Chai Spiced Christmas Pudding

This gluten-free pudding is spiced with fragrant chai tea and warming cardamom. You can also use plain wheat flour and regular breadcrumbs if the pudding doesn’t need to be free of gluten.

Hands-on time 25min, plus cooling and (optional) maturing. Cooking time about 4hr 40min. Serves 8

 4 chai tea bags, we used Teapigs  50ml orange liqueur, we used Cointreau

 200g sultanas

 100g raisins

 75g pitted dates, roughly chopped  50g mixed peel

 50g butter, chilled and coarsely grated, plus extra, softened, to grease  Finely grated zest 1 orange  Finely grated zest 1 lemon

 1 eating apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped

 1/2tbsp ground cinnamon

 1/4tsp freshly grated nutmeg

 10-12 green cardamom pods, husks discarded and seeds finely ground, see GH TIP

 125g dark brown soft sugar

 100g gluten-free plain flour, we used Freee

 75g gluten-free breadcrumbs

 1 large egg, beaten

 1/2tbsp vanilla bean paste

1 In a large pan, over low heat, mix the tea bags, orange liqueur, dried fruit, mixed peel and 150ml water. Cook, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Set aside to cool completely.

2 Lightly grease a 900ml pudding basin and line the base with a circle of baking parchment. Put a 35.5cm square of foil on top of a square of baking parchment the same size. Fold a 4cm pleat across the centre and set aside.

3 Lift out the tea bags, squeeze to release any liquid and flavour, and discard. Add remaining ingredients to the pan and mix well. Spoon into the prepared basin, pressing down to level. Put pleated foil and parchment square (foil-side up) on top of the basin and smooth down to cover. Using a long piece of string, tie securely under the lip of the basin; loop over again and tie to make a handle.

4 To cook, put a heatproof saucer in the base of a large, deep pan that has a tight-fitting lid. Lower in the prepared pudding and pour in enough water to come halfway up the sides of the basin, taking care not to get any on top of the pudding. Cover with the lid, bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 41/2hr, checking the water level and topping up as needed.

5 Carefully remove the pudding from the pan; cool completely. Wrap the basin, still with its foil lid, tightly in clingfilm, followed by a further layer of foil. Store in a cool, dark place to mature for up to 2 months.

PER SERVING 380cals, 5g protein, 7g fat (4g saturates), 71g carbs (53g total sugars), 2g fibre TO REHEAT YOUR PUDDING

Remove the foil and clingfilm, as well as the lid. Re-cover as per instructions in steps 2 and 3. Following the method in step 4, reheat for 2hr. Remove from the pan and allow to sit for 5min. Carefully remove the lid and invert on to a cake stand or serving plate. Peel off the baking parchment and serve.