Recipes

From the RSPCA Freedom Food Celebrity Recipe Collection by Marguerite Patten

Serves 4-6

For the caramel

    75g/3oz caster or granulated sugar
    3 tbsp water

For the pudding

    300ml/10fl oz milk
    300ml/10fl oz single cream
    115g/4oz white bread, weight when crusts removed
    50g/2oz glace cherries, quartered
    25g/1oz tenderised dried apricots, finely diced
    25g/1oz candied peel, chopped
    50g/2oz sultanas
    50g/2oz almonds, blanched and chopped
    4 yolks from large Freedom food labelled free range eggs or use 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks
    40g/1½oz caster sugar
    2 tbsp sweet sherry

For the topping

    icing sugar
    glace cherries
    blanched almonds

Method

Put the sugar and water into a saucepan, stir until the sugar has dissolved then boil steadily, without stirring, until a golden brown caramel. Cool slightly.

Add the milk and stir over a low heat until the milk has absorbed the caramel. Stir in the cream.

Meanwhile, cut the bread into neat dice about 1cm/one third of an inch in size – do not make crumbs. Place in a basin and cover with the warm caramel mixture. Add the cherries, apricots, peel, sultanas and almonds. Beat the eggs with the sugar, strain into the other ingredients, add the sherry and mix gently.

Brush a 1.2 litre or 2 pint pudding basin or souffle dish with a very little melted butter, add the pudding mixture, cover with buttered foil, seal tightly.

Either steam over hot BUT NOT BOILING water for 2¼-2½ hours until just firm or bake in a bain-marie in a preheated oven set to 150C/300F/Gas 2 or 140C with a fan oven for 1¾ hours.

Turn out and top with a dusting of icing sugar, 2 or 3 cherries and a few almonds. Serve hot with cream or ice cream.