, there's no point nagging or, indeed, fighting against real, die-hard antipathies."
The chef recommends weighing all the ingredients out the night before and in part blitzing in a food processor the next day. She also advises that you can make the chocolate sauce ahead of time and that it will keep for up to three months.
Christmas pudding isn't for everyone but Nigella thinks her recipe may convert you (Toronto Star via Getty Images)Those who have tried her recipe have left rave reviews on her website, with one person commenting: "Made this for Christmas and it was divine!!! We had it with some vanilla ice cream, yum... thanks Nigella for another amazing recipe!"
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Whilst another added: "I just made this today and it was a delight! Easy to make and leave to simmer whilst eating the rest of Christmas dinner. My mum is pre-diabetic so I halved the sugar and it turned out fine. Super fluffy. It pushed the lid off but I was probably liberal with the baking powder! Multiple helpings were had!"
The recipe serves 10-16 people and you can try it at home following the recipe below.
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE PUDDING:
175 grams plain flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
40 grams cocoa powder
175 grams caster sugar
175 grams soft butter
60 millilitres plain yoghurt
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3 large eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
FOR THE SAUCE:
125 grams milk chocolate (chopped)
125 grams dark chocolate (chopped)
250 millilitres double cream
75 grams golden syrup
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
METHOD
You will need a 1.7 litre / 3 pint heatproof plastic pudding basin with lid.
Butter your heatproof plastic pudding basin, remembering to grease the lid, too. Make sure you have adequate boiling water in a pan (or a conventional steamer) on the hob to steam the chocolate pud.
Put the flour and cocoa powder into a processor and blitz to get rid of any lumps.
Add all the remaining pudding ingredients to the processor and blitz, for longer this time, to mix. Take the lid off, scrape it down, then put the lid back on for 3 more long pulses, scrape the chocolate batter into the prepared basin, smooth it down (the batter will come only halfway up the basin) and put on the lid. Wrap the basin tightly in foil, so no water could possibly get in, and steam in the boiling water in the pan or steamer for 1½ hours (by which time the pudding will have risen to about 4cm / 1½ inches below the lid). To cook it for longer will do no harm.
To make the sauce, which can easily be done before you eat, and reheated just before you serve the pudding, put all the sauce ingredients into a saucepan and place over a gentle heat to melt, stirring every now and again and then whisking, off the heat, at the very end, to combine smoothly.
When the pudding is ready, remove it carefully from the pan or steamer without burning yourself, then unwrap from its foil casing, unclick and remove the lid. Put a plate, or a stand, with a slight lip, on top, flip both upside down, so plate and pudding are the right way up, and wiggle off the basin.
Pour some hot sauce over the pudding, so that it just covers the top and falls in glossy, licking drips down the side, and pour the rest of the sauce into a jug or bowl to be served with a spoon.