Worrying about cooking a Christmas feast? Prue Leith has you covered.
Senior Writer and Commissioning Editor
Tucking into turkey with all the trimmings, surrounded by loved ones, is one of the most cherished parts of Christmas. But from managing countless dishes to accommodating a variety of dietary needs, turning this festive meal into a seamless success often seems like a challenge fit for Santa’s workshop.
However, culinary legend Prue Leith might have the answer. The Great British Bake Off judge is well-known for her own take on the festivities, which are likely to include a “smashing trifle” and “loads of booze,” yet there is one surprising element of the Christmas tradition she skips.
“There’s so much to do over the holidays, if I have to cut a corner it’ll be the Christmas pudding,” says Leith. “Children hate it, but everyone loves ice cream. So, about forty years ago, I started using the leftover cake or a lump of pudding in a Christmas dessert made mostly of vanilla ice cream.
“Now everyone expects this version of Christmas ‘pud’. Every year the recipe changes. Some years the ice cream is flavoured with leftovers, sometimes I just buy a jar of mincemeat and use that. Sometimes it’s crumbled mince pies. But the essential thing is to get enough of that Christmas flavour – it’s an easy crowd pleaser.”
Here are two of Leith’s favourite festive recipes, including her showstopping Christmas cake ice cream…
Christmas Cake Ice Cream 
Christmas cake ice cream is one of Prue’s favourites (Photo: Ant Dec)
Prue’s top tip: This can be made ahead of time. Simply pack into a pudding bowl and refreeze. To serve: turn it out, stick a sprig real holly on top, pour over a ladleful of warm brandy and set alight.
Serves 8
1 litre soft-scoop vanilla ice cream
350g Christmas cake, pudding or mince pies, roughly crumbled
3 tbsp brandy
In a large, chilled mixing bowl, combine the softened ice cream with the crumbled leftovers and the brandy. Take care not to over-mix – you want to see nice big pieces of Christmas pudding, or whatever, throughout.
Line a large plastic pudding bowl or a large loaf tin with cling film, making sure to leave plenty of overhang so that you can wrap the contents fully. Transfer the mixture into the container, then cover the top and freeze the “pudding” for at least 6 hours.
When it’s time to serve, unwrap the ice-cream pudding or loaf and either turn it out to serve in slices or scoop it from the tin.
Jazzed Up Brussel Sprouts
Festive Brussel sprouts (Photo: Ant Dec)
Prue’s top tip: Don’t bother with peeling or making incised crosses in the sprouts. Small sprouts don’t need that, and anyway we are halving them because they look better that way, cook faster, and don’t roll round the plate like marbles.
Serves 4-6, as a side
750g Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
100g bacon lardons
25g butter
120gcooked and peeled chestnuts, chopped
75g dried cranberries
50g pecans, roughly chopped
Boil the sprouts for about 5 minutes in a large saucepan of salted water. Dunk them briefly in cold water to set their bright colour. Drain and set aside.
Heat a non-stick frying pan on a high heat. Fry the bacon lardons for 4-6 minutes, until brown all over.
Add the butter, chestnuts, cranberries and pecans to the pan and shake over the heat until warmed through.
Cool the contents of the frying pan and combine with the cooked sprouts in a serving dish. Cover with a plate or cling film, and reheat in the microwave at the last minute before serving.
Extracted from Life’s Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom by Prue Leith (Carnival, £25)