Scots Marmalade Pudding

4 oz breadcrumbs
2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 oz caster sugar
2 tbsp orange marmalade
(serves 4)

Bring milk to boil and pour over breadcrumbs.  Leave until cool.  Separate eggs and beat the yolks with the caster sugar.  Add the marmalade and stir into the bread and milk.  Beat the egg whites until stiff and stir lightly into the mixture.  Butter a pudding basin and pour in the mixture.  Steam for 2 hours.  Serve with custard.

Apricot and Orange Special Bread and Butter Pudding

8 slices of Selkirk Bannock, crusts removed (or other fruit bread)
2 oz butter
2 oz Apricot & Orange Preserve
2 eggs
1 oz sugar
1 pt fresh milk
toasted almonds to decorate
(serves 4)

Spread the slices with half of the butter and the Apricot & Orange Preserve. Sandwich together and cut into triangles.  Butter one side of each triangle and lay with buttered side up in greased flameproof dish.  Beat together the milk, eggs and sugar.  Strain over the bread.  Leave to stand for 30 mins.  Bake at 170 °C (Gas Mark 3) for 1 hour until pudding is crisp on top and custard is set.  Sprinkle with toasted almonds.

Late Summer Pudding

10 slices of white bread (1 -2 days old)
900 g prepared mixed fruits such as blackberries (brambles), plums, blueberries, damsons, apples etc
50 g caster sugar
finely grated rind of half a lemon
2 tbsps lemon juice
2-3 tbsps Brammle Liqueur
(serves 6)

Cut a circle from one slice of bread to fit the base of a 1 litre pudding basin.  Cut 6 slices of bread into fingers to fit around the sides of the basin and line the basin, overlapping the fingers slightly so that there are no spaces.  Set aside.

Stew the fruits gently with the sugar and lemon rind for about 5 minutes until tender, but still retaining their shapes.  Add a little more sugar if required (the amount of sugar will vary with differing types and ripeness of the fruits).  Add lemon juice and Brammle Liqueur to taste.

Put the fruits carefully into the bread-lined basin, reserving 4-5 tbsps of the juice.  Cut the remaining 3 slices of bread and use to cover the fruits.  Cover the pudding with a saucer and put a 450 g weight on top (a tin from the cupboard will suffice).  Leave in the fridge overnight.

To serve, turn out the pudding onto a serving plate and pour reserved juice over the top.  Decorate with the bramble leavers or sprig of mint. 

Brammle Ice Cream

6 egg yolks
125 ml water
50 g sugar
6 tbsps Brammle Whisky Liqueur
grated rind of 1/2 an orange
275 ml double cream, whipped till stiff
fresh or frozen blackberries to serve
(serves 6)

Place egg yolks in a bowl and, using an electric whisk, whisk for 2-3 mins or until light and fluffy.

Put the water and sugar in a small pan and heat until almost boiling and sugar is dissolved.  Pour the mixture in a thin steady stream over the yolks as you continue to whisk vigorously.  Continue to whisk until the mixture is cool and is thick and foamy as whipped cream.  This might take 4-5 mins.

Whisk in the Brammle and grated orange rind, then blend in the whipped cream thoroughly.  Freeze for at least 8 hours.  Remove from the freezer 10 mins before serving.  Scoop into dishes and decorate with blackberries.