Absolutely delicious and very simple to make Eggless Steamed Christmas Pudding recipe with detailed step-wise pictures! A very Christmassy recipe for a traditional holiday dessert.
We are at this year’s Christmas Eve and I have a very special recipe – Eggless Steamed Christmas Pudding. Last year, I shared my recipe for Eggless Christmas Fruit Cake and that’s a tradition we have kept for many years now. This year too, I planned on baking the fruit cake but then, I remembered that I have never made pudding and I wanted to give it a try. As with many of my baked recipes, this is egg-free too. And just like my Christmas bakes, this recipe is alcohol-free.
This Eggless Steamed Christmas Pudding is a take on the eggless version of the tradition Christmas Pudding. It is very similar to the fruit cake, in the process of soaking dry fruits and nuts, preparing the batter with all spice powders. The only exception is that this recipe is steamed instead of being baked. Although the texture of this pudding is cake-like, it is slightly dense with all the dry fruits and nuts. I followed this recipe and totally loved the outcome.
I made the Eggless Steamed Christmas Pudding two ways – steamed in my pressure cooker and also made a part of it in my oven. Both the outcomes were delightful, the steamed version much moister and softer. The baked version was very much like the fruit cake in texture but just softer – the batter of the pudding is slightly different from that of the fruit cake, but the results were almost similar.
To make this Eggless Steamed Christmas Pudding, there are a lot of ingredients. Don’t be intimidated by this long list, the recipe is very simple and straightforward. To get the best results, the dry fruits and nuts should be soaked for minimum a day. And the beautiful color of the pudding comes from the right caramel sauce. If you can nail these two techniques, making this pudding is a breeze. It is best to leave the pudding untouched for a day and then serve, for the flavors to seep in properly. So here are the dry fruits and nuts I used -
- Golden Raisins
- Dates
- Candied Orange Peel
- Cranberries
- Cherries
- Almonds
- Cashews
- Walnuts
And all of these soaked in fresh Orange Juice.
It is served with custard sauce traditionally, but I just went the easiest sprinkling of icing sugar and it was just perfect!
How to make Eggless Steamed Christmas Pudding
📖 Recipe
Eggless Steamed Christmas Pudding
MEASUREMENT
1 cup = 250ml, 1 tablespoon = 15ml, 1 teaspoon = 5ml
Ingredients
For Christmas Pudding –
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Fresh Bread Crumbs
- 1.5 cups Dry Fruits & Nuts (Raisins, Dates, Cranberries, Cherries, Candied Orange Peel, Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts)
- 1 cup Fresh Orange Juice
- 2 tablespoon Curd
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Clove Powder
- ½ tablespoon Butter to grease
For Caramel –
- 1 cup Sugar
- ½ cup Warm Water
Instructions
- Chop all the dry fruits and nuts into small pieces.
- Add them to fresh orange juice and mix well.
- Leave them for a day at the least at room temperature (and in fridge if hot) and let them plump up.
- To prepare the caramel, heat sugar in a thick bottomed pan on low flame.
- Slowly, the sugar starts to melt and caramelize from the edges. Don’t mix it and let it melt completely.
- If required you can shake the pan every few seconds. After about 4-5 mins, all sugar will be dissolved and caramelized. If you prefer a rich, dark pudding – caramelize the sugar until it is dark brown. Any further it will be too bitter.
- Remove it from heat and quickly add warm water. Stand away from the pan as it will splutter. Mix well and set it aside to cool.
- In a mixing bowl add all purpose flour and fresh bread crumbs. I used fresh multigrain bread and ground 4 slices to crumbs in my mixer.
- Add baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, cloves powder. Mix well.
- Add the soaked dry fruits & nuts to the caramel sauce and add curd, oil as well as vanilla essence. Mix well.
- To this wet mixture, add the dry mixture. Combine until there are no lumps.
- Prepare the pressure cooker by adding enough water at the bottom of it and place a stand. Bring the water to a slow boil.
- Prepare a heat resistant bowl (I used my borosil 750ml bowl) by greasing it with butter. Pour the batter until it is half filled.
- Cover the bowl with alumimium foil and tightly tie it using a twine thread.
- Place the bowl in the pressure cooker and steam cook it for 2 hours on medium to low flame. Every 20 minutes or so, open the cooker and check if there is enough water, add some if needed.
- Remove the bowl from the cooker after two hours and remove the foil. Let it cool down completely before inverting it out.
- Don’t cut the pudding until it completely cooled down. Best served after a day! You can sprinkle it with icing sugar.
Detailed step-wise picture recipe of making Eggless Steamed Christmas Pudding
Chop all the dry fruits and nuts into small pieces.
Add them to fresh orange juice and mix well.
Leave them for a day at the least at room temperature (and in fridge if hot) and let them plump up.
To prepare the caramel, heat sugar in a thick bottomed pan on low flame.
Slowly, the sugar starts to melt and caramelize from the edges. Don’t mix it and let it melt completely.
If required you can shake the pan every few seconds. After about 4-5 mins, all sugar will be dissolved and caramelized. If you prefer a rich, dark pudding – caramelize the sugar until it is dark brown. Any further it will be too bitter.
Remove it from heat and quickly add warm water. Stand away from the pan as it will splutter. Mix well and set it aside to cool.
In a mixing bowl add all purpose flour and fresh bread crumbs. I used fresh multigrain bread and ground 4 slices to crumbs in my mixer.
Add baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, cloves powder. Mix well.
Add the soaked dry fruits & nuts to the caramel sauce and add curd, oil as well as vanilla essence. Mix well.
To this wet mixture, add the dry mixture.
Combine until there are no lumps.
Prepare the pressure cooker by adding enough water at the bottom of it and place a stand. Bring the water to a slow boil.
Prepare a heat resistant bowl (I used my borosil 750ml bowl) by greasing it with butter. Pour the batter until it is half filled.
I also poured some of it into a lined baking tray. Baked it at 160°C for 40mins.
Cover the bowl with alumimium foil and tightly tie it using a twine thread.
Place the bowl in the pressure cooker and steam cook it for 2 hours on medium to low flame. Every 20 minutes or so, open the cooker and check if there is enough water, add some if needed.
Remove the bowl from the cooker after two hours and remove the foil. Let it cool down completely before inverting it out.
Don’t cut the pudding until it completely cooled down. Best served after a day! You can sprinkle it with icing sugar.
Recipe Notes
- Any choice of dry fruits and nuts can be used as per preference. Additionally, fresh fruit can also be added.
- I baked the recipe in my oven for 40 mins at 160°C and it turned out quite moist and delicious.
- If you don’t own a pressure cooker, you can use a larger pot with lid as steamer.
- It is important to steam cook this pudding at same temperature for even cooking.
I would be delighted to know if you have tried this recipe, don’t forget to share your feedback and comments below. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me! I am also available on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter 🙂
Comments
No Comments