Merry Christmas Everyone, I can’t believe it’s already this time of the year again. I hope you all have a blessed day filled with love and happiness and remember to fill your bellies with great food, because Christmas is all about the food. Whilst Tuesday’s column focused on a gorgeous and tasty main meal; today’s column is all about that good, sweet and decadent dessert. Whether it is a traditional Christmas pudding or a modern sweet dessert; you must, must, must always have dessert at Christmas.
Christmas pudding
Preparation & Cooking time: 3 ½ hours
Ingredients
- 500 g mixed dried fruit (such as cranberries, cherries, apricots, sultanas and raisins)
- 100 g dates , chopped up
- 125 g plain flour
- 125 g caster sugar
- 150g fresh white breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsps of brandy
- 1 medium free-range egg
- 150 ml milk
- golden syrup , to serve
Method
Grease a 1.5 litre pudding bowl.
Mix all the ingredients together, except the golden syrup. Put the mixture into the greased bowl and cover with a double layer of foil. Tie a piece of string round the side of the bowl. Place in a large saucepan with water halfway up the sides of the bowl. Bring to the water to the boil, put on a tight-fitting lid, and simmer for 3 hours. (Remember to check the water regularly, making sure that it never goes dry, because if it does, it will burn and the bowl will crack.)
When it’s ready, remove the foil, and turn the bowl out on to a plate.
Chocolate and Amarula Trifle
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 20 x 20cm square chocolate cake (any store-bought chocolate cake will do, but the better the cake, the better the trifle).
- 1 litre of chilled custard
- Milk chocolate, grated
- Almonds (optional)
- 500 ml whipped cream/double cream
- 4 shots of Amarula
- Cherries (optional)
Method
Cut the chocolate cake into smaller chunks. Place a layer of the cake on the bottom of a glass bowl. Pour half of the Amarula over the cake; then pour about half a litre of custard over the cake. Whip the cream until it is stiff, and add a layer of cream over the custard, working from the outside of the bowl inwards. Crumble or grate a layer of chocolate over the cream. Repeat the layers, starting with the chocolate cake, moistening it with the remaining Amarula, then custard, and cream. Garnish the remaining grated chocolate and almonds. Keep it refrigerated until you’re ready to serve.
It’s as easy as that!
Amarula ice cream cocktail
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 2 shots of Amarula
- 150 ml vanilla ice cream
- 25 ml thick/double cream
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
Method
Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Blend well. Pour into a glass and garnish with chocolate (if you wish).
Serving
Serve the Christmas pudding hot. Drizzle with golden syrup and decorate it as you like, with nuts or berries etc. You can pour brandy over it and light it on fire if you want to be really fancy.
Serve the other desserts chilled and together or separately. Merry Christmas, Enjoy!!
Kanta Temba is a cake maker and decorator. She is also the owner and founder of Kanta Kakes – cake shop.
You can find her work on www.kantakakes.com. Follow her on twitter @KantaKakes and Instagram @KantaTemba.
