Chocolate Orange Christmas Pudding with Cointreau Sauce {gluten-free}

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This Chocolate Orange Christmas Pudding is a delightful alternative take on the traditional Christmas Pudding. Still rich with fruit and spices but imbued with velvety pools of chocolate and the sharp sweetness of juicy oranges. Made with teff flour, which is a naturally gluten-free flour, for depth of flavour. Then, for real luxury then serve with this lovely festive Cointreau sauce.

this recipe

Whose Christmas isn’t complete without a Terry’s chocolate orange®? We are a large family and all 6 of us agree that they are fantastic stocking fillers which means we have a lot knocking around our house on Christmas morning. Suffice to say, we are usually still eating our Chocolate Oranges until New Year. No complaints here. In my opinion you can never have enough of the chocolate orange combo. Which is where this extremely chocolatey orange christmas pudding comes into play.

This is a traditional Christmas Pudding, made then steamed in the usual way, which simply has armloads of chocolate chips, orange zest and bags of orange flavour as well as our usual Christmas flavours.

The Cointreau Sauce is a nod to the brandy sauce we were always served at school and actually I think this may be my favourite accompaniment to the pudding.  It’s adapted from a Delia Smith recipe for her Brandy Sauce and it is light and simple. The gentle flavour of the Cointreau Sauce lets the pudding speak for itself whilst providing the much needed sauce and a spicy after kick of Cointreau.

Why you’ll love this recipe

• This Chocolate Christmas Pudding is beautifully chocolately but it is still most definitely Christmas Pudding and the flavours marry together so well.
• This pudding is made with teff flour, a naturally gluten-free flour, and the flavour works so beautifully in support of the chocolate.
• There is so much texture in this Chocolate Chip Clementine Christmas Pudding, the molton puddles of chocolate chips give the pudding a softness, the dried fruit give a lovely chew with a final nobbly crunch from the nuts.
• Despite all the rich flavours going on, this Christmas Pudding is lighter than you think, it’s not stodgy at all.

Amid the Christmas wrapping scramble and meal prep chaos there is definitely one job you don’t want to be doing on Christmas Eve and that’s making a Christmas Pudding. Let’s face it if you haven’t made it by then it’s more than likely you’ll be swinging by Tesco before it closes hoping they haven’t sold out of all the gluten-free ones. There’s nothing like a homemade classic Christmas Pudding though. If you are able to get ahead then this Chocolate Orange Christmas Pudding can be made way in advance. And if you wanted to be really traditional about it then there is no better day than Stir-Up Sunday.

What is Stir Up Sunday?

Stir-Up Sunday harkens way back to Victorian times and gets its name from the opening of the book of common prayer which is read on the last Sunday before advent ‘Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people’ It seems that the Victorians took the bible at its word and it soon became tradition to stir up your Christmas Pudding on that day too. And with good reason, it’s such a good idea to get it out of the way early doors. After its initial steam a Christmas Pudding can sit quite happily for weeks or even months and even tastes better the longer you leave it.

Flours required

This is a gluten-free recipe and the flour chosen here is deliberately flavourful to give a richer background to all our festive flavours.

Teff flour

With its beautiful molasses taste teff flour blends beautifully with the Christmas spices, dried fruit and is a favourite of mine to pair with chocolate recipes. It is a wholewheat flour and you can buy either white or brown teff flour, either works here.

READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Teff Flour

Tapioca starch

Since teff flour doesn’t have as much binding power as wheat (since it doesn’t contain the gluten) then whisking in a bit of tapioca starch helps with the structure of our pudding without weighing it down.

READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Tapioca Starch

Sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour)

This starchy flour is recommended for the Cointreau Sauce as you can make a roux in the same way as you would using wheat flour but the sweet rice flour is gluten-free and gives it a smooth velvety texture.

READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Sweet Rice Flour

Flour substitutions

• If you don’t want to use these gluten-free flours then you can replace with the same amount of wheat flour. The results will not be affected at all.
• Teff flour > You can swap for oat flour, sorghum flour or buckwheat flour.
• Tapioca starch > You can swap for arrowroot powder, potato starch or cornflour.
• You can swap the same quantity of teff flour + tapioca starch for your favourite brand of all-purpose gluten-free flour or my Homemade Gluten-Free Flour Blend.
• The sweet rice flour in the Cointreau Sauce can be subbed for cassava flour but I don’t recommend using an all-purpose gluten-free flour here as they don’t make the best sauces in my opinion.

Full list of ingredients

For the Chocolate Pudding

Day 1

• Sultanas.
• Currants.
• Dried cranberries.
• Mixed peel. Have you tried making Homemade Mixed Peel?
• Whole almonds.
• Bramley apple.
• Orange. You can use 2 clementines instead.
• Cointreau

Day 2

• Eggs. This recipes uses medium sized. See notes in recipe card for weight.
• Suet. I use fresh shredded beef suet from the butcher to guarantee a gluten-free suet of high quality but you can use store bought – although make sure to check the labelling for gluten-free.
• Dark chocolate. I use 70% dark chocolate.
• Light muscovado sugar. You can sub for light brown soft sugar.
• Breadcrumbs. Use gluten-free if you need to.
• Teff flour. As above.
• Tapioca starch. As above.
• Cocoa powder.
• Baking powder.
• Mixed spice. If you can’t get hold of it then use this British Mixed Spice recipe.
• Salt

For the Christmas Pudding Sauce

• Butter.
• Sweet rice flour. You can sub for cassava flour. Or even wheat flour if you don’t need it to be gluten-free.
• Whole milk.
• Caster sugar.
• Double cream. (heavy cream).
• Cointreau. Or you can sub for an alternative orange liqueur.
• Vanilla extract.

How to make the pudding

For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post. 

Day 1

Mix all the dry ingredients with the Cointreau in a large bowl. Cover and leave to marinate overnight.

Day 2

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir together really well.

Top Tip. I know we’re all about Stir-Up Sunday but since this recipe takes a couple of days to make you will need to start prepping on the Saturday. Stir-Up Saturday if you will. This means you can do the final bit of work and the big steam on the Sunday rather than the job bleeding into your working week.

How to prepare the pudding bowl for the steam

• Butter a pudding bowl.
• Slice an orange finely, tucking the slices into the bottom of the bowl.
• Fill the pudding bowl with the pudding mixture.
• Take a large square of greaseproof paper and lie a piece of foil on top, make a fold in the centre of both pieces which allows for more room for the steam to rise. Place these over the top of the prepared pudding bowl, with the foil on top, securing with a piece of string around the pudding. Trim off any excess paper and foil, you don't want them to hanging too low as otherwise they will soak up the water during the steam.

How to steam the pudding

• Place a wire rack (or a folded up tea towel) into a large lidded pot, deep enough to cover the pudding. Then place the pudding on top of the rack.
• Fill the pot up with boiling water until halfway up the pudding.
• The water should not touch the greaseproof paper or foil otherwise they will soak it up and the pudding will go soggy. Place the lid on the pot and turn the heat on so the water is kept at a simmer.

How long to steam the pudding

The Chocolate Orange Christmas Pudding should steam for four hours. Although check the water level occasionally and top up if necessary.

How to store your Gluten Free Choc Orange Christmas Pudding

Remove the pudding from its cooking pot then leave to cool. Once cool re-wrap the pudding in fresh greaseproof paper and foil and store in a cool dark place until Christmas Day.

The Christmas Pudding can be stored in this way for up to 2 months.

How to re-heat the pudding

Some strict advice here. I don’t recommend re-heating your pudding in the microwave on Christmas Day. This method is fine for cheeky leftovers in between Christmas and New Year but it shouldn’t be the way you serve your pudding initially. It just doesn’t give as good a result and you’ll ruin all your hard work of making your own pudding by blasting it in the microwave.

So, on Christmas Day the puddings will need to be re-heated by steaming in the same way as the initial steam. However, this time your puddings will only need 2 hours. Make sure to reserve a hob whilst you are making the lunch.

How to serve

Don’t let your Chocolate Orange Christmas Pudding sit after it has finished steaming.

