Boozy cherry bakewell custard pudding

Whenever I get asked to make a pudding for something I’ve usually done Nigella’s trashy lime cheesecake.  It’s failsafe, and everyone seems to love it. But when we go to friends’ houses with puddings, there’s always other lime puddings or cheesecakes. The same with my back up pavlovas or gooey chocolate brownies.  But a couple of years ago at Christmas I discovered this Boozy cherry bakewell custard pudding.  It was made as an alternative to christmas pudding, and went down really well.

I made it again this year for a new year’s day get together, and similarly it was a success (although it did look less pretty than usual).

It’s a really unusual pudding.  It’s more like a firm custard.  It’s a bit magical because it’s a really liquid mix and firms up to a firm cheesecakey structure.  I suppose an egg custard filling is a similar texture.  Don’t panic to see how liquid and gloopy the mix appears before you cook it. It will work. You end up with a slight sponge texture around the outside, with the smoother custard in the middle.

If you’re serving the pudding to children, then leave out the extra alcohol – the kirsch on top is fine as it’s only a drizzle (well, none of the kids who’ve had mine have got sozzled from it!).

Don’t do as I did and taste the toasted almonds before checking the best before date – bleurgh. Let’s j ust say my larder had almonds from 2007, 2009 and 2012, so I gave up sprinkling those on the top!

If you’re not keen on cherries (my OH!), then you could try making it a citrus flavour and add orange slices and some Cointreau instead.

Why not take a look at these similar posts.