Tuesday, February 28, 2012

RANDOM AND THRIFTY




For this month's Random Recipes Dom has invited us to return to the first book we chose for his challenge and to once again randomly choose a recipe from it.  I have to admit that I had a bit of a job locating Bake by Rachel Allen (another resolution - sort out my cookery books!!), and I did feel some trepidation, as I have had both successes and a failure from this book - I needn't have worried, they went down a bomb!

My book opened at "St. Stephen's Day Muffins" (St. Stephen's day is on 26th December) and called for left over Christmas Pudding.  Regular readers will know that the Christmas pudding fiends in this house wouldn't leave as much as a crumb  (and if there were any left I wouldn't be allowed to "waste" it on muffins!!!), but this year I have been given a gift of a (bought) pudding, which had been tasted and rejected, so I was delighted to have a use for it.

These muffins were well liked, the extra brandy gave them a proper Christmassy flavour that goes down well all year round.



Christmas Pudding Muffins


1                      egg
75ml/3 fl oz       milk
25g/1oz            butter, melted
2 tbsp               brandy
125g/4.5oz       Christmas pudding (chopped up)
125g/4.5oz        plain flour
1 tsp                 baking powder
1/2 tsp              mixed spice
75g/3oz            caster sugar

Preheat oven to 180 C
Line a muffin tray with 9 paper cases

Whisk the egg in a bowl.
Add the milk, melted butter, brandy  and pudding.
Sift in the flour, baking powder and mixed spice into another bowl.
Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients and mix together to a soft lumpy batter.
Spoon the mixture into the paper cases (I use an ice-cream scoop).
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
When a skewer comes out clean remove from the oven.
Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy

28 comments:

Ana Regalado said...

These looks yummy ! And perfectly baked , too ! ;)

Kelly-Jane said...

I made these a couple of years ago, yours look yummy. I like Christmas food not at Christmas too :) I still have some mincemeat waiting to be used...

Unknown said...

what a genius idea.. I too have been given a hamper with a Christmas Pudding in it that I wouldn't normally eat and this is the most perfect way to use it... BLOODY GENIUS!!!!! so glad you've taken part... wouldn't have been the same without you xxx

scrumptious days said...

What a great recipe. I still have some Christmas pus in the freezer, and I have the book, so I think I'll make these this week, thank you.

scrumptious days said...

Sorry, I should stop using the iPad for commenting, Christmas Pud of course:-)

Clare said...

They look so good! Great idea to use up leftover Christmas pudding! Must remember for next St. Stephen's Day!

Maria♥ said...

I have a small home-made xmas pud left over and this recipe is perfect!

Maria
x

Anonymous said...

Love "bake" - actually love all her books! your muffins look SO good!
mary x

Chele said...

This is a fantastic idea - loving the sound of those muffins.

laura_howtocook said...

I have a whole Xmas pud still to use up and will be giving these a try. They sound too good to resist!

The Cookie Jar said...

Bake and Home cooking are two of her best books.

Love the muffins

Choclette said...

Well that was jolly lucky having a Christmas pudding just hanging around. I thought you were going to have to make one! The muffins sound great.

Javelin Warrior said...

Very interesting recipe - I've never heard of using Xmas pudding in muffins before, but I suppose it would be a good way to use up leftovers ;)

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Those sound really tasty. Good choice :)

debby emadian said...

I've got two little puddings in the freezer that were gifted at Christmas time...not big enough for everyone...this is a perfect way to use them...
...I love thrifty recipes...
Thanks for sharing.
Deb

Phil in the Kitchen said...

Interesting muffins - they sound really good. I didn't get any pudding last Christmas and I'm suddenly missing.

Suzanne said...

What a lovely idea - I always have a little bit of pud left over as not everyone in our house likes it (FOOLS), up till now I've tried stirring it through ice cream, but I am so trying this next Christmas.

Ruth Ellis said...

A great idea for Christmas pudding. I hate it, my husband loves it so consequently there is always some left. Yum!

Coby said...

So do you feel (happily) 'wrong' tasting these flavours so far away from Christmas Brownieville Girl?:) I suspect it's more the case that it just leaves you wistfully thinking about all the 'good bits' (aka none of the stresses and shopping that happen beforehand). It's such a very, very good idea though isn't it? Good job being so cleverly random!

Pam said...

What a great twist! They look and sound delicious. Extra brandy never hurt anything! lol!

Snowy said...

Great way to use up a bought pudding. We have one in the cupboard so know what to do with it!

Unknown said...

just as well you had a spare pudding to use! (the thought of making one from scratch to turn into muffins seems a lot of effort).
These certainly sound yummy and at Xmas when we all have pudding left over this is a great use for them to give a different twist !

Stephen C said...

You are far to clever for us to wait to see you again. Come back to us soon.

Georgina Ingham | CulinaryTravels said...

These look perfect. Ideal for us as I always buy a Christmas pud and then we hardly eat any of it. A family tradition I suppose LOL.

George@CulinaryTravels
http://culinarytravels.co.uk

Sue/the view from great island said...

I love it---Christmas in June!

Choclette said...

Where are you BVG? Hope everything is ok. We miss you.

Unknown said...

That looks so good, Christmas is coming early this year ;)

Unknown said...

Also, I love Rachel Allen!