Sticky Toffee Christmas Pudding
Rich, festive Sticky Toffee Christmas Pudding with steaming and make-ahead tips. Perfect for Christmas Dinner. Gluten-free and nut-free.
Servings: 10 people
Calories: 729kcal
Ingredients
- 225 g medjool dates (about 17)
- 120 g raisins
- 1 apple peeled and grated
- 1 orange zest
- 1 lemon zest
- 80 ml brandy
- 80 ml rum
- 3 eggs medium
- 125 g gluten-free suet
- 1 tablespoon black treacle
- 2 balls stem ginger
- 250 g homemade gluten-free flour blend FTL Blend
- 120 g dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 100 g gluten-free breadcrumbs
Sticky Toffee Sauce
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 140 g dark brown sugar
- 240 g double cream
- 2 teaspoons black treacle
Instructions
- Stone and dice the dates. Combine the diced dates, raisins, apple, citrus zest, brandy and rum in a large mixing bowl.
- Stir well, cover and leave the mixture to soak for at least 2 hours but it can be overnight so the fruit plumps up and the flavour deepens.
- Add the eggs, suet, treacle and stem ginger to the fruit mixture and stir until well-combined.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the gluten-free flour, brown sugar, spices, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt and whisk together.
- Tip the dry ingredients into the large bowl of wet ingredients and mix well. Finally add the breadcrumbs and stir in. The mixture should be soft, thick and spoonable.
- Lightly grease a 1.1 litre pudding basin then spoon the Christmas pudding mixture in.
- Cover the basin with a layer of baking parchment and foil, pleated in the centre to allow for expansion.
- Secure the ‘lid’ with kitchen string around the rim then trim the excess parchment and foil as you don’t want it to touch the water during the steam.
- Place a trivet or upturned saucer in the base of a large cooking pot and sit the pudding basin on top.
- Pour water into the side of the pot to reach halfway up the pudding basin and cover the pot with a tight fitting lid.
- Steam the Christmas pudding for 2 ½ hours, checking occasionally to top up with more water as needed.
- Remove the basin from the cooking pot and rest on a trivet, remove the parchment, foil and carefully insert from the pudding basin either onto a serving dish to serve immediately or onto a cooling rack to allow to cool completely for chilling or freezing.
- If you are freezing your pudding then double wrap with cling film (plastic wrap) and aluminium foil. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months, allow to thaw overnight at room temperature.
- Re-heat the Christmas pudding to serve. Unwrap from the cling film and foil and place the pudding back into a pudding basin with a new lid made with fresh baking parchment and foil, as before, securing with string.
- Repeat the steaming process but this time you only need to steam for 1 hour to re-heat (if the pudding is at room temperature).
- Turn the warm pudding out on a plate and serve with the Sticky Toffee Sauce poured over the top. Pour over half the amount of the sauce and serve the other half on the table for guests to add a little extra.
Sticky Toffee Sauce
- Melt the butter in a small/medium saucepan over a low/medium heat.
- Whisk in the brown sugar and continue whisking until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce is smooth. It should take about 3-5 minutes.
- Pour in the double cream slowly and whisk in to combine.
- Once hot (not boiling), stir in the black treacle until melted. Then remove from the heat and the sauce is ready to serve.
Video
Notes
Storing: This Christmas Pudding is not shelf stable at room temperature once cooked (unlike more traditional Christmas Pudding recipes). If you want to make ahead you need to store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze. I personally don’t recommend freezing in the pudding basin as too much can go wrong with freezing ceramic. Once you have turned the pudding out of the basin then allow to cool completely and make sure to double wrap in both cling film and aluminium foil to avoid spoilage. Thaw overnight at room temperature before unwrapping.
Re-heating: Place the pudding back into the pudding basin, with a new parchment foil lid. If the pudding was at room temperature then it will take 1 hour to re-steam. If the pudding was from the fridge then it will take about 75 minutes to re-steam. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out hot to the touch.
Eggs. The eggs used in this recipe are medium size, 60g each with shell and 50g without shell. If you can't get hold of medium eggs I suggest you weigh the amount.
Gluten-Free Flour – FTL Blend: This recipe uses my Homemade Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour and I don’t recommend substituting. It is a balanced mix of wholegrain and starchy flours, eliminating the need for xanthan gum. The blend includes sweet rice flour, sorghum flour, oat flour, and tapioca flour, providing structure and texture without extra binders. For substitution tips, check the original post for this flour mix.
- This recipe provides enough Sticky Toffee Sauce so you can serve the Christmas Pudding with half the amount poured over the top of the whole pudding for serving, then the rest served in a jug on the centre of the table for extra individual pouring.
- The Sticky Toffee Sauce can be made up to a week in advance and stored in the fridge in an airtight container. Re-heat in a low-medium saucepan, whisking until smooth.
Nutrition
Calories: 729kcal | Carbohydrates: 85g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 128mg | Sodium: 153mg | Potassium: 490mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 48g | Vitamin A: 1000IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 128mg | Iron: 2mg