It is no secret that I am a sucker for “Christmas” foods like fruitcake, eggnog, and plum pudding. While I’ve sometimes been able to find gluten-free and dairy-free versions of the first two, the latter was rather difficult to source pre-made. For some reason, there are only a few prepared plum pudding brands available in the U.S.. The end result of which is that even when gluten and dairy were regular parts of my diet, I rarely tasted plum pudding.

This recipe is a variation on my Banana Bread #3 recipe, which uses a mix of masa, rice flour, and chickpea flour. I’m doing that because a) I know it’s a decent recipe, and b) because I’m going to bake this as a bread instead of steaming it like a pudding. As such, it will have a little more crust than traditional plum puddings. You can steam it, but I don’t have good molds for doing so.

Gluten-Free Plum Pudding / Cake

Hardware:

• Fluted Tube Pan or Muffin Tins; or,
  • Steaming Mold and Stockpot; or,
  • Pudding Cloth/Bag and Stockpot
• Spatula
• 2 Mixing Bowls (medium)
• Medium Saucepan (if using condensed mincemeat); or,
  • Medium mixing bowl (if using prepared mince)
• Cover for medium saucepan or bowl
• Oven
• Coconut Oil, Lard, or Oil to grease baking pan
• Butter Knife
• Cooling Rack
• Lots of boiling water (if steaming)

• 1/2 cup Chickpea Flour
• 1 cup Masa Harina
• 1/2 cup Rice Flour
• 6 Eggs
• 1 tbsp. Baking Powder
• 1 cup Brown Sugar* †
• 1 package of Condensed Mincemeat; or,
  • 1 3/4 cups of prepared Mince Pie Filling
• 1 cup of Zante “Currants” or Raisins
• 1 cup Brandy (or Rum- spiced or dark); or,
  • 1 cup of Water minus 1-2 tsp.; and,
  • 1-2 tsp of Rum or Brandy flavoring
• 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 tsp. Salt – Optional
• 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg, ground**
• 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon, ground**
• 1/4 tsp. Cloves or Allspice, ground**

 

Preparation

Prepare the condensed mincemeat per the package directions, omitting 1/4 cup of the water. For example, the brand I used called for 1 1/4 cup of water, so I used 1 cup. Let cool until just barely too hot to touch. If using prepared mince, warm it.

Add raisins and brandy to the mince, then cover and allow to soak for at least an hour, 24 hours is better. Leave it in the fridge if you need to soak longer. Considering that some people age the finished pudding for six months to a year… you can wait as long as you want. Reserve any brandy that floats to the top after this maceration- though there probably won’t be any.

If baking, preheat oven to 300°F while you prepare the batter. Note that this is a LOWER temperature than normal in order to reduce crust formation on the gluten-free plum pudding.

If steaming, place the mold on top of its trivet in the stockpot. Add enough water to cover half of the mold (and its trivet). Remove and dry the mold, but leave the trivet if it is separate. Bring the water to a simmer while you prepare the batter.

Liberally grease the pan or cloth, then flour it with a little of the masa or rice flour.  Clever readers will note that I substituted an extra egg for the oil in the base recipe- that’s to dry the pudding out a bit since it has so much moisture on board. However, the extra egg means extra chance of sticking, so grease well!

Mix masa, rice flour, salt, spices, and baking powder in one bowl.

Break eggs into second bowl and mix well. Beat chickpea flour, sugar, mince mixture, vanilla, and oil into the eggs. Rest for fifteen minutes in a cool, not cold, place to allow the chickpea flour to hydrate a bit.

Pour wet mix over the dry mix and work it together well.  Make sure everything is well combined with no big lumps of flour.  Feel free to use a stand mixer here without worrying about tunneling because this is a gluten-free bread. If you do use a stand mixer, add the dry on top of the wet, but do it in small batches.

