Ingredients

• 375g/13oz milk
• 375g/13oz double cream
• 150g/5½oz egg yolks
• 110g/4oz sugar
• 25g/1oz glycerine (optional)
• 500g/1lb 2oz crumbled Christmas pudding
• 3 oranges
• 300g/10½oz ground almonds
• 300g/10½oz caster sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 7 free-range eggs
• 1.5kg/3lb 5oz plums
• halved and stoned
• 150g/5½oz butter
• 100g/3½oz sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 lemon
• juice only

Directions

• For the ice cream
• make a custard base. In a pan
• bring the milk and cream up to the boil. In a bowl
• whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale. Pour the milk and cream over the yolk mixture and whisk together. Place back into a pan and cook over a low heat (to reach 82C/180F on a cooking thermometer) until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
• Add the glycerine
• if using
• to help prevent ice crystals forming during freezing. Pour the hot custard over the crumbled Christmas pudding and stir to mix. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker
• churn according to manufacturer's instructions and freeze.
• For the cake
• put the unpeeled oranges in a pan with a lid. Cover with cold water
• bring to the boil and simmer for 1½-2 hours
• or until the skins are soft and the insides broken down.
• Drain and
• when cool enough to handle
• cut each orange in half and remove the seeds. Chop everything finely — skins
• pith
• fruit — in the food processor.
• Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3 and grease and line a 24cm/9½in loaf tin or a 20cm/8in cake tin.
• Weigh the orange pulp and keep 450g/1lb (discard the rest). Place back in food processor with all the dry ingredients and add the eggs one at a time until you have a smooth batter.
• Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour -1 hour 20 minutes
• or until the sides start to come away from the tin. Check the cake after 40 minutes and cover with aluminium foil to stop the top burning.
• Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. When the cake is cold
• remove it from the tin.
• For the sauce
• add all the ingredients to a saucepan and place over a low heat until simmering. Continue to cook until the plums are very soft and almost a purée.
• Remove the cinnamon stick. Blend the spiced plums in a blender until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl and set aside until needed. If you find the purée too thick
• add a little water.
• Serve the cake in slices with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of sauce.