Embrace the festive spirit with a delightful twist on a classic Christmas treat: Vegan Christmas Pudding. This recipe brings the essence of traditional Christmas flavours into a compassionate, plant-based format, ensuring that everyone around your holiday table can indulge in the joy of the season.
The pudding starts with a rich, aromatic blend of dried fruits such as dates, apricots, sultanas, and cherries, soaked overnight in a mixture of orange juice and your choice of port or brandy. This soaking process not only infuses the fruits with a deep, complex flavour but also ensures a wonderfully moist texture in the final pudding.
Spices like cinnamon and nutmeg add a warm, comforting aroma, reminiscent of cosy winter evenings and festive cheer. The addition of brown sugar brings a caramelized sweetness, perfectly balancing the tartness of the fruits. The grated apple in the recipe not only contributes to the moistness but also introduces a subtle, fresh tartness that elevates the overall flavour profile.
Vegan butter and a combination of breadcrumbs and plain flour give this pudding its classic, dense structure, while a touch of baking powder ensures it’s not too heavy. Steaming the pudding for several hours allows the flavours to meld beautifully, resulting in a rich, deeply satisfying dessert.
Finally, serving this vegan Christmas pudding with a choice of cream, custard, or vegan ice cream allows each guest to personalise their dessert experience, making it a truly inclusive festive treat. This recipe not only respects dietary choices but also offers a sumptuous dessert that everyone, vegan or not, will eagerly anticipate each holiday season.
Ingredients:
- 350g dried fruits (e.g., dates, apricots, sultanas, cherries)
- 80ml tawny port or brandy
- Juice and zest of 1 orange
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 large apple, grated
- 2 tbsp vegan butter of your choice
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Cream, custard, or vegan ice cream for serving
Instructions:
Soak the dried fruit in orange juice and the tawny port or brandy. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, after the fruits are soaked, add all the remaining ingredients. Mix well.
Grease a pudding mold with butter, then place a piece of baking paper for easy removal after baking. Transfer the mixture into the mold (a Pyrex glass bowl of 1.2-1.7L works well). Cover the pudding with two layers of baking paper, then foil. Wrap it securely with twine to ensure a tight seal.
Fill a large pot with about 1/4 water. Place a heatproof dish or bowl at the bottom to serve as a stand for the pudding. Bring to a simmer.
Position the pudding on the stand in the pot. Cover and steam for 4-5 hours, checking occasionally to ensure there’s enough water in the pot. Replenish the water if needed during the steaming process.
Allow the pudding to cool for 20 minutes before removing it from the mold.
You can leave the pudding in the mold until the day of consumption. On the day, steam it again for 20 minutes to heat up.
Let the pudding cool and then serve with cream, custard, or ice cream
Nutritional Information
The estimated nutritional information per serving for the Vegan Christmas Pudding recipe:
- Calories: 300-400 kcal per serving.
- Carbohydrates: 60-75 grams per serving.
- Proteins: 2-4 grams per serving.
- Fats: 5-10 grams per serving.
- Fiber: 3-5 grams per serving.
- Sugars: 40-50 grams per serving.
- Sodium: 50-100 mg per serving.
This estimation is based on the ingredients like dried fruits, sugar, flour, and vegan butter, and is an approximate calculation. For more precise information, it’s recommended to use a nutrition calculator with the specific brands and types of ingredients you plan to use.