For those who find traditional Christmas desserts too heavy on dried fruit, this rich and warmly spiced pudding offers a welcome alternative. Combining tender pears, fiery stem ginger, and crunchy pecans, it delivers the comfort of a sticky toffee pudding with a more vibrant, seasonal character. It’s a show-stopping finale to a holiday meal but simple enough to make ahead of time.
Ingredients
For the pudding:
– 2 ripe pears (approx. 275g), peeled, cored, and finely chopped
– 185g unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 375g light muscovado sugar
– 3 large eggs
– 2 tablespoons honey
– 225g self-raising flour
– 75g ground almonds
– 1 teaspoon baking powder
– 1 teaspoon mixed spice
– ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
– 150ml whole milk
– 4 balls of stem ginger, finely chopped
– 50g pecans, roughly chopped
For the caramel sauce:
– 300ml double cream
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– Flaky sea salt (optional)
To serve:
– Crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan)/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease a 30cm x 20cm roasting tin or similar baking dish.
2. Prepare the pears by peeling, coring, and chopping them into 1cm pieces.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat 110g of the butter with 200g of the sugar until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the honey.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, mixed spice, and fine sea salt.
5. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk, until just combined. Fold in the chopped pears and stem ginger.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and scatter the chopped pecans evenly over the top.
7. Bake for 40–45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly in the tin.
8. While the pudding bakes, make the caramel sauce. In a small saucepan, combine the remaining 75g butter, 175g sugar, double cream, and vanilla extract. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, then simmer for 2–3 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in a pinch of flaky salt, if using.
9. To serve, cut the warm pudding into squares. Drench each portion with the hot caramel sauce and accompany with a dollop of cold crème fraîche or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.