Prue Leith’s Easy Leftover Christmas Cake Ice Cream Recipe

Great British Bake Off judge and chef Prue Leith said: “Not many children like Christmas pudding, but I’ve never met one who didn’t like ice cream. About 40 years ago I started using leftover Christmas cake or a piece of Christmas pudding in a Christmas dessert consisting mainly of vanilla ice cream.

“Now everyone is waiting for this version of the Christmas pud. Some years the ice cream is flavored with leftovers, sometimes I just buy a jar of ground meat and use that.

“Sometimes it’s crumbled tartlets. But the main thing is to get enough of that Christmas flavor – so taste as you mix and add a little powdered cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger, if necessary.

Christmas cake ice cream

Ingredients:
(For 8 people)

1 L/35 fl oz store-bought vanilla ice cream
About 350g leftover Christmas cake, pudding or tartlets, roughly crumbled
3 tablespoons of brandy

Method:

1. In a large chilled mixing bowl, combine the softened ice with the crumbled leftovers and brandy. Be careful not to overmix – you want to see nice big chunks of Christmas pudding, or whatever, everywhere.

2. Line a large plastic pudding bowl or large loaf pan with cling film, making sure to leave enough overhang to completely envelop the contents. Transfer the mixture to the container, then cover the top and freeze the “pudding” for at least six hours.

3. When ready to serve, unwrap the frozen pudding or bread and turn out to serve in slices or remove from the pan.

Tips for success: Before you begin, cool the cake or pud you want to incorporate, as well as the large bowl you will mix it in and the small container you will freeze it in. Line the small bowl or mold with cling film to help you unmold the ice cream later.

Use a spoonful of ice cream so you can mix without having to melt the ice cream first. It’s better to have chunks of plain ice cream than to push all the air out of the mixture and end up with a very hard frozen dessert.

You want the result to be two thirds plain vanilla ice cream and one third added pudding/cake/mince pies.

Life’s Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom by Prue Leith is published in hardback by Carnival, priced £25. Photography Ant Duncan. Available now