This recipe was the first recipe I wrote back in October, just in time for Christmas and the one which I have been looking forward to making ever since. I even bought some cute holly and berries from Amazon, to top them with and I was pleased with myself because I had never seen this kind of take on a Christmas pudding before; that is until this week when one of the girls from Instagram (Sarah) stole the idea right out of my head – don’t you just hate it when that happens? 😉 You can view Sarah’s take on the mini Christmas pudding here and they do sound delicious.

My mini figgy puddings are more of a traditional Christmas pudding though, sadly without the alcohol, but you can use brandy or Cointreau in yours if you prefer. All you will have to do is soak the fruit in the alcohol and leave it for a few days to a week if you want a more potent pudding.

I was very pleased with how these mini figgy puddings turned out, they were full of flavour from the fruit and spices and it all paired perfectly with the white chocolate topping. The best thing about these mini figgy puddings is that you don’t have to steam them or bake them for hours on end which means you can eat them as soon as you make them – winning! As this recipe is versatile, you could even fill ramekins and make proper mini figgy puddings, topped with brandy sauce too.

If you are wondering where you can buy your dried fruit and nuts without spending a fortune, I get all mine from Lidl; they sell 250g bag of dry fruit for just 99p and 500g bags of nuts for just over £1.

Ingredients

• 100g Dried Figs
• 100g Dates
• 100g Sultanas
• 50g St Clemente Marmalade
• 50gWhite Chocolate
• 50g Walnuts
• 20g Chia Seeds
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Mixed Spice/Pumpkin Spice
• 1 tbsp Lemon Zest
• 1 Tbsp Cornflour
• 45ml Brandy
• 1/3 Cup HoneY
• Holly & Berry Toppings (optional)
• Mini Cases 

Directions

Place all the dried fruit into a jar or container, add the chia seeds into a separate jar or container and pour in the water or brandy, then cover and place the jar in the fridge overnight. If you are using the alcohol, you would benefit more if you leave the fruit soak for a day or two.

When you are ready to make your mini Christmas puddings, drain the fruit into a bowl and save 2 tablespoons of the brandy before adding it to a food processor along with the dried fruit and chia seeds; making sure you blend the fruit until they are a thick, sticky puree. Now add in the honey, lemon zest, cinnamon and cornflour.  You can fold in some halved sultanas, if you want them to have a more traditional look, if not then just leave them out.

Now for the fun part or not so fun part if you don’t like getting your hands dirty. Take 1 tbsp of the mixture and roll into a ball, then place the ball on to some greaseproof paper and continue this method until all the mixture has been used and you have 18 mini figgy puddings. Pop the mini puddings into the freezer for 5-10 minutes, this is optional but it will help the puddings set quicker and also the chocolate when you add it.

Next, take the white chocolate and cut it into smaller chunks, place half of the chocolate into a microwaveable bowl and pop it into the microwave on high for 30 seconds. When finished, stir the chocolate and continue to cook for another 30 seconds before adding the second half of the chunked up chocolate – this time there is no need to heat the chocolate, just stir until the cold chocolate has melted into the hot white chocolate. This method is called tempering and it just saves the chocolate from blooming and turning a not so appetising dull colour the next day.

All that’s left now is to add the white chocolate icing, lastly, top with your holly and berry, take a pretty picture and tag me on Instagram: @TheHungryWelshGirl. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family did.