Enjoy the festive season with this delicious and easy-to-make, gluten-free Christmas pudding. I have honed and perfected my gluten free Christmas pudding recipe over many years, making it rich, moist and an incredible dessert to finish your festive feast.
Finished with flaming brandy and a spring of holly, this gluten free Christmas pudding is packed with succulent fruit and cosy spices. It works so well to a gluten free recipe and everyone can enjoy this, whether they are gluten free or not. Just don’t tell the gluten eaters that it is gluten free, they will never guess!
Can I Make This Gluten Free Christmas Pudding in Advance?
Yes this is a really great dessert to make ahead of time, as it can happily sit in a cool place for up to two months. Traditional Christmas puddings are made on “Stir Up Sunday” in mid November, to give them time to age. Simply wrap on fresh foil, as directed, and store safely.
However, this gluten free Christmas pudding is delicious both aged and when freshly made, so really you can make it any time from early November through to Christmas eve. So don’t worry if you haven’t had time to prep, you can still enjoy this recipe.
Can I Use Different Dried Fruit?
Absolutely – simply keep the overall weight the same and sub in your fruit of choice. Figs, raisins, cranberries, apricots, dates, all work nicely.
The prunes in this pudding were my latest addition and I think they yield a lovely, dark and fruity final pudding. So do use those if you can.
Can I Use a Different Flour?
Yes, you do not have to use the FREEE flour for this one, any variety of plain gluten free flour will work well for this pudding. Or rice flour is you want a single origin flour.
If you want to use a mix contain gluten free wheat starch, such as the Glutafin mix, see this recipe I created for them last year.
Do I Need to Use Suet for this Gluten Free Christmas Pudding?
As it’s quite hard to find gluten free suet in the shops, I use frozen grated butter instead for my gluten free Christmas pudding. It actually makes a much more delicious pudding too, so I think it’s a win-win!
Can I Make This Recipe Dairy Free?
I haven’t tried and tested it but I feel sure this would work well with dairy free ingredients.
How to Make a Traditional Gluten Free Christmas Pudding – it’s Recipe Time!
This gluten free Christmas pudding will serve roughly 6-8 people, depending on how generous you are with your slices. Any leftovers can be saved an reheated as needed. Or even frozen for a later date if you have had your fill.
You’ll find a full method below, with step by step photos. Feel free to email me any questions or comments you might have – laura@mygfguide.com – or DM me on social media @myglutenfreeguide. And do send me a photo if you try this gluten free Christmas pudding recipe, I love seeing your homemade bakes.
If you enjoy making and eating this gluten free Christmas pudding, I would be very grateful if you could leave a review on the recipe card below. They’re useful for other readers and to be honest, also really encouraging for me and helpful to see what sort of recipes you are all enjoying. Then I know what to focus on when developing new recipes.
Happy baking! Laura xxx
Gluten Free Christmas Pudding
Traditional British Christmas pudding made gluten free. This delicious festive steamed fruit pudding can be made in advance and reheated before serving. A wonderful make-ahead festive dessert.
Ingredients
- 150g sultanas
- 150g chopped prunes
- 150g currants
- 50g mixed peel
- 50g glacé cherries, chopped
- Zest and juice 1 large orange
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 120ml brandy/spiced rum/port
- 2 large eggs
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 100g ground almonds
- 50g flaked almonds
- 100g dark brown sugar
- 100ml treacle (molasses)
- 1 cooking apple, peeled and grated
- 120g plain gluten free flour
- 120g unsalted butter, frozen and grated, plus a little extra for greasing
Instructions
- Place the sultanas, prunes, currants, cherries, mixed peel, orange zest, orange juice, mixed spice, nutmeg, cinnamon and brandy in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to medium, stirring well for a couple of minutes. Then take off the heat and leave to cool - warming the fruit really helps it to slurp up all those festive spices and brandy. This can be done ahead of time if you wish.
- Next, take a large mixing bowl and add the dried fruit mixture, eggs, baking powder, ground almonds, flaked almonds, brown sugar, treacle, grated apple and gluten free flour. Then give the mixture a really good stir, for a couple of minutes, to combine all the ingredients into a thick batter.
- Finally, grate in the frozen butter and stir through. The consistency should be very stiff, but the mixture should drop off the mixing spoon when tapped.
- Grease a 1.2 litre/2 pint pudding basin or heatproof Pyrex bowl well with butter. Transfer the Christmas pudding batter into the basin, pressing down well, and levelling the top, leaving a gap of approx. 1cm below the rim of the basin*.
- Cover the top with a circle of non stick baking paper, then cover the entire top and sides of the basin with two layers of tin foil. Press tight and then tie a piece of string underneath the edge of the basin, to seal it closed, and create a handle using the string so you can easily lift the basin (see step-by-step photos below).
- Place the basin in a steamer or in a large saucepan with water half way up the sides of the basin. Place the lid on and steam for 6 hours. Try to check the water level halfway through (or thereabouts) and top up if necessary, to ensure it doesn't boil dry.
- Once steamed, remove the foil and baking paper and leave to cool. Then re-cover with fresh paper and foil and store in a cool place until Christmas. You can make this Christmas pudding up to 2 months in advance and store in a cool place. But it can also be enjoyed freshly made, aging it is not essential.
- To reheat, steam again for 1 hour, then remove the paper and foil. Place a plate on top of the basin and invert – the Christmas pudding should drop out easily.
- Decorate with holly and flaming brandy for that wow factor! Serve with cream, brandy butter, vanilla ice cream or custard.
Notes
*If you are using a smaller size basin and have pudding batter left over, don’t throw it away. It can be baked into Christmas pudding cupcakes! Simply add to a silicone cupcake tray or cupcake cases and bake for 45 minutes at 160C (fan).
Step-by-Step Photos for Making Gluten Free Christmas Pudding
For more gluten free meals, baked goods and more, why not try some of my other recipes or bookmark them for later:
Happy baking! Laura xxx
