Vegan Christmas Pudding | Easy Recipe

Take a long, hard look at that beaut of a Christmas pudding. This could very easily be sitting on your dinner table this Christmas - let that sink in.

A couple of days ago, I was invited to the John Lewis Stir-Up Sunday event at Waitrose Cookery School.

Stir-Up Sunday is a tradition that dates back to Victorian times when people across the UK would make their puddings in preparation for the big day. 

At the John Lewis event, food bloggers and enthusiasts were brought together to do just that. We were split into groups to make either vegan, gluten-free or traditional versions of this classic - a sure reflection of the ways in which our diets are evolving. Brownie points if you can guess which group I was in! 

By the end of the night, we all went away with our mini puds, boxed up and screaming to be consumed (...that's as violent as it gets for vegan food imagery).

In a follow-up post, I will be going into a bit more detail about the event itself, but you're here for the Christmas pudding recipe, and that's what you'll get.

Ingredients
(serves 4)

25g dairy free margarine

1 tbsp milled flaxseed

60g self-raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

Pinch salt

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

25g coconut oil, melted

40ml black treacle

55ml stout (e.g. Meantime London Irish Stout)

1 tbsp dark rum

Finely grated zest 1 unwaxed lemon

40g peeled, cored and coarsely grated bramley apple, mixed with lemon juice

10g blanched almonds, roasted and chopped

75g currants

20g mixed peel

20g Forest Feast Sour Cherries

200g mincemeat (vegan)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 C, gas mark 4.  Grease 4 mini pudding basins and 4 small circles of baking parchment with the soya spread and set aside.  Mix the flaxseed with 3 tablespoons cold water and set aside for at least ten minutes or until it becomes jelly-like and makes ‘flax-egg’.

Sift the self-raising flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves into a medium mixing bowl, then add the “flax-egg”and the melted coconut oil.  Mix the treacle with the stout and rum in a measuring jug.  Pour this mixture into the bowl and whisk everything together thoroughly. Stir in the lemon zest, apple, almonds, currants, peel, cherries and mincemeat.

Divide the mixture between the prepared basins and top each one with a circle of greased parchment.  Wrap each basin in an 18cm square of foil and fold under the edges of the basins.

Place the basins into a roasting tin and pour in enough boiling water to come 2.5cm up the sides of the basins.  Carefully place the tin in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the puddings are springy and firm to the touch in the centre. Remove from the oven, unwrap, remove the parchment and leave to stand for 10 minutes.  Carefully run a small knife around each one and turn out onto warm serving plates.