Christmas Pudding, Brandy & Custard Ice-Cream

When I came across the Matthew Walker Christmas Pudding challenge posted on the UK Food Bloggers Association forum, I couldn't resist! They invited bloggers to conjure up a creative recipe based on their "Recipe No. 13 Christmas Pudding" which they would kindly supply for the purposes of the competition! I knew what I wanted to try before I wrote in to participate, and before long my christmas puddings arrived.

I knew from the start that I wanted to make a custard-based ice-cream with chunks of moist christmas pudding and that I wanted to soak my christmas pudding in brandy for that traditional Christmas hit.

The Matthew Walker pudding is delicious - moist, rich and perfectly balanced. I chopped up 100 grams, doused it with 2 teaspoons of brandy and left it aside for an hour or so.

Having never made custard before, this gave us another opportunity to road-test Michel Roux's "Sauces: Savoury and Sweet". Pete took the reigns here and the custard came out very well, though we both found it a touch too sweet for our tastes. However, for an ice-cream - where flavours need to be more intense before being frozen - it was perfect!

We left the custard to cool for as long as I had the patience (about an hour) before pouring the custard and dropping the brandy-soaked pieces of pudding into our bowl-in-the-freezer style ice-cream machine.

As is usually the case with this type of machine, the final results - when the machine can no longer churn through the stiffening mixture - are still a little softer than we'd prefer, so we transferred it into a freezer container to firm up further. Not without me taking a scoop to enjoy straight away, of course. And it was absolutely spot on!

I'm absolutely thrilled with this ice-cream! Even though it was an experiment - the first custard we've made, the first custard-based ice-cream we've made and the first recipe using christmas pudding we've made - I wouldn't adjust it at all. I think this would make a really great Christmas day dessert!

Kavey's Christmas Pudding, Brandy & Custard Ice-Cream Recipe
Custard
568 ml / 1 pint milk
125 grams caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
6 egg yolks
Pudding Pieces
100 grams Matthew Walker Recipe 13 christmas pudding
2 teaspoons brandy

Method

• Chop the christmas pudding into approximately 1 cm cubes.
• Place in bowl, pour over the brandy, stir a little to distribute, and leave aside, covered, to soak in.
• Split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds.
• Put the milk, vanilla seeds and pod and two thirds of the sugar into a heavy based saucepan and bring slowly to the boil.
• Meanwhile whisk the yolks and remaining sugar in a bowl until pale yellow and creamy.
• Once the milk reaches a boil pour it onto the egg yolks, whisking continuously and then transfer the custard mixture back to the pan.
• Cook over a low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it has thickened. Do not let it boil.
• It is ready when it lightly coats the back of the spoon, and running a finger through it leaves a clear trace.
• Allow to cool.
• Pour custard and pudding pieces into ice-cream machine.
• Allow to churn until ready.
• Some types of machines may require the ice-cream to be transferred to the freezer to firm up further.