This festive season, food writer Skye McAlpine offers a delightful twist on traditional Christmas desserts with two spectacular recipes designed to be prepared well in advance. Her creations, a salted caramel zuccotto and a pomegranate Campari jelly, promise to bring both elegance and ease to the holiday table.
A Showstopping Salted Caramel Zuccotto
McAlpine's first recipe presents a clever and delicious alternative to the classic Christmas pudding. The salted caramel zuccotto is a dome-shaped dessert that cleverly mimics the look of a traditional figgy pudding, but its interior reveals layers of marsala-drenched panettone and luxurious ice cream.
The joy of this dessert lies in its practicality as much as its flavour. It can be assembled and frozen weeks before Christmas, requiring only a last-minute decoration before serving. The recipe calls for two litres of salted caramel ice-cream, though McAlpine encourages cooks to experiment with their favourite flavours or even create colourful layered effects.
The method involves lining a three-litre bowl with cling film and pressing in slices of 500g of panettone, which are then drizzled with 120ml of marsala. The softened ice cream is spooned in, sealed with more cake, and frozen. The frozen dome is then enrobed in a shell of dark chocolate and butter, and finished with a white chocolate ganache and a decoration of redcurrants.
A Grown-Up, Wibbly-Wobbly Jelly
For a lighter, gluten- and dairy-free option, McAlpine's pomegranate Campari jelly is a ruby-red triumph. She describes it as having a soft melt-in-your-mouth set, a sophisticated departure from the firm jellies of childhood. The inclusion of 175ml of Campari and 400ml of prosecco gives it a decidedly adult sparkle.
This dessert is another champion of advance preparation, needing to set overnight for the perfect texture. The recipe combines pomegranate juice, prosecco, sugar and 16g of gelatine leaves to create a shimmering centrepiece. It is served turned out of its mould and scattered with fresh pomegranate seeds.
The Ultimate Festive Companion
Both of these recipes exemplify McAlpine's approach to festive cooking: creating maximum impact with thoughtful planning. The zuccotto offers the comforting, familiar silhouette of a Christmas pudding with the surprise of frozen, boozy layers. The jelly provides a refreshing, sparkling counterpoint that caters to various dietary needs without compromising on style.
These recipes are extracted from McAlpine's book, 'The Christmas Companion: Recipes, Crafts and Inspiration for a Magical Festive Season', published by Bloomsbury. By focusing on desserts that can be made ahead, she allows hosts to spend less time in the kitchen on the day and more time enjoying the festivities with their guests.