Baking:

Pour into the baking pan- you should have an inch or more of space above the batter.  To help reduce crust formation, you can tightly cover the pan with foil- grease the bottom in case the batter expands. Bake ring pan for 45-75 minutes or muffins for 20-40, depending on your oven, pans, and ingredient temperature.  Test with toothpick for doneness. When done, gluten-free plum pudding will still be a bit stickier and wetter than a normal banana bread, so you may have some crumbs stuck to the pick.

After you remove it from the oven, run a butter knife (or use a soft spatula for nonstick pans) around the edges of the loaf pan or muffin cups to help the bread separate from the dish.  As soon as the pan is cool enough to handle by hand, tip the gluten-free plum pudding out onto a cooling rack to allow it to cool without getting soggy.

While cooling to a safe service temperature, spritz or brush the reserved brandy (and/or some extra) over the top and sides. Feel free to add some extra brandy if you want, just don’t let it get soggy.

If desired, warm a bit more brandy and use it to flambé the pudding when serving. (Have a fire extinguisher handy!)

Serve immediately with hard sauce or wrap it up and refrigerate for up to a month before rewarming and serving. If you want to age it longer, spritz it heavily with brandy and wrap tightly while still hot.

Steaming:

If steaming, follow the pan-maker’s directions for pan preparation and handling. Alternately, grease and flour the dickens out of your pudding cloth or bag. Pour the batter into the mold and place it on top of its trivet in the stockpot. If you are using cloth, make sure to leave about 25% extra space for expansion before you tie it off.

Cover and bring to a boil. You will need to to steam the pudding for at least an hour, perhaps 2 hours or more depending on your setup. Be sure to keep the water topped up with BOILING water from another pot or teakettle so that the pot doesn’t run dry.

Allow to cool to a safe handling temperature before depanning (debagging?). Pour the reserved brandy over the top gently. Feel free to add some extra brandy if you want. If desired, warm the brandy before pouring and use it to flambé the pudding when serving. (Have a fire extinguisher handy!)

Serve immediately with hard sauce or refrigerate for up to a month before rewarming and serving. If you want to age it longer, spritz it heavily with brandy and wrap tightly while still hot.

Notes

My pudding tended to be ready at about 50-55 minutes, and when tightly wrapped with foil during baking did come out looking steamed. This recipe tastes more “masa-forward” than the banana bread, so I might try a version without that flour next time. Alternately, if I had aged the pudding for a month or so, that might have dissipated.

Brandied Hard Sauce

Hardware:

• Large Mixing Bowl or Medium Saucepan
• Whisk or Electric Mixer
• Spoon
• Gravy boat or bowl

• 1/2 cup Butter Replacement, such as “Earth Balance” brand; or,
  • Butter (if you’re not worried about casein)
• 1/2 cup Brandy (or Rum- spiced or dark); or,
  • 1/2 cup of Water; and,
  • 1-3 tsp of Rum or Brandy flavoring
• 1 cup Confectioners’ Sugar (Powdered Sugar)
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract or Lemon Juice – optional
• 1/4 tsp. Salt – optional

Preparation

If using an electric mixer, soften the “butter” to room temperature. Cream in the sugar, working in small batches. Finally, cream in the brandy, working in even smaller batches.  If desired, cream in the other flavorings. Finally, spoon the mix into your gravy boat or serving vessel.

If using a whisk, melt the “butter” over very low heat. Slowly whisk in the powdered sugar until well mixed. If you go too fast here, you will get lumps because there is water in the melted butter.

Remove the mixture from heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes to reduce alcohol evaporation.

Whisk in the brandy (or brandy-like water) in small batches, making sure each dose is well incorporated before adding more. If need be after the last dose of brandy, add more powdered sugar. Do so 1/2 tsp. at a time, to prevent over-sweetening. Finally, whisk in the salt and extract, if desired.

Keep whisking well to keep cooling it and when it is about as thick as it will get, spoon the sauce into a serving dish.

If you refrigerate it, allow the sauce to come up to room temperature (half an hour or more) before serving with warm pudding.