We make our own Christmas pudding powder because we want to know exactly what goes into it. Cinnamon, anise, cloves: real spices instead of artificial flavouring. The Thermomix® grinds the whole spices in 20 seconds at speed 10 to a powder so fine that it dissolves completely in the pudding.
Shop-bought pudding powder contains cornflour, artificial flavourings and colourings. Our powder is made from cornflour, real cocoa and four whole spices. The spices are first ground together with sugar, because the sugar acts like sandpaper during milling and breaks down the hard cinnamon sticks completely. The cornflour and cocoa are added only afterwards.
Christmas Pudding Powder with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 7 ✓
- 120 g sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 star anise
- 2 cloves
- 200 g cornflour
- 30 g cocoa powder (sweetened)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions 0 / 3
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1
Grind the sugar and spices.
Add the sugar to the mixing bowl together with the cinnamon sticks, star anise and cloves and grind for 20 sec / speed 10.
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2
Mix the ingredients.
Add the cornflour, cocoa powder and salt and mix for 10 sec / speed 4.
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3
Fill into portions.
Fill the pudding powder into small bags or jars in 70 g portions and seal.
Tip: To make the pudding, insert the butterfly whisk, add 1 serving (70 g) of pudding powder with 500 g of milk to the mixing bowl and cook for 7 minutes / 90°C / speed 2.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Why whole spices instead of pre-ground
Ground cinnamon loses its aroma within a few weeks. Cinnamon sticks keep for years because the essential oils remain locked inside the bark. We grind them just before filling. The same applies to star anise and cloves. The Thermomix® handles all three spices at once when you grind them together with sugar.
The sugar also prevents the spices from sticking to the blade base. Without sugar, the cinnamon sticks are merely broken up rather than ground. With sugar, 20 seconds at speed 10 produces a fine, even powder with no pieces remaining.
Sweetened cocoa powder is intentional
We use sweetened cocoa powder, not unsweetened baking cocoa. The sweetened cocoa already contains sugar and blends more smoothly with the cornflour. Baking cocoa is pure and bitter; it needs considerably more sugar when cooking. If you use baking cocoa, you will need to add 2 to 3 tablespoons of extra sugar to the milk when making the pudding.
The cocoa is added after the spice powder. If you ground it together with the spices, the heat from friction would cause it to clog at the blade base. Mixing separately at speed 4 is enough for an even distribution.
70 grams per portion equals 500 millilitres of milk
The recipe yields approximately 350 g of powder. We divide it into 5 portions of 70 g each. One portion is enough for 500 ml of milk. If you use only 400 ml, the pudding will be too firm. At 600 ml it will remain too runny.
To cook the pudding, insert the butterfly whisk, add one portion of powder with 500 g of milk to the mixing bowl and cook for 7 minutes at 90 degrees Celsius at speed 2. The butterfly whisk prevents lumps by drawing the cornflour evenly through the milk.
Packing it as a gift
You can fill the powder into small preserving jars or gift bags. Each jar or bag should have a label with the instructions: 70 g of powder to 500 ml of milk, cook for 7 minutes at 90 degrees Celsius at speed 2 with the butterfly whisk.
The powder keeps for at least 3 months in an airtight container. The spices begin to lose intensity after about 6 months as the essential oils evaporate. Freshly ground, the aroma is at its strongest.
Pudding recipes for the Thermomix®
- Thermomix® Chocolate Pudding
- Thermomix® Vanilla Pudding
- Thermomix® Strawberry Pudding
- Thermomix® Semolina Pudding
- Thermomix® Nougat Pudding
- Thermomix® Caramel Pudding
- Thermomix® Advocaat Pudding
What other recipes do differently
Many recipes take a shortcut and use only 200 g of cornflour plus 1 teaspoon of ready-made gingerbread spice. That is quick, but the flavour falls flat because the powder has been sitting in a jar for months. Others add caramel sweets or tonka bean, which pushes the flavour more towards baked apple. We stick with four whole spices and grind them fresh, so the pudding pairs well with vanilla ice cream, poppy seed dumplings or simply on its own. Cornflour beats potato starch every time; potato starch makes the pudding gel-like. Stored dry in a screw-top jar, the powder keeps for 3 months, and with a label and a ribbon it makes a last-minute gift from the kitchen.
