Vegan Chocolate Christmas Pudding
Vegan chocolate Christmas pudding - this vegan chocolate version of the classic British steamed festive pudding is rich, moist, fruity, boozy and chocolatey, but not overly dense or heavy. It is easy to make and can be cooked in advance and matured for up to six months or eaten right away instead.
Servings 8 people
Ingredients
- 350 g (12 oz) mixed dried fruit
- 100 g (3 ½ oz) chopped dried dates
- 4 tablespoons cointreau/brandy/rum/sherry
- finely grated zest of 2 large oranges
- 100 ml (⅓ cup + 4 teaspoons) orange juice
- 1 medium cooking apple (about 220g unpeeled weight) peeled, cored and grated
- 75 g (⅓ cup) vegan block butter melted
- 100 g (½ cup + 1 Tablespoon) light or dark brown soft sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange extract (or vanilla)
- 75 g (½ cup + 2 Tablespoons) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 25 g (¼ cup) cocoa powder
- 75 g (1 cup) fresh white breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 100 g (⅔ cup) chocolate chips
Instructions
- You need to start making this vegan chocolate Christmas pudding the day before you want to steam it as the fruit ideally needs to soak overnight. Mix together the mixed dried fruit and chopped dried dates with the rum/brandy/sherry and the orange zest and juice. Cover and leave to soak overnight. I give it a stir every now and again to ensure that the fruit is equally coated.
- The following day, stir in the grated apple, melted butter, brown sugar and the orange extract.
- Add the flour, breadcrumbs, cocoa powder, baking powder, mixed spice and chocolate chips and stir until well combined.
- Grease a 1.2 - 1.4 litre pudding basin and place a disc of baking parchment in the bottom to prevent the top of the pudding from sticking. Put the kettle on.
- Spoon the pudding mixture into the greased basin and pack it down firmly then level the top. It is ok if the mixture comes almost all the way up to the top of the basin as it doesn't rise much but make sure that there is at least a centimetre gap at the top.
- Cut a large square of baking parchment and another of tin foil. Make a pleat in the centre of each square. The pleat gives the pudding room to rise. (If you have a pudding basin with a lid you can skip this step.)
- Place the baking parchment on top of the pudding basin with the pleat in the middle, followed by the tin foil. Press the foil over the edge of the pudding basin.
- Tie a length of string very tightly several times around the foil – there should be a lip on the pudding basin; tie the string just under that.
- Tie a length of string across the top of the basin to make a handle. Trim off the excess foil and parchment, leaving at least a centimetre below the string. If your pudding basin has it’s own lid, skip the above and simply put the lid on, making sure it is tight.
- Place a saucer upside down in a large saucepan with a lid and place the pudding basin on top. Pour boiling water into the pan so that it comes about halfway up the pudding basin. Do not let the water touch the foil/baking parchment otherwise you may end up with a soggy pudding.
- Put the lid on the pan and place over a low heat. Cook at a gentle simmer for 5 hours, it will do the pudding no harm to let it cook for a while longer however. Check halfway through to see if the water needs topping up but resist the urge to take the lid off the pan too often.
- When it is cooked, the pudding should be a deep brown colour and be firm to the touch with a little bit of bounce. A skewer inserted into the centre (avoiding any chocolate chips) should come out clean or with moist crumbs but no wet batter.
- Once the pudding is done steaming, remove it from the pan and leave it to cool then remove the baking parchment and tin foil and replace them with fresh ones. Store in a cool, dry place for up to six months, feeding it occasionally with rum or brandy.
- On Christmas day, steam the pudding in the same way for 1-2 hours before serving it. See instructions in the post above for how to flame it.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
- This recipe uses fresh rather than dried breadcrumbs; to make fresh breadcrumbs simply remove the crusts from a couple of slices of slightly stale white bread, weigh out 75g worth and blend them in a food processor until finely chopped. You can also finely crumble them by hand if you don't have a food processor.