Clonakilty, Ireland’s favourite black pudding brand has teamed up with one of London’s most diverse chefs, James Cochran to create quite possibly the most unusual festive dessert ever.

mcith_bpudding.jpgClonakilty Christmas Black Pudding with Sherry Custard is the world’s first black pudding Christmas pudding and will be available at London restaurant 1251 this December.

Head Chef and Christmas Blackpudding creator James Cochran is known for his bold, brash dishes that explode with flavour and colour. Living up to this reputation, James is putting the traditional pudding with a meatier twist on his menu at 1251 on 20th December as part of his last Sunday Roast before Christmas.

Meat, spice and fruits complement each other deliciously and can be found in a number of dishes especially at Christmas time whilst it’s not unheard of to include meat and animal products in desserts specifically for example, the classic Suet Pudding. Suet was used for a Sussex Pond Pudding on this year’s Great British Bake Off!

Chef James says: “I’ve been experimenting with Clonakilty’s Blackpudding and I wanted to create something a bit different to showcase this delicacy. It’s been a strange old year and so I thought what the hell, let’s do something pretty unusual.

To my delight and surprise, I discovered Clonakilty Blackpudding provides a subtle background depth and savouriness to the traditional Christmas pudding’s incredibly sweet, dried fruit and sugar content, which deliciously balances the ingredients without detracting from the classic festive flavour.

Of course, no Christmas pudding is complete without custard, especially when it’s infused with sherry. It’ll be going on my menu on the last Sunday before Christmas and I can’t wait to find out what my customers think.”

Clonakilty Blackpudding is unique in its texture and flavour to all other black puddings in the UK and Ireland. It is also different in that it is beef-based and not pork-based as many other black puddings are. It has a crumblier texture and the secret spice mix gives it a warm spice flavour. Clonakilty Blackpudding is free from artificial flavours, additives, preservatives.

In addition to the Clonakilty Christmas Black Pudding with Sherry Custard, the collaboration in association with Great British Chefs saw James also create a starter and main course to complete a black pudding Christmas feast:

Clonakilty Blackpudding and pork terrine with quince jam and truffled Brussels sprout salad – featuring two wonderfully seasonal ingredients which provide perfect supporting acts to the rich, soft black pudding and pork terrine. Recipe here 

Turkey and Clonakilty Blackpudding ballotine with smoked bacon jam, onions, walnut crumble and pickled cranberries – ideal for the smaller Christmas gatherings we’ll be enjoying this year in line with government rules. Recipe here.

If you’d like to recreate the Clonakilty Christmas Black Pudding with Sherry Custard at home and maybe even add it to your own Christmas Day feast, we’ve provided you with the recipe, below.

Recipe courtesy of James Cochran and Great British Chefs

CLONAKILTY & JAMES COCHRAN CHRISTMAS BLACK PUDDING WITH SHERRY CUSTARD

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: 8

Time: 25 minutes prep plus 1 hours marinating and 8 hours steaming time

INGREDIENTS

For the Pudding

  • 250g of Clonakilty Black Pudding, skin removed

  • 250g of mixed dried fruits, such as raisins, sultanas and dried apricots

  • 1 cooking apple, small, cored and roughly chopped

  • 1 orange, finely zested and juiced

  • 3 tbsp of whisky, plus additional 80ml to pour over the pudding

  • 75g of unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

  • 100g of light muscovado sugar

  • 2 eggs, beaten

  • 100g of self-raising flour

  • 1 tsp mixed spice

  • 40g of rolled oats

  • 40g of almonds, roughly chopped

Sherry Custard

  • 50ml of double cream

  • 50g of caster sugar

  • 300ml of whole milk

  • 50ml of sherry, sweet

  • 20g of cornflour

  • 40g of egg yolk, (approx. 2 large yolks)

METHOD

  1. Place the dried fruit, black pudding, chopped apple and orange juice in a bowl and pour over the whisky. Leave to marinate for about 1 hour

  1. Once the fruit has been marinating for 1 hour, beat the sugar, butter and orange zest together until pale and fluffy. Stir in the beaten eggs bit by bit – if the mixture starts to curdle add in a bit of the flour. Fold the flour and mixed spice into the mixture, then add the oats and almonds

  1. Stir the marinated fruit and black pudding mixture (along with any remaining liquid) and mix until well combined

  1. Grease a 1.4 litre pudding basin with butter, then line the base with a small disc of baking paper. Spoon the mixture into the basin, ensuring it is packed in tightly by pressing it together with a spoon. Cover the mixture with another piece of baking paper and a sheet of foil, secure it in place with string and set aside

  1. Place a large saucepan or stockpot on the hob with a trivet in the bottom (such as a few jar lids or another smaller pot) – this will protect the pudding basin from the heat of the hob. Tie string around the basin to create a handle, so you can lift it out of the pot easily, then lower it into the pot. Pour in enough water to come three-quarters of the way up the pudding basin, bring to a simmer then place a lid on the pot and cook the pudding for 8 hours, checking every so often to ensure it hasn’t boiled dry

  1. While the pudding cooks, make the custard. Heat the milk, sugar and double cream in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a simmer

  1. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks, sherry and cornflour together for a few minutes until fully combined

  1. Pour a little of the hot milk mixture over the eggs, whisking to incorporate and temper, then gradually add the eggs back into the pan. Continue to whisk over a low heat for a few minutes until it thickens. Pass through a fine sieve into a clean pan to reheat before serving

  1. Once the pudding is cooked, carefully lift it out of the water and turn it out onto a serving dish. Pour over 75ml of whisky and use a lighter to heat a tablespoon of whisky. Set the tablespoon of whisky alight, then pour this over the pudding to set the pudding on fire. Serve with the reheated custard

Clonakilty Blackpudding is available to buy in selected retailers including Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Ocado, Asda, Budgens and NISA. Full stockist list here. For more information visit www.clonakiltyblackpudding.co.uk and follow on socials

Instagram: @clonakilty_blackpudding

Twitter: @ClonakiltyBP

By Restaurant News