- 3 tbsp brandy
- 2 tbsp orange liqueur
- 5 tbsp fresh orange juice
- 2 ready-made madeira cakes, trimmed and cut into slices
- 100g/3½oz icing sugar
- 100g/3½oz ready-made Christmas pudding, cooked and broken up into pieces
- 1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped out
- 450ml/16fl oz double cream, whipped until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed
- 85g/3oz dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids), grated
- 85g/3oz dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids), melted, plus extra to serve
- double cream, to serve
- Line a 1½ litre/2½ pint capacity round-bottomed bowl or basin with cling film.
- Place the brandy, orange liqueur and orange juice into a clean bowl and dip the madeira cake slices into it to lightly soak.
- Place three-quarters of the soaked cake slices into the cling film-lined bowl to cover the inside of the bowl.
- In a separate bowl, place the icing sugar, cream and vanilla seeds and fold together gently.
- Place the grated chocolate, Christmas pudding pieces and three-quarters of the cream mixture into a clean bowl and mix together well. Spread this cream and Christmas cake mixture over the cake slices, moulding a hollow in the middle of the cream and Christmas cake mixture.
- Add the melted chocolate to the remaining cream mixture and pour this into the hollow. Smooth over.
- Place the remaining moist cake slices over the filling to completely enclose the filling, then cover with a clean tea towel and place into the fridge to chill for 24 hours.
- To serve, remove from the fridge, remove the covering and turn the cake out onto a plate. Remove the cling film if it has stuck to the cake, then pour over some melted chocolate. Cut generous slices and serve with cream.