Eggless Christmas Pudding Cheesecake (how to use up Christmas Pudding!)

It’s a recipe that’s been a long time coming! Over 2 decades, to be precise. From the first time I made Panettone Bread and Butter Pudding with leftover Christmas pudding, I just knew I had to give one of my cheesecakes the same treatment.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Christmas Pudding Cheesecake

So why has it taken me so long? I guess December always flies by faster than I expect, and before I know it, the season’s gone! As it is, today is Christmas eve, but since this is a dessert meant to use up that leftover Christmas pudding, I figured I could get away with it!

What is Christmas Pudding?

Christmas pudding (image below) is a traditional British dessert served at the end of the Christmas meal. It is a rather heavy, spicy and sweet pudding made up of dried fruits and, almost always, made with alcohol. It is often served with custard, brandy butter, cream or ice cream.

If you fancy making your own, click on the images below to get to the 2 recipes I have. One is traditional, the other, is my Alcohol Free, Gluten Free, