Pudding-in-a-Jar

I'm doing a "rustic" Christmas eve dinner this year. (And every Christmas to come, I've decided.)

I don't have enough stylish silverware and glassware to do an elegant table.  

So, lace-trimmed hessian for an overlay, twine-wrapped candles, and sprigs of rosemary at place settings will do instead. 

And what could be more rustic than serving pudding in a jar?! 

This is layers of sweet butterscotch sauce, topped with a creamy custard and finished off with cinnamon brittle. It is simply delicious! 

Pudding - in - a - Jar

Recipes by Tea, Cake and Create

Butterscotch Sauce

250ml cream
70g butter
200g brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Place all the ingredients in a heavy-based saucepan and stir on low heat until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved.
Leave to simmer for approx 10 minutes, until the sauce is thick and glossy.
Pour into the bottom of the jars. Chill (not you - the butterscotch! You've got work to do!)

Custard
1250ml (4 1/2 cups) full cream milk
200g sugar
3 large eggs
2 1/2 tbs corn flour
2 1/2 tbs cake flour
1 tbs custard powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cinnamon quills
peel of 1 naartjie (mandarin, satsuma, tangerine) - not essential, but adds a lovely subtle flavour.
pinch salt


Beat together the eggs and sugar until pale. Beat in the flour, cornflour, custard powder, vanilla and salt.
In a large saucepan, boil the milk together with the cinnamon quills and naartjie peel.
Pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, then return to the saucepan, and stir on low-medium heat until the mixture thickens.
Allow to cool slightly, remove the naartjie peel and cinnamon quills, then pour onto the chilled butterscotch layer.

Cinnamon and Sprinkle Nuts Brittle

Sprinkle nuts are simply small pieces of peanuts. You can chop the peanuts up yourself, but the store bought "sprinkle nuts" have a neat uniformity to size and shape. Alternatively, use any nuts of your choosing.

Ingredients:
200g (1 cup) white sugar
120ml golden syrup
60ml  water
140g sprinkle nuts
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbs butter
1 tsp baking soda

Place baking parchment on a large cookie sheet.

In a medium-sized heavy based saucepan on medium-high heat, mix together the sugar, water, syrup, cinnamon and salt. Stir continuously until the sugar has dissolved. Use a damp pastry brush to brush down any sugar crystals from the side of the saucepan.
Stir in the nuts.
Continue to simmer until the mixture reaches 150'C on a candy thermometer or until it reaches the hard-crack stage.
Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the butter and baking soda.
Pour onto the prepared cookie sheet. Use two forks to separate and spread the mixture on the cookie sheet.

Allow to cool.
Snap into shards.

For serving:
Sprinkle cinnamon on the surface of the custard.
Top with shards of cinnamon brittle. (Don't do this step earlier, otherwise the sugar in the brittle begins to dissolve.)

Rustic table decor - check

Rustic pudding - check

... Now just to find enough jam tins to serve the coffee in  ;o) 

xxM