A plum pudding is a traditional British Christmas treat.
Christmas pudding, a traditional British holiday treat, is typically served crowned with hard sauce. Plum pudding with rum or brandy hard sauce is rich, sweet and pungent and is generally served after Christmas dinner with coffee or tea just before the sherry is brought out. Although most of us don't have the staff to serve the sherry, we can celebrate the tradition with the plum pudding and this simple-to-make hard sauce. This recipe makes enough for 1 to 2 lbs. of pudding.
Instructions
1. Beat the unsalted butter until it looks like whipped cream, then add a cup of the confectioner's sugar, beating at low speed until smooth. Add confectioner's sugar, a few tablespoonfuls at a time, until the sauce is the consistency of peanut butter. until absolutely smooth.
2. Add 1 tsp.of vanilla or rum flavor or a tablespoon or two of rum or brandy. Since the alcohol is going to evaporate, you need more liquor to achieve the same flavor as the concentrates. Beat in well. This should thin your sauce a bit. The finished product should have the consistency of whipped cream cheese. If the hard sauce is too stiff, correct it by adding a bit of light cream (half and half). You should be able to spoon it up by the tablespoonful with no drips.
3. Serve the hard sauce by placing a dollop on top of your plum pudding while it is still warm or after flaming. It will slowly melt enough to drizzle down the sides. As it melts, more of the sharp aroma of the liquor is released to complete the rich aroma of the fruit.
Tags: hard sauce, plum pudding, Beat well, confectioner sugar, pudding traditional