Looking for an alternative to brandy sauce or brandy butter with your Christmas pudding? Then try this amazing brandy and orange custard (with a cheats version if you don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen!).
Can you believe it’s less that a month until Christmas! I’ve been getting excited for the past month, but now I’m really itching to get the decorations out. We’re probably going to wait another couple of weeks before putting the tree up – what about you?
Predictably enough I’m back with another Christmas recipe – Brandy and Orange Custard. When I was younger whenever we had Christmas pudding we always served it with single cream and if I’m honest, I thought it was a bit dull. Later on I was introduced to brandy sauce and suddenly Christmas pudding was transformed from something I ate on Christmas day because it wouldn’t be Christmas without it, to something that bit more yummy.
Having only eaten brandy sauce a few times, the last of which was almost a year ago I couldn’t really remember what it was supposed to be like. However, I knew the important features were that it had brandy in (the clue was in the name) and the it should taste good with Christmas pudding, so with these two criteria in mind I headed off into the kitchen and created this brandy and orange custard.
A bit of googling afterwards revealed that it’s not really anything like brandy sauce (which shouldn’t have the eggs in) but in all honesty I don’t care because it tastes really good 🙂 . If you’re looking for something a little different to the traditional brandy sauce or brandy butter with your Christmas pudding this year then I’d really suggest that you give this a try.
Aside from the yumminess, other advantages of this custard are that it can be prepared in advance and simply reheated when you want to eat it, and also that the brandy is added towards the end of preparation so if there’s anyone at the table who wants an alcohol free version then you can simply set some aside before adding it.
I add the orange flavour using ¼ teaspoon of orange oil. I chose to use oil to avoid having zest in the custard, keeping it nice and smooth. However, if you don’t have any then you could simply finely grate in the zest of half an orange instead.
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Brandy and Orange Custard
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Whisk
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring jug
- Weighing scales
- Medium saucepan
- Clingfilm (if you're making the custard to reheat later)
INGREDIENTS
- 300 ml full fat milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 30 g caster sugar
- 30 g plain flour
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp orange oil
- 2 tbsp brandy
INSTRUCTIONS
- Separate 4 eggs putting the yolks into a large bowl.
- Add the caster sugar (30g) and whisk until combined.
- Add the plain flour (30g) and vanilla extract (½ tsp) and whisk until combined.
- Gently heat the milk (300ml) until warm but not boiling and then gradually add it into the egg yolk mixture a bit at a time whisking in each addition completely before adding more.
- Once combined, pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return to a very gentle heat. Continue to cook, whisking continuously, until the custard has reached your desired thickness (this usually takes about 10 minutes).
- Add the orange oil (¼ tsp) and brandy (2 tbsp) and whisk to combine.
- Remove from the heat and pour the custard into a bowl or jug and cover with clingfilm. It's important that the clingfilm is in full contact with the surface of the custard to stop a skin forming.
- Refrigerate the custard until you're ready to use it.
- Once you're ready to serve, pop the custard into a pan and gently heat until warm (whisking constantly). If you find that the custard gets a little too thick then simply thin it out with a little extra milk.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For…
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Corn-Free
- Nut-Free
- Soy-Free
The ingredients for this recipe are commonly available free from all these allergens. However, please ensure you double-check allergen information for all ingredients.
Ana says
Recipe sounds amazing. This Christmas I will be preparing lunch for 10 people and plan to make the ‘cheats’ version. How much brandy and orange would you need to add to 1 litre of custard? Keep up the good workand have a Merry Christmas!
Charlotte Oates says
My recipe makes about 300-400ml of custard (depending on how much you thicken it). So I’d suggest you use about 3x the brandy and orange oil for your, which would be 6 tbsp brandy and 3/4 tsp orange oil (or zest of 1.5 oranges). The best thing to do would be to add slightly less of each, have a taste and then top it up if needed. I hope that helps and I hope you enjoy the custard. Happy Christmas x
Sarah (@tamingtwins) says
I love these photos so much Charlotte, they make me feel like it really is Christmas! The custard sounds so delicious. Really would make a special finishing to the big meal. Happy Christmas to you! Thanks for linking with #FestiveFoodFriday. xx
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Sarah, I’m really proud of the pictures in the post so I’m glad you like them. I hope you and your family have a very happy Christmas too xx
Sarah James says
Your Brandy & Orange Custard sounds delicious Charlotte, I like the idea of adding orange oil instead of zest to keep the custard smooth. Popping over from #FestiveFoodFridays x
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Sarah. The oil is brilliant for times when you don’t want little zesty lumps in whatever you’re cooking. It’s got a very intense flavour too, so you only need a tiny bit meaning it lasts for ages.
Honest mum says
Oh wow, not too early to eat this now is it?! Dreamy! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
Charlotte Oates says
Definitely not too early!
Vicki Montague - The Free From Fairy says
Wow this looks and sounds amazing! I love the photos as always x
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Vicki, I’d imagine that the cheats version should work with free-from custard too.
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
I can imagine how well the blood orange and the brandy go together. I adore Christmas pudding and it has to have a good sauce over it and this looks perfect! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Kirsty. I’m not really a huge Christmas pudding fan, but I’ll happily eat a big bowlful with this all over it!
Eb Gargano says
Oooh this is really interesting. Growing up I had, what my parents called “orange sauce” with Christmas pudding and when I met my husband, Dean, I was introduced to the delights of brandy cream and brandy butter, which I thought was much more exciting…however my parents orange sauce was basically just a white sauce with orange zest in it, so not that thrilling. Yours on the other hand looks amazing…and has brandy in it too – think I’ going to have to try this one. Sort of feels like the best of both worlds! Eb x
Charlotte Oates says
Reading about brandy sauce online it seems to be a white sauce with a bit of sugar to add sweetness and brandy, so it sounds like what you had was pretty traditional. I’ll probably give it a go at some point but I think I prefer custard! I hope you enjoy it if you try it.
CakePants says
Orange and brandy sounds like such a lovely combination, and I absolutely LOVE your styling in these photos! So much holiday cheer!
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks. I had to send my husband out in the rain to get all the holly and berries for the pictures, I’m glad I did as they really brightened them up.
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says
This sounds divine with the added orange hit Charlotte. As a child we always had our Christmas pudding with birds custard 😉 – it was still delicious!
By the way, I’m REALLY loving your cake slice with the swirled handle – it’s so pretty!
Angela x
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Angela. The cake slice was a wedding present.