Christmas Pudding
Native to Great Britain, this festive dessert is known for its density and intense Christmas spices, dried fruit, and brandy. Similar to an American fruit cake, Christmas pudding is more like a loaf cake packed with an assortment of fruits (like purple raisins, golden raisins, prunes, dried currants, and crystallized ginger) that soak overnight in booze and orange zest.Straying from the tradition of using brandy, we found that incorporating Southern bourbon instead adds a mighty delicious layer to this holiday treat. Butter, brown sugar, and molasses are beaten together to make a rich and sweet base before the soaked fruit is mixed in with breadcrumbs, flour, and some ground almonds. This unique mix of dry ingredients make the optimal center for the pudding, because it easily retains and holds moisture. The most exotic part of the cooking process is that rather than baking the pudding, it’s steamed for several hours in a covered pot. The gentle heat of the steam and the wet environment in which the pudding is cooked make the inside extra moist.We brush our Christmas Pudding with a bourbon simple syrup to further moisten the outside and to enhance the bourbon flavor. Lastly, we serve a slice of the warm dessert with a liquid vanilla custard. It might not be the most American dessert on your Christmas table, but it might be the most delicious.