Christmas Ice-Cream Pudding

Serves 4-6

1kg              Christmas pudding, sliced into 1.5cm slices

500ml            Ice-cream tub of choice (I used vanilla bean)

1-2 punnets      raspberries, fresh

1-2 punnets      blueberries, fresh

1-2              passionfruit

Method

Line an 18 x 10 x 8cm loaf tin with a double layer of greaseproof baking paper.  Allow the paper to overhang the sides, long enough to fold over the top of the finished ice-cream.

In a large bowl, soften the ice-cream by stirring it to make a smooth thick consistency.  This should take 2-3 minutes. Don’t let your ice-cream get too runny, you want it the consistency of ‘thick’ double cream.  If it gets too runny place it back into the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

Spoon a layer of softened ice-cream into the lined loaf tin, spread evenly, approximately the same thickness as the sliced Christmas pudding (1.5cm).  Return the bowl of softened ice-cream to the freezer until required.

Place 3 x 4 lines of fresh raspberries (or fruit of choice) into the first layer of ice-cream. 

At this point I like to put the loaf tin back into the freezer to set the softened ice-cream layer before placing the pudding on top.  If you are short of time, and are not worried about how clean the layers look when sliced, you can continue on with care.

After 15 minutes, remove the tin from the freezer, and place a layer of Christmas pudding, filling every gap with little pieces of pud!  Keep the thickness consistent – 1.5cm.

Take the remaining ice-cream out of the freezer and give it another little stir to get the same smooth consistency as before.  Spoon the ice-cream evenly over the pudding layer.  Place the blueberries into this ice-cream layer, then return to the freezer for another 15 – 20 minutes to set. 

Add your final pudding layer over the second ice-cream layer making sure to fill every little gap. 

Fold over the excess greaseproof paper, tightly wrapping the ice-cream dessert. 

Freeze the dessert overnight or for at least 3 hours to firmly set.

To Serve

Sprinkle over seasonal fruit of choice, I used raspberries, blueberries and passionfruit pulp. 

**Alternative Options

Mix any seasonal fruits such as mango, strawberries, mixed frozen berries;

any sweet citrus such as blood orange and/or orange and a hint of mint;

use liquor to soak your fruit, such as Cointreau or Chambord:

use pistachios or almonds, choc chips or coconut in the ice-cream layers or in the topping.

If you want to get really fancy, you can make your own ice-cream.

To Store

Freeze for up to 5 days

To Note:

On a hot summers day, this dessert will not last very long as a centrepiece.  Its best to serve immediately before it melts away.