The FiFi Report 285

Very Easy Plum Puddings with Custard… adulterated from Bills

When is a pudding a cake? When it’s made in muffin trays. So easy: Bill Granger says you can whip these up on Christmas morning.
Serve with lashings of delicious brandy butter, custard and decadent cream.

You need for 12 hungry and hung over Gourmandes or 25 models:

300g raisins
100g sultanas
100g currants
100g glacé fruit (figs, apricots or cherries), chopped
150g unsalted butter
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
175g light brown sugar
1 tbs marmalade
3 tbs brandy
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
2 tbs cocoa powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
custard, homemade or good-quality shop-bought, to serve.

  • Stay in your chic Prada PJ’s.
  • Slip into your Hermes slippers.
  • Put on Frank Sinatra singing Christmas carols CD.
  • Take 2 aspros.
  • Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  • Moisterise a 12-hole muffin tray with lashings of unsalted butter.
  • Ask George Clooney to put on a strong coffee.
  • Try to chop the dried fruit into small little chunky bits.
  • Find a saucepan somewhere.
  • Toss in the dried and glacé fruit, the butter, bicarbonate of soda, sugar, marmalade, 1 tbs of the brandy and 250ml of water.
  • Make sure you taste the brandy before you cook with it. Hic!
  • Put the bottle straight back in the cupboard. Please.
  • Now bring the fruit mix to the boil and make sure you stir constantly to make sure it doesn’t catch.
  • When it’s all melted and gooey let it have time out alone and a zen moment to completely cool.
  • While that is cooling you can find a bowl.
  • Sift together the flour, baking powder, spice and cocoa and mix together.
  • Now get some eggs and lightly beat them in a bowl.
  • Pour the eggs into the now cooled and very gooey fruit mixture and give it a mix.
  • Toss in the dry flour mix and give it a good stir together.
  • Now spoon the very wet and mooshy mix into the muffin tray but don’t fill right to top so it can rise a bit.
  • Throw in the oven for about for 25-30 minutes.
  • They are cooked when they bounce and are a nice colour on top.
  • TIP: It’s cooked if you insert a strand of spaghetti and it comes out clean.
  • Remove from the oven obviously!
  • To serve you can pour the rest of the brandy (if you haven’t already drunk it) over the puddings while they’re still warm.
  • Light my fire baby!
  • Serve with lashings of brandy butter.
  • Merry Christmas and have safe, peaceful and tipsy New Year!

The FiFi Report will be back 15th January 2010.