The Autumn air grows chilly and cold while fruits and nuts thud on the ground, falling from trees and bushes, ripe for harvest. It’s the perfect time to turn to warming, comforting dishes that make use of all that nature’s seasonal larder has to offer; berries, pears, apples and nuts, available in rich abundance.
Belvoir Fruit Farms who make all their Pressés and Cordials with wholly natural ingredients; freshly pressed fruits and gently infused flowers and spices has worked with leading chefs including 2015 Great British Bake Off Finalist, Ian Cumming to produce a quartet of mouth-watering Autumnal recipes to make the most of this bountiful season.
Ingredients
- 150ml Belvoir Blackcurrant & Blueberry Cordial
- 150g cranberries (fresh or frozen but if frozen defrost first)
- 120g honey
- 120g unsalted butter
- 120g light brown sugar
- generous pinch of salt
- 2 large eggs
- 120g self-raising flour
- 1tsp mixed spice
- 75g blueberries
- 1tbsp milk
Method
- Put the cranberries and cordial in a fairly large saucepan and gently bring to the boil. Simmer for a few minutes until the cranberries have softened and quite a bit of the liquid has boiled away. Add the honey and mix it in.
- Butter a 1.2 litre pudding basin.
- Pour the berry and honey mixture into the basin.
- Beat the butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time beating thoroughly between each one.
- Sieve in the flour and the mixed spice and gently fold it in.
- Carefully fold in the milk and then finally the blueberries. Pour this on top of the berry mixture in the basin.
- Fill a large pan with enough water to come half way up the side of the pudding bowl. Bring to the boil.
- Meanwhile, take a large piece of baking parchment, put a pleat in it and put it over the pudding. Then take a piece of tin foil, put a pleat in that and put that over the parchment. Tie some string around the rim and then use some extra string to make a handle in order to lift the pudding into the pan of boiling water.
- Boil for 2 hours, occasionally checking that there is sufficient water in the pan.
- Use the string handle to remove the pudding from the pan. Snip off the string and remove the foil and parchment. Place a plate on top and carefully invert it all.
- Serve immediately with custard, cream or ice cream.
Let’s embrace what the Autumn provides and give these recipes a go. For more mouth-watering recipes from Ian Cumming and other well-loved chefs, visit www.belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk.
