Mini Christmas Puddings

Directions

For the Puddings

1. Preheat oven to 160C/140C fan.

2. In a bowl, combine all the dried fruit with the orange juice and leave to soak in the fridge overnight.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, breadcrumbs, sugar, baking powder, spices and salt.

4. Add the soaked dried fruit along with any orange juice left over in the bowl, then add the aquafaba and orange zest. Mix until everything is evenly combines.

5. Grease 3 mini pudding basins* and line the bases with a circle of parchment paper.

6. Divide the mixture between the basins and pack down firmly.

7. Cut 4 squares of parchment paper and 4 equal squares of foil (make sure the squares are large enough to cover the top of the basins). Lay one of the parchment paper squares on top of one of the foil squares. Fold a pleat in the middle of each sheet (this is necessary to give the puddings space to expand). Repeat the process for the other 3 puddings.

8. Tie a length of string around the basin to keep paper and foil in place. Cut off any excess paper/foil below the string.

9. Stand the basins in a roasting tin, then fill halfway with boiling water ensuring it doesn’t touch the paper/foil covers.

10. Bake for 2-3 hours checking the water level occasionally in case it needs topping up. They’re ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

To Make the Fondant Icing

1. Sieve 250g of Whitworths fondant icing sugar into a large bowl (reserve 1 tablespoon).

2. Make a well in the centre and add 1 tablespoons of water.

3. Using a wooden spoon, mix the sugar and water to form a smooth paste.

4. Gradually draw in more of the fondant icing sugar to create a thick paste. If necessary, add more drops of water and continue mixing until the mixture forms a ball (it should not be sticky or too dry).

5. Transfer to a clean work surface with the reserved icing sugar and knead until smooth.
6. Roll out and cut drip shapes and gently place on top of your puddings**.

Tips

1. *I used mini pudding basins with the capacity of ‎209 Millilitres.

2. ** You can brush a little bit of warmed jam on top of the puddings to help the fondant icing stick to the top better.