a picture of cooked queen of puddings in an oval white dish on a white napkin

Cranberry Queen of Puddings

This recipe is from Delia's Happy Christmas.

We often joke in our house about how, when the Christmas book was first published, the shops sold out of cranberries and for ages the press annoyingly referred to me as the Cranberry Queen.

So, for old times’ sake, we can relive the memory with this sublime English pudding made with those luscious berries I love so much.

The Delia Online Cookery School: You can also watch how to separate eggs in our cookery school video on this page.

Got a question on Delia's recipes? Ask Lindsey

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Getting ahead with Queen of Puddings

Asked by: Merto

Hi Can I make the famous Cranberry Queen of Puddings several days in advance and reheat successfully. Many Thanks

Answered by Lindsey: Hello, To get ahead you can prepare the egg & bread base then cool, cover and keep refrigerated. Make the cranberry compote, cool cover and refrigerate. Then on the day - take the base and compote out of the fridge a few hours ahead then about an hour before you want to serve the dish, whisk the whites, whisk in the sugar, spread the compote over the base, pile on the meringue, dust with the sugar, bake and serve. I hope that helps! Best wishes Lindsey

Method

First, pour the milk into a saucepan and bring to the boil then remove it from the heat and stir in the butter, breadcrumbs, 40g sugar and lemon zest.

Leave it on one side for about 20 minutes to allow the breadcrumbs to swell. Now separate the eggs, lightly beat the yolks and add them to the cooled breadcrumb mixture. Pour it all into the dish and spread it out evenly. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30–40 minutes, or until it’s set in the centre.

While that’s happening put all the cranberry compote ingredients into a medium saucepan, bring up to a gentle simmer and then, keeping the heat low, let it gently cook for about 25 minutes, or until nearly all the juice has evaporated.

When the pudding comes out of the oven carefully spoon and spread the cranberry mixture all over. Next, using an electric hand whisk, beat the egg whites in a large, scrupulously clean bowl until stiff, then whisk in the remainder of the caster sugar and spoon this meringue mixture over to the pudding.

Finally, sprinkle the teaspoon of caster sugar all over it and bake for a further 18–20 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.