Spiced Apple Pudding
for Christmas pudding haters and lovers!
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Spiced Apple Pudding with Brandy Cream & Apple Crisps
I love everything about Christmas, from decorating our home, planning festive menus, hosting family feasts and supper clubs with old and new friends, creating the perfect gift list (slightly stressful but after all that work I will be sharing some great festive ideas with you soon…) to our special family tradition of enjoying The Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House. I even enjoy watching all the cheesy movies alongside tearjerkers like We are going on a bear hunt. But I simply cannot stand the dense and cloying nature of the traditional Christmas Pudding. Even the process of preparing it weeks in advance, I find unnecessary, tedious and a potential health hazard. I prefer a lighter pudding especially after the excesses of Christmas.
But I am not here to convince you to stop enjoying traditional Christmas Pudding if you adore it. I am simply offering an alternative especially for those like me who dread the part of the evening where they have to pretend to be full, just to escape the pud, and then try hard to forget the leftover pudding set aside for them to take home, and when all else fails, the pudding most likely ends up in the bin. Yes, now you know my secret!
I am not against tradition, far from it, and as a lover of tradition, I made this Spiced Apple Pudding in honour of Stir-up Sunday. Traditionally a Christian celebration calling for the family to come together in preparation for Christmas. It has since developed into a day for preparing the all-important Christmas pudding. The name is inspired by the Catholic prayer, “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people”.
Light and super moist with apples, spiced with warming ginger and cinnamon, and drenched in brandy cream, this pudding has got the star power to satisfy and enchant at your Christmas table. Don’t just take my word for it, try it now!
What’s cooking on @leratofoods
I recently shared a recipe for green beans inspired by the arresting flavours of spicy and zesty Mozambiquan piri piri. Say goodbye to boring greens with this knock-out side dish.
Smoky, Spicy & Sweet Green Beans
Green beans can be rather uninspiring I admit, but so is rice or potatoes. I believe that if we stop treating it as the unimportant ‘side show’ destined to be boiled and unseasoned, then of course that’s all it’s ever going to be. I choose to see it as I would most other ingredients, as a foundation for delicious, well seasoned and flavourful food. Just in case you missed it, do check out this recipe I recently shared on Instagram, for a smoky, spicy and sweet green bean dish to serve alongside your favourite roasts. I intend to serve this alongside our family Christmas feast this year.
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