Not being a huge fan of Christmas puddings I wanted to make something that was more of an alternative to the hundreds of traditional recipes already on the internet. I love how these puddings look so cute and are just the right size for individual portions.
Ingredients
- 80g dark chocolate
- 140g butter
- 100ml sour cream
- 3 eggs
- 140g self raising flour
- 140g caster sugar
- 100g ground almonds
- 4 tbsp cocoa
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 70g dried berries
- 2 tbsp milk (If needed)
- 250g icing sugar
- 1 tsp custard powder
- 2 tbsp brandy
- 5 glace cherries
One or two 12-hole deep muffin tins
Method
- Heat oven to 190°C/fan 170ºC/gas 5.
- Line the muffin tin with two strips of baking parchment in a cross shape. This helps you get them out at the end. If you use a muffin case you wont get the smooth outside.
- Melt the chocolate and butter over a low heat. Stir to cool a little bit and then mix in the sour cream and eggs. Weigh out the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir in the chocolate mixture until smooth. Then add the berries. If you think the mixture is a little bit stiff then add some milk to loosen it. You are looking for a dropping consistency.
Spoon into the muffin holes so they are ¾ full, then bake for 15 minutes or until a knife stuck into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the tins.- Mix the icing sugar and custard powder with the brandy to make a thick icing with no lumps. Remove the muffins from the tins and cool on a rack. Cut off any rounded tops, stand upside-down on the rack, then spoon icing over. To get it to dribble down the side I used a tooth pick to persuade it over the edge.
- Cut up some glace cherries to decorate on top!
About Our Expert Contributor
Meg Davies has been an enthusiastic home baker from a very young age. Now at university in Birmingham, she has been studying Food & Consumer Management for two years. She loves to come up with fun & interesting recipes that are easy for everyone to make at home and is in the process of making her own website charting her baking adventures.ne to make at home and is in the process of making her own website charting her baking adventures.