Mini Plum Puddings

By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

31 people added this to their Recipe Box

This recipe makes 12 servings

Nutritional Info
Per each of 12 servings: about	-
cal	555555 cal
pro	7 g7g pro
total fat	28 g28g total fat
sat. fat	13 g13g sat. fat
carb	73 g73g carb
fibre	4 g4g fibre
chol	112 mg112mg chol
sodium	425 mg425mg sodium
% RDI:	-
calcium	99 calcium
iron	1919 iron
vit A	2121 vit A
vit C	2323 vit C
folate	1313 folate

Sweet and oh so cute, these little steamed desserts are anything but old-fashioned.

Ingredients

1 cup seeded raisins , (lexia)1 1cup cupseeded raisinraisins, (lexia)
1 cup currants 1 1cup cupcurrantcurrants
1 cup raisins , (Thompson raisins)1 1cup cupraisinraisins or chopped prunes, (Thompson raisins)
1 cup chopped candied mixed peel 1 1cup cupchopped candied mixed peel
1 1cup cupbrandy or dark rum, (or 1/3 cup/75 mL orange juice)
1 1cup cupwhole blanched almondwhole blanched almonds, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup butter , softened3/4 3/4cup cupbutter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar 3/4 3/4cup cuppacked brown sugar
3 eggs 3 3eggeggs
1 cup fresh bread crumbs 1 1cup cupfresh bread crumbs
1 cup all-purpose flour 1 1cup cupall-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda 1 1tsp tspbaking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 1/2tsp tspground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 1/2tsp tspnutmeg
1/2 tsp salt 1/2 1/2tsp tspsalt
1/4 tsp ground cloves 1/4 1/4tsp tspground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger 1/4 1/4tsp tspground ginger
Toffee Sauce:
2/3 cup packed brown sugar 2/3 2/3cup cuppacked brown sugar
2/3 cup whipping cream 2/3 2/3cup cupwhipping cream
1/4 cup butter 1/4 1/4cup cupbutter

Preparation

1- Toffee Sauce: In saucepan, bring sugar, cream and butter to boil; reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir until smooth. (Make-ahead: Let cool; refrigerate in airtight container for up to 24 hours. Gently reheat to use.)

2- In large bowl, combine seeded raisins, currants, raisins, mixed peel and brandy. Cover and let stand for 24 hours, stirring occasionally. Stir in almonds.

3- Grease six 1-cup (250 mL) Bundt pans or ramekins; line bottom of each with circle of parchment paper. Set aside.

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. In separate bowl, whisk together bread crumbs, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, cloves and ginger; stir into butter mixture alternately with fruit mixture, making 3 additions of flour mixture and 2 of fruit.

Pack into prepared pans, smoothing tops. Place circle of waxed paper directly on surface. Cover with double-thickness foil; press down side. Tightly tie string around outside just under top edge.

4- Place pans on rack in large Dutch oven; pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up sides of pans. Cover and bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, adding boiling water as necessary to maintain level, until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean, about 1-1/2 hours.

5- Remove pans from water; let cool on rack for 10 minutes. Run knife around edges to loosen; turn out onto dessert plates. Serve with Toffee Sauce.

Additional information : Tip: You can wrap and refrigerate the puddings for up to 1 week or overwrap in foil and freeze for up to 1 month; thaw in refrigerator. To reheat, return to moulds, wrap and heat in water bath as directed.

Variation
Family-Size Christmas Pudding:
Scrape batter into greased 8-cup (2 L) pudding ring mould or 6-cup (1.5 L) pudding bowl. Place waxed paper directly on surface; cover with lid. To cover bowl, make 1-inch (2.5 cm) pleat across middle of large piece of foil and place over bowl. Press sides down; trim edge, leaving 2-inch (5 cm) overhang. Tie string securely around top of bowl; fold foil overhang up over string. Steam for 1-1/2 to 2 hours for ring mould, 2-1/2 to 3 hours for pudding bowl.

Source : Canadian Living Magazine: January 2009