Maltesers Christmas pudding recipe

It takes just 45 minutes to bake this impressive Maltesers Christmas pudding. It’s also booze-free, making it an excellent choice for the whole family at Christmas.

This delicious Maltesers-covered chocolate pudding is the perfect alternative to old-fashioned Christmas pudding (opens in new tab). Kids, in particular, will love the taste of this chocolatey extravaganza, and we think it looks just as festive as the original. This is actually more of a rich chocolate cake than a classic steamed pudding, but the gorgeous design means it will still look impressive at your Christmas table. It's one of the easiest sponge cakes to bake, even for novice chefs, but you'd never know that to see the finished result in all it's glory.

Ingredients

• 125g self-raising flour
• 125g golden caster sugar
• 125g butter, softened
• 40g cocoa
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 6 tbsp chocolate buttercream
• 300g Maltesers
• 100g white chocolate, melted
• 5 glacé cherries
• 1 tsp edible red glitter
• 1 bay leaf

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas 4. Grease and line a pudding basin with baking paper.
2. Tip the flour, sugar, butter, cocoa, baking powder and eggs into a bowl and mix for 5 mins, until light and smooth. 
3. Spoon into a lined pudding basin and bake for 45 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean. Set on a wire rack to cool.
4. Turn the cake out onto a serving plate and allow to cool completely. 
5. Cover with buttercream. Decorate with Maltesers and drizzle over the melted chocolate.
6. Toss the cherries in glitter, put on top of the cake and garnish with the bay leaf.

Watch how to make a Maltesers Christmas pudding

Top tips for making this Maltesers Christmas pudding

Top with cake sparklers just before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container or cake tin and eat within two days.

Can I use holly leaves to decorate a Christmas pudding?

Holly leaves are not edible, simple because they are spiky and unappetising, but the berries can actually be toxic so it's best not to use them to decorate food. The bay leave we've used here should not be eaten, but is not toxic so it's fine to touch food.

How can I make my own buttercream for this recipe?

Melt 50g of milk chocolate in the microwave, or in a bain marie on the hob. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Mash 100g butter then use an electric whisk to mix it with 200g icing sugar and 3 tbsp cocoa powder. Add in the melted chocolate. If the mixture is too claggy, add a tbsp milk to loosen it.

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• Figgy pudding (opens in new tab)
• Plum pudding (opens in new tab)
• Vegan Christmas pudding (opens in new tab)