Alcohol Free Christmas Desserts That Taste Like The Real Thing

Christmas and the festive season is a time when booze is all around us. It's in all our traditions, from the drinks we are supposed to have, the tipples we are supposed to leave out for Santa and even the traditional Christmas desserts.

But if you are going for an alcohol-free Christmas this year you don’t have to miss out on a delicious, adult-tasting dessert. We have you covered with these three alcohol-free recipes for traditional Christmas desserts. 

Alcohol-Free Christmas Pudding

“Christmas pudding, Christmas pudding,

Eat it hot, eat it hot!”

Christmas pudding is the most iconic Christmas dessert out there and features in so many Christmas songs. Even when it isn't filled with booze, this will taste delicious!

Ingredients:

• 150g Sultanas and raisins

• 150g Dried cranberries

• 150g Dried apricots

• 1 Cooking apple (peeled, cored and chopped)

• 1 Orange (grated rind and juice)

• 1 Lemon (zest only)

• 2.5 Tbsp Alcohol-free spirits such as alcohol-free rum, brandy, Crossip’s Rich Berry Alcohol-free spirit or Christmas Pudding Spirit

• 0.5 Tbsp Alcohol-free ginger spirit

• 75g Soft butter

• 100g Muscovado sugar

• 2 Eggs

• 100g Self-raising flour

• 40g White breadcrumbs

• 1.5 Tsp Mixed spice

• 40g Roughly chopped pecans or almonds

Method

1. Mix together your dried fruit, apple and orange juice in a bowl and then cover with the alcohol-free spirits. Leave this to marinate for an hour.

2. Cream butter, sugar and the grated orange and lemon zest in a bowl until it is light and fluffy.

3. Slowly beat in the eggs. If you notice it starting to curdle mix in a little bit of flour.

4. Gently fold the flour, mixed spice, breadcrumbs and nuts into the creamed mixture.

5. Stir the soaked fruits and alcohol-free mixture in.

6. Generously butter your pudding basin and pour in your pudding mixture.

7. Place this basin onto an upturned saucer in a pan. Fill the pan with enough boiling water to cover up to a third of the pudding basin.

8. Simmer this for 8 hours. Make sure to keep it topped up with water. I would always set a regular alarm on my phone to go and check the water levels, you don’t want it to run dry!

9. Remove the lid of the pan and serve on a plate. It's delicious when served with the alcohol-free brandy butter recipe we are about to give you!

Alcohol-Free Christmas Trifle

The best part of a traditional trifle is the sherry-soaked sponge finger layer at the bottom. So how can you get the same flavour, but without using alcohol? Try this recipe and see.

Ingredients

• 6 Sponge fingers

• 150ml High point rub aperitif or for a less traditional trifle an alcohol-free spirit of your choice

• 300g Raspberries (plus a handful extra to garnish)

• A Packet of Jelly

• 300g Custard

• 250g Whipped cream

Method:

1. Half your six sponge fingers and lay them across the bottom of a trifle dish. Use a fork to make small holes in them and then pour your non-alcoholic spirit over them.

2. Set aside whilst you mix the jelly cubes and make the liquid jelly.

3. Add your raspberries to the sponge fingers and press into them to make sure some of the juice is released. Then cover this with the jelly. Put this mixture in the fridge to let the jelly set.

4. Make your custard if you are making it from scratch. Let it cool off.

5. Once the trifle has set remove it from the fridge and pour your custard layer on top.

6. Whip the cream and add your cream layer next.

7. Garnish the trifle with your leftover raspberries and serve!

Alcohol-Free Rum Or Brandy Butter

Brandy or rum butter is the perfect sidekick for your Christmas pudding, minced pies, Christmas cake, or really any festive dessert. So there is no way that we are letting you miss out on this very important Christmas side. Here is how to make a non-alcoholic spirit butter.

Ingredients:

• 200g of a good tasting butter (you can easily swap this for a dairy-free vegan butter)

• 225g Icing sugar

• 35ml Alcohol-free spirit of your choice. We suggest an alcohol-free rum or brandy, but you can choose whichever flavour sounds best for you. MYTH Dark Cane, Lyre’s or Christmas Pudding spirits could work well.

• Optional mix-ins such as lemon zest, cinnamon, and mixed spice, for extra flavour

Method:

1. Add your butter to a bowl or a mixer and beat it to fluff it and soften it up.

2. Mix your icing sugar into the butter a little bit at a time to make sure you’ve thoroughly mixed everything.

3. Slowly add your alcohol-free spirit, bit by bit. If you add it all at once the mixture will curdle so you must add it slowly.

4. Once mixed in whisk the mixture until it has the consistency you want.

Enjoy Your Christmas Desserts With An Alcohol-Free Drink

Even if you are going for a booze-free Christmas this year you won’t do without your favourite traditional Christmas desserts. They will still taste boozy, but with none of the side effects of alcohol.

And why not wash this all down with an alcohol-free drink from our bottle shop? It will be the perfect healthy-ish Christmas combination.