Well, not quite. We still have Twelfth Night and the Three Kings bearing gifts to come, but instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh, my gifts are edible and use up some Christmas bits and pieces that are left over.
I doubt that anyone has any Christmas pudding left, but there may be some fruit cake still in the tin, in which case soften some vanilla ice cream, crumble some of the cake, add a few extra ingredients, layer it all into a pudding basin and put it back in the freezer and, hey presto, Christmas cake ice cream. And if you should have some Christmas pudding left, it works equally well.
I had two panettones in the cupboard, plus another half, so I used the half to make an American bread pudding. Not the usual doughy Maltese or British variety, but more like our bread and butter pudding as it is seen across the Atlantic. I toasted the panettone in a low oven, mixed it with some soaked dried cranberries and then poured over a custard made with eggs, milk and condensed milk – delicious!
I was given lots of mandarins by a friend before Christmas and still had quite a few sitting in the fruit basket, so I used half a dozen of them to make mandarin and date puddings.
I baked individual ones in the oven, but you can of course make one big pudding, in which case steam it for a couple of hours.
And, finally, something chocolatey. I invariably buy a jar of cocktail cherries at Christmas, use about half a dozen or so in drinks, then the jar stays untouched in the cupboard for the rest of the year.
This time, I decided to use them before they were forgotten. With some chocolate muffins, chocolate custard and mascarpone, they made really good mini trifles. I then topped them with a big splodge of whipped cream and a sprinkling of grated chocolate. But, like the mandarin puddings, you can always make one big impressive-looking trifle.
So that’s some of the Christmas goodies gone until next year. There’s still plenty left of course, but we’re working on them! Happy New Year.
Mini chocolate cherry trifles
(Serves 6)
Jar of pitted maraschino cherries with stems
3 tbsps sherry
3 large chocolate muffins
3 egg yolks
2 level tbsp cornflour
2 tbsps sugar
300ml milk
250g tub mascarpone
100g dark chocolate, melted
150ml cream, whipped
Grated chocolate to decorate
Drain the cherries in a sieve standing over a small bowl. Reserve a few with stems for decoration, then discard the rest of the stems and halve the cherries. Mix together three tablespoons of the cherry juice and the sherry. Crumble the muffins and divide them between six individual glasses. Sprinkle with the halved cherries and stir them gently through the muffins, then drizzle over the sherry and juice.
Mix together the egg yolks, cornflour and sugar until well-blended. Heat the milk until hot but not boiling. Pour it on to the egg mixture, return it all the to pan and bring to the boil, stirring all the time, until it comes to the boil, then simmer for two minutes and allow to cool.
When the custard is cold, beat in the mascarpone and melted chocolate, then spoon it over the muffins and fork it gently through.
Top each glass with a splodge of whipped cream and decorate with grated chocolate and the reserved cherries.
Little date and mandarin puddings
(Serves 6)
6 small mandarin oranges
120g stoned and chopped dates
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
120ml boiling water
150g butter
200g caster sugar
2 large eggs
180g self-raising flour
100ml cream
2 tbsps orange-flavoured liqueur (optional)
Put two of the mandarins into a pan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes. When they’re cool enough to handle, halve and discard any pips and the stalky ends, then blitz them to a purée in a processor or blender.
Put the dates and bicarbonate into a bowl, pour on the boiling water and leave to soak for 20 minutes. Butter six individual pudding basins or deep ramekins and line the bases with small rounds of buttered greaseproof paper.
Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Beat 100g of the butter and 150g of the sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, and fold in the flour. Drain the dates and add them to the bowl, together with the mandarin purée.
Mix well and divide between the pudding basins. Stand the puddings on a baking tray and bake for about 25 minutes until they have risen and are firm to the touch.
While the puddings are cooking, make the sauce by putting the rest of the butter and sugar into a pan, together with the cream and the juice of two more mandarins. Stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to the boil and let it bubble for five minutes. Peel the remaining mandarins, pull off as much pith as possible, then stir the segments into the sauce, together with the liqueur if using.
Run a knife round the inside of the pudding basins and turn them out on to warm serving plates, remove the rounds of paper, spoon the sauce over and serve with whipped cream.
Christmas cake ice cream with toffee sauce
(Serves 6 to 8)
The ingredients and quantities aren’t written in tablets of stone,
they’re really just a guide, so add nuts or glacé cherries or whatever you fancy, or use half quantities to make a smaller one, as I did.
60g dried cranberries
60g golden raisins
3 tbsps cognac, orange liqueur or orange juice
300g Christmas fruit cake, crumbled
½ tsp mixed spice
1 litre tub vanilla ice cream
50g butter
50g light brown sugar
1 tbsp black treacle
100 ml cream
Put the cranberries and raisins into a small bowl, pour in the brandy, liqueur or juice and leave to soak for an hour.
Line a pudding basin with cling film, making sure there’s plenty overhanging the sides.
Mix the crumbled cake with the soaked fruit and mixed spice.
Let the ice cream soften a little, then layer it into the bowl with the cake, starting and ending with a layer of ice cream.
Fold over the excess cling film, then freeze until firm.
Put the butter, sugar, treacle and cream into a pan, stir over low heat until the sugar and butter have dissolved, then bring to the boil and simmer for two minutes.
Take the ice cream from the freezer and fold back the cling. Let it soften for a few minutes, then turn it out on to a serving plate and peel off the cling.
Cut into wedges and serve drizzled with the warm sauce.
Cranberry panettone bread pudding
(Serves 6)
About 400g panettone
100g dried cranberries
3 large eggs
250ml milk
1 can condensed milk
50g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
Demerara sugar
Cut the panettone into 3cm cubes and spread them in a single layer on to a baking tray. Put the tray into a preheated 120˚C oven until the cubes are dry and lightly browned.
When they have cooled, transfer them to a well-buttered shallow baking dish.
While the panettone is browning, put the cranberries into a small bowl, pour over enough boiling water to cover and leave them to soak.
Raise the oven temperature to 180˚C. Beat the eggs, milk and condensed milk together in a large bowl, then stir in the butter and vanilla.
Drain the cranberries, scatter them over the panettone and stir them lightly through.
Ladle the custard mixture evenly over the panettone, then leave it to soak for 10 minutes.
Sprinkle the top generously with Demerara sugar, stand the dish on a baking tray and bake for about 30 minutes until set. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.