Hands up who likes Christmas pudding? Mine is firmly up. I love the stuff. But not everyone does. For some it’s just a step too far after all the goose fat, carbs and sprouts. This is a great alternative to Xmas pud which masquerades as… you guessed it – Christmas pudding! Keeps for 2 weeks after making as long as stored in a cool, dark place. A bloom may develop after a week but this does not affect the flavour.

I made a lovely video with the Scoff folks to show off how to make this pudding. You can see the vid on my YouTube channel and also the Scoff one. You can watch it below too.

Lots of great recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.

Last December: My slow cooker beef bourguignon pie and Crumble topped mince pies and a very ugly but delicious cranberry & raspberry traybake

Two years ago: Mini Yorkshire pudding canapes and Christmas pudding fizz and Brandy butter icing and Rudolf morsels

Three years ago: Lime meringue pie with chocolate pastry and Christmas scones and Ginger cake with Christmas cottage and Hot chocolate on a stick

Four years ago: Moonuts and Cheese biscuits and Parsnip soup and Inauthentic chicken tagine

Tiffin Christmas pudding

Makes 1 x 2 pint pudding

Ingredients:

• 150g sultanas
• 15mls brandy
• 150g butter
• 30g maple syrup
• ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• Zest of 1 orange
• 200g dark chocolate
• 300g digestive biscuits, broken into 2cm ish pieces
• 50g glace cherries
• 100g chopped toasted hazelnuts
• 50g white chocolate
• A red glace cherry to decorate
• Fresh holly leaves of some green fondant icing to make into leaves

Place the sultanas and brandy into a small pan and heat on low until the brandy absorbs, stirring all the time. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Melt the butter, maple syrup, nutmeg, cinnamon, orange zest and chocolate in a bowl in the microwave until completely molten. Add the biscuits, cherries, hazelnuts and brandied sultanas. Stir well.

Take a 2 pint pudding bowl and line with clingfilm. Pour the mixture into it and pat down well. Cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge to set for a few hours or overnight.

Remove from the pudding bowl (dip briefly in hot water in another bowl if it won’t come out) and remove the clingfilm. Place on a serving plate and decorate with melted white chocolate (allow to re-solidify before pouring) and holly.

Merry Christmas!