A Healthier Christmas Pudding

Here is a great low fat pudding that can be cooked up to a month before the big day. Keep it stored in an airtight container and heat up on Christmas day, or if you are like me and don’t have any room for pudding after the Christmas meal…..on Christmas evening.

Ingredients

• 1 cup semi skimmed milk, warmed
• 7 slices grainy bread- crumbled (incl. crusts)
• 3½ cups (600g) mixed fruit
• ½ cup brown sugar packed firmly
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice
• 3 egg whites
• ½ cup rum
• 1 cup mashed banana
• 1¼ cups plain flour
• ½ cup apple sauce (in jar)
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda

Method

Place “broken up” bread into a medium sized mixing bowl, heat milk until hot, pour over and stir together well until really mushy and bread has absorbed all the milk, leave to one side.

In a large bowl beat egg whites and sugar together. Add in breadcrumb mix, mixed fruit, spice and rum and mix together. Mix bicarb soda with applesauce in a separate small container then add to bowl.

Stir in mashed banana and combine ingredients well and gently fold flour into mixture. Try to do this in one go and don’t overmix as this will make the pudding rubbery.

Pour into an 8 cup pudding steamer that has been sprayed with cooking spray, spray lid as well. Secure lid. Put a saucer turned upside down into boiler, place steamer on top of saucer and pour in boiling water until it reaches ¾ of the way up the steamer. Place lid on boiler and simmer 4 hours. Check water level occasionally, top up if needed.

Serve with low fat custard, low fat cream or low fat vanilla ice cream.

To reheat place in boiler for 1 hour before serving or remove from pudding tin and microwave till heated through.