Christmas Pudding Ice Cream

I’ve had this recipe for years now and make it every Christmas.  I’ve no idea where it came from originally as I've just got a scribbled recipe on a piece of paper, but over the years I’ve adapted it, replacing the double cream in the original recipe for brandy flavoured cream of the sort that supermarkets start selling at Christmas time.  It’s so much nicer than plain old Christmas cake, and adds a lovely festive taste to pretty much any cake or dessert that you fancy making at this time of year.

Ingredients

200g Christmas Pudding

250ml milk

4 egg yolks

100g caster sugar

250ml brandy cream (or double cream)

2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Start by cooking the Christmas Pudding according to the packet instructions, and set aside to cool completely.
2. Once cooled, crumble the pudding into small pieces.
3. Place the milk in a saucepan and scald it by bringing it slowly up to the boil, then remove it from the heat.
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick.
5. Pour the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture while continuously stirring.
6. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and heat very gently, stirring it until the custard thickens.  Take care at this point not to let it come to the boil as it may curdle.
7. Once you can see a film form over the back of a spoon, remove the saucepan from the heat, pour into a jug and set aside to cool.
8. Once the custard is cold, stir in the brandy cream, vanilla and crumbled Christmas Pudding.
9. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.