Mulled wine winter puddings
This twist on a summer pudding marries black forest fruits with mulled wine, which makes for an easy yet delicious Christmas dessert.
■ Makes 6 ■ Prep 40 mins plus 6-8 hrs chilling ■ Cook 5 mins
600g frozen black forest fruits,
defrosted
75g caster sugar
½ lemon, juiced
200ml red wine (something fruity like
shiraz or malbec)
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
2 strips orange peel
10 slices white bread crème fraîche, to serve (optional)
1 Put the fruit, sugar and lemon juice into a pan and cook over a medium heat for 5 mins or until the fruit has released a lot of juice and has just started to break down. Pour the mixture into a fine sieve set over a bowl and set aside for 20 mins or until all the juice has drained from the fruit.
2 Put the fruit juice into a small pan with the wine, spices and orange peel. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 mins before covering and setting aside for 1 hr to infuse the flavours into the juice.
3 Line six small pudding moulds with cling film, leaving enough overhanging to cover the puddings later. Use a 5cm round biscuit cutter to cut six discs from two pieces of bread, to fit the bases of the moulds. Using the remaining bread, cut out 6 x 7cm discs for the lids and then as many rectangles, roughly 4 x 5cm wide, as you can. Dip the smaller circles in the fruit syrup then put into the bases of the moulds. Repeat with the rectangular pieces, fitting them around the sides of the moulds and making sure they overlap a little so they stick together. Fill each mould with fruit right to the brim and top up with 1-2 tbsp of the syrup. Finally, soak the larger discs of bread in the syrup and put on top of the puddings, then cover with the overhanging cling film. Chill any remaining syrup.
4 Put the finished puddings onto a baking tray in the fridge and set a second tray on top with something heavy to secure it in place. The weight will help seal the puddings. Leave the puds in the fridge for 6-8 hrs or overnight before serving. When ready to serve, unwrap the moulds and turn the puddings out onto plates. Top with any leftover syrup and a dollop of crème fraîche, if you like.
PER SERVING 211g kcals, fat 1g, saturates none,
carbs 36g, sugars 19g, fibre 7g, protein 5g, salt 0.4g