Christmas party time! (and the Christmas pudding recipe!)

Yesterday was a crazy day! 

Thankfully it finished on a high with my work Christmas party...my 8th and final Christmas party with the architects practice since as of next Wednesday I will be leaving the gang to find my own way into this big big world...more on all that another time. After the chaos of the day I was looking forward to eating good food and letting my hair down. 

All the team pitched in to cook a huge Christmas roast... I was chief event co-ordinator and so of prime importance to me was to make sure we had plenty of vegetable dishes! Of course there was lots of meat as well for the rest of the team so I let them get on with that part. I cooked up a chestnut and cranberry nut roast for me...but big enough to share (for anyone who cared for a slice), I also made a little batch of vegan bread sauce- no way was I going to miss out on that regardless of the fact I didn't have turkey to accompany it, it was a perfectly fine match for my nut roast! We also made a variation of this brussel sprout salad without and bacon but with extra shallots and sliced chestnuts too...it was so good!

For dessert we had fruit salad, along with some more of these truffles that i'd whipped up earlier in the day. I also had my 'Christmas pud for one' whilst my colleagues served up their puddings and gateaux. I served my pudding with a drizzle of Alpro vegan vanilla pouring yoghurt. I'd not come across it before but found it in the supermarket yesterday and was very excited to try it, whilst I can't say its healthy since it does contain quite a lot of sugar, it was great for a little treat and for a change to regular vegan yoghurt or cream and the lovely vanilla flavour gave a real festive feel.

Instagram Christmas pud!

As promised here you have my Christmas pudding recipe, I found my notes! Most Christmas puddings require preparation way in advance and also need hours of steaming- not this one... here is a pudding in a day!

Recipe: Mini Christmas pudding (quick, easy and gluten free)

(Makes 2 mini puddings or one slightly larger. serve 2-4 altogether)

Ingredients:

50g each of raisins, sultanas and dried apricots
50g oatmeal or GF flour mix of choice (note: rice flour may give a slightly grainy texture though barely noticeable)
1/2 tsp baking powder
3tbs ground almonds
1 tsp each orange and lemon zest and a small squeeze of juice (or 1 tbs sugar-free marmalade)
1 small grated apple
1/2 tsp mixed spice (cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves)
1 tbs brandy (or omit for non alcoholic)
10g rapadura/fruit sugar or other unrefined granulated sugar

Method:

In a food processor pulse the dried apricots to chop very roughly and then add the sultanas and raisins and pulse a few times to achieve a very coarse paste (the raisins should still be mostly whole).

Transfer to a small bowl and mix through the grated apple. Add all remaining ingredients and mix well.

You can either prepare this mix the night before and let to sit overnight to 'mature' or you can use it straight away (I tried both ways and did not notice a significant difference to flavour).

Spoon the mixture into two silicone egg poachers (similar to this method) or one slightly larger domed bowl (silicone or glass). I really recommend silicone since its so much easier to remove once cooked. Make sure you cover the tops very well, I used baking parchment and then foil over folded tightly to the rim.  Steam the puddings with the bowl half submerged in simmering water with the covered top well out of the water. Steam for 90 minutes for 2 mini puddings or slightly longer for a larger pudding (I only tried making two smaller ones).

Allow to cool with the tops still fully covered, and uncover when ready to serve.  If you are serving these at a later time, they can be re-steamed or simply microwaved for 1 minute each to warm through.

P.s this recipe is actually much simpler than it sounds in these steps!!

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.