No Bake Christmas Pudding

Karen Wright's 'No Bake Christmas Pudding' recipe is light, yet very rich and can be enjoyed after a Christmas feast. The extras that go into the filling can be adjusted to taste. This recipe uses the Cartwright and Butler Extra thick Milk Chocolate salted caramel biscuits and Salted Caramel hot chocolate beads to create a delicious after dinner dessert. This recipe is to be prepared over two days, and hopefully will relieve some of the Christmas Day stress. 

Method 

Day 1 (filling) 

Grease a 1 litre basin and line with 2 layers of cling film (tip: bunch a clean tea towel up and use to press the cling film into place) ensure cling film protrudes to cover the filling once partially frozen. 

Whip the cream to soft peaks. In a Bain Marie (basin over a pan of water, ensuring water does not touch the basin) melt the chocolate and drinking chocolate beans. Leave until cool. Then carefully fold the chocolate into the cream. Add the liqueur if using to a bowl containing the dried fruit and the orange zest, this will plump the fruits. Then carefully fold in all the filling ingredients to the cream and chocolate mixture. 

Fill the lined basin with the filling and place uncovered into the freezer. After an hour or so when the filling has started to freeze cover it with the overlapping cling film. Leave in the freezer overnight. 

Day 2 

Place the dark chocolate and the salted caramel drinking chocolate beans into a pan with the cream. On the lowest heat, warm the cream very gently. When the chocolate starts to melt, turn off the heat and leave until it is all melted, stir occasionally. Leave to thicken slightly and cool. 

Take the basin out of the freezer. Fill a bowl with warm water and place the frozen basin in it, ensure that the water level is much lower than our frozen basin. After a minute or so take the frozen basin and using a butter knife ease the blade between the glass and the clingfilm to help it to release. The heat from the water and gentle encouragement will mean that you can get the dessert out of the basin and remove the cling film. 

Place the frozen pudding on a cooling rack set over a tray to catch the drips of chocolate. 

Pour or spoon the ganache over the pudding. The frozen pudding will set the chocolate ganache quite quickly so help it cover with a small offset spatula. Leave to set. 

Once set if you wish to tidy and smooth it warm an offset spatula in the flame of a gas hob and smooth the ganache. 

To make the white chocolate, place the chocolate in a Bain Marie and add a couple of tablespoons of double cream. White chocolate can be tricky to melt so use a little more cream if necessary. Once it is fluid place in a piping bag, snip the end about a cm and top the pudding, allowing it to drip like brandy sauce down a traditional pudding. (Tip, if the pudding is very cold it will allow the white chocolate to set in drips rather than run all the way down the pudding.) 

Carefully remove to a serving plate (use cake lifter if available) 

To Decorate

Dot C&B Salted Caramel drinking chocolate balls around the white chocolate. With a piping bag with star nozzle use left over dark chocolate ganache to pipe a border around the bottom. Sprinkle salt crystals around the top and border. Add a few drinking chocolate beads on top of the piped ganache. Finally, fashion holly leaves from the green marzipan or fondant and top with a cherry (or use fresh holly or artificial).

Created by GBBO's Karen Wright