Place a serving plate over the top of the Christmas Pudding bowl and insert the pudding onto the plate. Serve immediately, otherwise Christmas puddings can get a little stodgy.

Accompany your pudding with the Homemade Cointreau Sauce.

How to make the Cointreau Sauce.

• Make a roux with the melted butter and the sweet rice flour.
• Pour in the milk gradually and bring the sauce up to a gentle boil. Add the sugar and continue cooking for about 10 minutes.
• Pour in the cream and bring the sauce to a low simmer.
• Finally turn off heat and add the Cointreau.
• Serve hot with the Christmas pudding.

Make the sauce ahead

You can make the Cointreau Sauce up to 3 days ahead of the day you want to serve it. Store in the fridge in an airtight container and re-heat by bringing it up to a gentle simmer on the hob.

Shop the recipe

• 70% Dark Chocolate
• Gluten-Free Teff Flour
• Gluten-Free Tapioca Flour
• 1.1lt Pudding Basin
• Bakers Twine

Alternative serving accompaniments

• Christmas Pudding and Custard. What an incredible combination. Try this Gluten-Free Homemade Custard.
• There is always an outlier that requires ice cream with their pud. Try this Gingerbread Ice Cream for a festive treat.
• Cold single cream, brandy cream, brandy sauce or brandy butter are other equally delicious choices.

More gluten-free Christmas recipes you’ll love

• Traditional Christmas Pudding {gluten-free}
• Gluten-Free Mince Pies
• Bramley Apple Mincemeat Pudding
• Glazed Christmas Ham
• Gluten-Free Christmas Cake
• Almond & Mincemeat Christmas Sponge Cake
• Gluten-Free Mincemeat Muffins
• Cranberry Cream Tart
• Chocolate Cranberry Clementine Cake
• Mince Pie Cupcakes
• Chestnut Brownies
• Frangipane Mince Pies
• Gluten-Free Trifle with Lemon and Raspberry
• Gluten-Free Christmas Cookies

If you do fancy ringing in the changes this year then I urge you to give this Chocolate Orange Christmas Pudding a go, and if you do then please leave a comment below and/or give the recipe a rating. If you use this recipe as a jumping off point for your own twist on the Christmas pud then I’d also love it if you’d share your version and tag me on instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your creations and variations of my recipes.

Chocolate Orange Christmas Pudding with Cointreau Sauce {gluten-free}

Georgina Hartley

This Chocolate Orange Christmas Pudding with Cointreau Sauce is a delightful alternative take on the Christmas Pudding.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 1 day d

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Servings 10 people

Calories 563 kcal

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

Day One

• ▢ 115 g sultanas
• ▢ 115 g currants
• ▢ 100 g dried cranberries
• ▢ 20 g mixed peel
• ▢ 40 g whole almonds - chopped up
• ▢ 1 grated bramley apple - about 250g
• ▢ 1 orange - + 1 extra for decoration
• ▢ 50 ml Cointreau

Day 2

• ▢ 2 eggs - medium, see notes
• ▢ 80 g fresh shredded suet*
• ▢ 125 g chocolate chips
• ▢ 115 g light muscovado sugar
• ▢ 80 g gluten-free breadcrumbs
• ▢ 80 g teff flour - see notes
• ▢ 20 g tapioca starch (flour) - see notes
• ▢ 25 g cocoa powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground mixed spice - see notes
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt

Cointreau Sauce

• ▢ 40 g butter
• ▢ 40 g sweet rice flour - glutinous rice flour, see notes
• ▢ 500 ml whole milk
• ▢ 40 g caster sugar
• ▢ 150 ml double cream
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Cointreau
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

 

