Ice Cream Christmas Pudding

We all love a bit of tradition at Christmas time, but reinterpreting recipes created for a snowy winter wonderland to suit a sunny Aussie Christmas Day is the challenge. Here’s my easy solution, for the pudding course at least. Buy the best quality ice cream you can – or make your own and incorporate the orange zest and juice into the custard. I like desserts to be a striking centrepiece, but as this is a riff on my ice cream sandwiches you could serve those as individual desserts decorated with stars, Christmas trees or just plain. Staying with the sunny Aussie orange theme, let’s pour some Correll Blanc Aperitif over ice or drink it with some good bubbles as a spritz.

Serves 10

Ingredients

4 oranges
100g candied orange rind
8 pitted dates
40 pistachio kernels
20 blanched almonds
2 teaspoons ras el hanout (see FAQ below)
2 litres vanilla ice cream, softened
1 pomegranate, seeds removed
Mint leaves, for garnishing
Icing sugar, for garnishing

Method

Clean oranges with a plastic scourer to remove any wax or chemicals.
Finely grate the orange zest over a large mixing bowl then juice them into a separate bowl.
Strain the orange juice into a saucepan and boil until reduced by about two-thirds (about 140ml).
Meanwhile, chop candied orange rind, dates, pistachios and almonds and add to the mixing bowl with the ras el hanout.
Stir in reduced orange juice and put in the freezer for 10 minutes or so to chill well.
Add ice cream to the bowl and fold through with a spatula until everything is well combined.
Transfer to a 2-litre pudding basin, press the top down gently to remove any air bubbles. Press a sheet of baking paper onto the surface, wrap tightly in aluminium foil and freeze overnight.
Place a large serving platter in the freezer an hour before serving.
Turn ice cream out onto the platter, you may need to run a hot knife around the side of the basin first to loosen it.
Garnish with pomegranate seeds, mint leaves and icing sugar and serve immediately.