Wealden Times | WT178 | December 2016 | Interiors supplement inside

Food
Queen of Christmas Puddings
Serves 8-10. Prep time 40 mins. Cooking time 1 hour 30 mins.
• 900ml full fat milk
• 40g butter
• 2 lemons – zested
• 80g caster sugar
• 5 egg yolks – whisked
• 160g panettone
• 12 red plums – stoned
& quartered
• 6tbsp brown sugar
• 2tbsp sherry or water
• 4 egg whites
• 220g caster sugar
1. Pre-heat oven to 170˚C.
2. Roast the plums, sprinkled with brown sugar and a
little sherry till they are soft; then leave to cool.
3. To make the custard base, place the milk, butter,
sugar and lemon zest in a saucepan over a low heat,
and stir till the butter and sugar are melted. Crumb
the panettone in an electric blender and sprinkle the
crumbs over the base of a 2 litre pudding dish. Add
the whisked egg to the milk and pour over the crumbs.
Leave until the crumbs have absorbed the custard.
4. Next bake the custard in a bain marie
for 30-40 minutes till set.
5. Set oven to 150˚C.
6. Whisk the egg whites till stiff, add a spoonful of sugar
and continue to whisk before adding the next spoonful
and continue until all the sugar is incorporated.
7. Spoon the roasted plums over the baked custard, but do not
add any of the plum juices. Next, spoon or pipe the meringue
mixture over the plums and bake for 40-50 minutes.
8. I would serve this with cream.
wealdentimes.co.uk
128