• Mix everything from the Day 1 list of ingredients, including the zest and juice of 1 of the oranges, in a large mixing bowl. Cover and leave to marinate overnight.
• Add the rest of the ingredients from Day 2 and stir together really well.
• Butter a pudding bowl, and slice half of the extra orange very thinly, tucking 3 of the slices into the bottom of the basin.
• Fill the pudding bowl with the pudding mixture then prepare the bowl for the steam.
• Take a large piece of greaseproof paper and lie a piece of foil on top, make a fold in the centre of both pieces which allows for more room for the steam to rise. Place these over the top of the pudding bowl, with the foil on top, securing with string around the pudding. Trim off any excess paper and foil, you don't want them to hanging too low as otherwise they will soak up the water during the steam.
• Place a wire rack (or a folded up tea towel) into a large lidded pot, deep enough to cover the pudding. Then place the pudding on top of the rack.
• Fill the pot up with boiling water until halfway up the pudding. The water should not touch the greaseproof paper or foil otherwise they will soak it up and the pudding will go soggy. Place the lid on the pot and turn the heat on so the water is kept at a simmer.
• Steam for four hours, checking the water level occasionally and topping up if necessary.
• Remove the pudding from the pot then leave to cool. Once cool re-wrap the pudding in fresh greaseproof paper and foil and store in a cool dark place until Christmas Day.
• On Christmas Day re-heat the pudding by steaming again on the wire rack in the pot, the same way as before. Your pudding will only need two hours this time.
• Turn your pudding out onto a serving plate and serve immediately with the Cointreau sauce.

Cointreau Sauce

• Melt the butter in a large saucepan then add the sweet rice flour.
• Pour in the milk gradually and bring the sauce up to a gentle boil. Add the sugar and continue cooking for about 10 minutes.
• Pour in the cream and bring the sauce to a low simmer.
• Finally turn off heat and add the Cointreau. Serve hot with the Christmas pudding.

Notes

Suet

It’s just not possible to buy gluten-free pre-packaged suet (unless you choose the vegetarian suet which is not my favourite ingredient. So do speak to your local butcher about obtaining fresh suet. It will come in a solid block which you will need to grate with a bit of gluten-free flour so that it can evenly disperse throughout the mincemeat.

Flour substitutions

• If you don’t want to use these gluten-free flours then you can replace with the same amount of wheat flour. The results will not be affected at all.
• Teff flour > You can swap for oat flour, sorghum flour or buckwheat flour.
• Tapioca starch > You can swap for arrowroot powder, potato starch or cornflour.
• You can swap the same quantity of teff flour + tapioca starch for your favourite brand of all-purpose gluten-free flour or my Homemade Gluten-Free Flour Blend.
• The sweet rice flour in the Cointreau Sauce can be subbed for cassava flour but I don’t recommend using an all-purpose gluten-free flour here as they don’t make the best sauces.

Mixed Spice

I urge you to make your own mixed spice which tastes so much better than shop bought. This recipe is also ideal if you can't find it in your local grocery store British Mixed Spice Recipe.

Eggs

The eggs used in this recipe are medium size, 60g with shell and 50g without shell. If you can't get hold of medium eggs I suggest you weigh the amount.

Make the Cointreau Sauce ahead

You can make it up to 3 days ahead of the day you want to serve it. Store in the fridge in an airtight container and re-heat by bringing it up to a gentle simmer on the hob.

Re-heating the Christmas Pudding

I don’t recommend re-heating your pudding in the microwave on Christmas Day. This method is fine for cheeky leftovers in between Christmas and New Year but it shouldn’t be the way you serve your pudding initially. It just doesn’t give as good a result and you’ll ruin all your hard work of making your own pudding by blasting it in the microwave.

Ingredient measurements

• US customary measurements for the ingredients provided are based on a conversion calculator. This recipe was tested with metric measurements and I recommend using a digital scale to weigh ingredients for the most accurate results. READ MORE >>> Why you should always weigh vs measuring with cups

Nutrition information

Please note that the nutrition information provided below is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use. Please seek a professional nutritionist’s advice for further clarification.

The nutrition serving is for 1 serving of pudding with Cointreau Sauce, assuming it is portioned into 10 servings. 

Nutrition

Calories: 563kcalCarbohydrates: 78gProtein: 8gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 146mgPotassium: 423mgFiber: 5gSugar: 53gVitamin A: 495IUVitamin C: 1.8mgCalcium: 158mgIron: 2.3mg

Have you tried this recipe?Head to the comment section and let me know what you think!