Christmas pudding and ice cream filo parcels with brandy sauce by James Martin

Christmas pudding and ice cream filo parcels with brandy sauce

Ingredients
For the parcels
500g/18oz vanilla ice cream
450g/1lb ready-made Christmas pudding, cooked
12 sheets ready-made filo
50g/2oz butter, melted
3 tbsp icing sugar
For the brandy sauce
200ml/7fl oz double cream
600ml/1 pint whole milk
25g/1oz cornflour, mixed with 4 tbsp cold water
50g/2oz granulated sugar
50g/2oz unsalted butter
3-4 tbsp brandy

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 240C/465F/Gas 9.
2. Scoop the ice cream into six balls, place them onto a baking sheet and place in the freezer until ready to use.
3. Scoop out a handful of Christmas pudding and place between two pieces of cling film. Using a rolling pin, flatten the pudding out to about 1cm/½in thick. Repeat to create six pudding sheets.
4. Remove the top sheet of cling film from the flattened Christmas pudding and place one of the frozen ice cream balls into the centre. Draw the pudding around the ice cream to cover totally, then place back in the freezer. Repeat with the remaining ice cream balls and pudding to create six pudding parcels.
5. Lay one sheet of filo pastry onto a clean work surface and brush with melted butter. Place one of the frozen pudding balls into the centre and draw up the filo pastry around the pudding ball and seal over. Brush another sheet with butter and use this to enclose the pudding ball in a second layer of filo. Return to the freezer and repeat this wrapping process with the remaining filo sheets, melted butter and pudding balls.
6. Place the pudding filo parcels onto a baking tray and dust with icing sugar.
Transfer to the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the filo is golden and crisp.
7. While the puddings are cooking, make the brandy sauce. Place the cream and milk into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
8. Stir in the cornflour solution and return to the boil, stirring constantly to thicken.
9. Remove from the heat and add the sugar and butter, continuing to stir until the butter has melted and the sugar has completely dissolved.
10. Add the brandy and stir again.
11. To serve, place a pudding parcel into a bowl and pour over the brandy sauce.