Easy Christmas Pudding

Name: Easy Christmas Pudding
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 6 serving(s)
Ingredients: 100 g butter, softened, plus extra to grease; 100 g ready-made cranberry sauce; 2 tbsp. golden syrup; 100 g dark brown soft sugar; 2 medium eggs, beaten; 100 g plain flour; 1 tbsp. mixed spice, heaped; 300 g mixed dried fruit; 1 medium apple, peeled and grated

This easy Christmas pudding recipe takes minutes to make in a microwave, yes really!

By The Good Housekeeping Cookery TeamUpdated: 11 December 2023

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Shopbought Christmas puddings are so common that most of us assume they must be too difficult to make - they’re anything but!

Making a Christmas pudding recipe from scratch isn’t that different to a Christmas cake - if anything, it’s easier. The amounts of ingredients are generally smaller, so there’s less chopping/prepping, and you can make everything in a regular-sized mixing bowl instead of having to crack out the giant one specially allocated to the annual fruit cake.

If you're looking for more advice on making a Christmas pudding, read on. But if you want to make a super easy Christmas pudding recipe, scroll down to our recipe below - it's so easy you can even make it on Christmas Day.

Do I need to make my Christmas pudding ahead of time?
Most traditional recipes will tell you it is best to make your Christmas pudding on Stir-up Sunday and then leave it to mature.

It’s great to get-ahead, and some will swear that a matured pudding tastes better for having the time to mellow and develop. However, having made and unmoulded countless Xmas puds straight after cooking, to see if their flavour is on point before we commit to triple-testing them (all part of our recipe development process, you see), we can truthfully say that you can absolutely make a pudding closer to the time or even on Christmas Day.

This Cherry and Pecan Christmas pudding beauty tastes just as perfect when freshly made, or if you’re short on time on the big day, our microwave recipe below can get you out of a tight spot.

We’ve been told by countless readers that this easy microwave Christmas pudding below has got them out of a sticky situation on Christmas day – it’s fast and has a very short ingredients list and uses up some of the cranberry sauce that’s leftover from your turkey dinner. What’s not to love?!

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Yields:

6 serving(s)

Prep Time:

15 mins

Cook Time:

10 mins

Total Time:

25 mins

Cal/Serv:

451

Ingredients

100 g
butter, softened, plus extra to grease
100 g
ready-made cranberry sauce
2 Tbsp.
golden syrup
100 g
dark brown soft sugar
2
medium eggs, beaten
100 g
plain flour
1 Tbsp.
mixed spice, heaped
300 g
mixed dried fruit
1
medium apple, peeled and grated

Directions

1. Step 1
  Grease a 1.2 litre pudding basin. In a small bowl, stir together cranberry sauce and golden syrup. Spoon two-thirds of the mixture into the base of the prepared basin, reserving the remaining mixture.
2. Step 2
  In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, mixed spice, dried fruit and grated apple until well combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared basin and press a large piece of parchment paper on to the pudding to cover the surface.
3. Step 3
  Microwave on medium power for 9min until firm to the touch. Leave to stand for 10min before turning out on to a plate. Spoon over reserved cranberry mixture and serve.

Get ahead: Make this easy Christmas pudding to end of step 2 up to 2hr ahead. Leave at room temperature.