Gluten-free Christmas pudding
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- over 2 hours
- Serve
- Serves 10
Yes, a Christmas pudding that's free from: dairy, wheat, gluten and soya; plus it can easily be made egg and nut free, too.
Ingredients
For the dry ingredients
- raisins: 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú raisins
- currants: 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú currants
- sultanas: 50g/2oz sultanas
- prunes: 50g/2oz prunes, chopped
- apricots: 50g/2oz apricots or figs, chopped
- peel: 25g/¾oz fresh or dried mixed peel
- flaked almonds: 50g/2oz flaked almonds or, if you cannot eat nuts, sunflower seeds
- pear: 150g/5oz fresh pear, puréed in a food processor, with the skin on
- ground ginger: 1 level teaspoon each of ground ginger and cinnamon
- mace: ½ level teaspoon ground mace
- suet: 25g/1oz gluten-free vegetable suet
For the wet ingredients
- baking powder: 2 eggs OR if you cannot eat eggs, 2 heaped tsp of wheat-free and gluten-free baking powder
- : 150ml/5fl oz of apple or pear juice OR 100ml/3½oz apple or pear juice and 50ml/2fl oz brandy
For the flour
- : 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú gluten-free and wheat-free flour OR 50g/2oz each of gram flour and 50g/2oz of rice flour
Method
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Beat the eggs (if you are using them) with the juice and brandy, if you are using it, and stir it into the dry mixture.
Sieve the flours together with the baking powder (if you are using it instead of the eggs).
Fold the flour very thoroughly into the fruit.
Spoon the mixture into a pudding basin, cover with doubled greaseproof paper and tie with a string or rubber bands.
Put the basin in a deep pan, pour in water to halfway up the bowl, cover the pan tightly and simmer for 4-5 hours, checking the water level periodically.
Remove basin from the pot, discard the greaseproof paper and cover it with new. Allow to cool, then store in a cool larder.
To serve, re-steam for 1-2 hours or reheat in a microwave for 3-5 minutes.
