Edward's Warm Apple and Plum Pudding

Nothing says the holiday season like a warm pudding. Toss in apples and plums and you can pretty much hear Santa's bells ! The kicker though is to top it off with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream and then a generous drizzle of warm caramel sauce.
My oh my !

This altered recipe comes from one of my British baking cookbooks The Great British Book of Baking and I absolutely love it. After tasting it I actually equated it to " having a bite of Christmas itself". All the flavors are there: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove . The apples and plums add a lovely consistency and sweet flavor. The pudding part itself is a thick batter that is golden, rich and sheer perfection.

I wish I had more pics to share with you but I don't. It was overcast that day and though I intended to set up some artificial lighting the pudding was gone before I had a chance to do so. So just go with this one and only pic plus my written guarantee that you will ADORE this !

Ready? Let's get started

RECIPE:
* altered source recipe Edward's Warm Apple and Plum Pudding, The Great British Book of Baking

WHAT YOU NEED

PUDDING

115g unsalted butter at room temperature
175g golden brown sugar
1 medium egg, lightly beaten
150g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1⁄2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
pinch of cloves
100g pecans or walnuts, finely chopped
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1 cm pieces
3 plums, halved, stoned and cut into 1 cm pieces
2 tablespoons chopped glacé ginger or 1 tablespoon of ginger syrup

CARAMEL SAUCE

200g granulated sugar
225ml whipping cream, at room temperature
20g unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

MAKE IT

MAKE PUDDING

PREHEAT oven to 350F
GREASE Grease an 8" springform pan with cooking spray and line base with parchment paper.

IN BOWL OF STAND MIXER, fitted with paddle attachment, add butter and beat on MED speed for 2-3 minutes until light and creamy
ADD sugar and continue to beat MED speed for another 2-3 minutes
ADD egg and mix to combine
IN MEDIUM BOWL, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and spices
FOLD dry ingredients into butter mixture and blend until combined
GENTLY fold in apples, plums, nuts and ginger
DOLLOP batter into prepared pan (yes it will be super thick!) and smooth top.
BAKE for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and sponge springs back when lightly pressed. While baking, proceed to making the caramel sauce below
WHEN PUDDING IS DONE, REMOVE pan from oven, run a round-bladed knife around inside to loosen sponge, and unmould. Serve on a warmed serving plate

MAKE SAUCE

IN SMALL DOUBLE BOILER, add sugar and continue to stir of low-med heat until it starts to melt and turn golden brown. Be careful not to burn it.
WHEN SUGAR IS A RICH GOLDEN BROWN, remove from heat and stir in cream. Be careful as the cream will splatter
RETURN to heat and gently stir until any large chunks are dissolved. The mixture will continue to darken slightly and thicken
WHEN the sauce is smooth remove from heat and stir in butter and extract
SPOON over warm pudding

ENJOY !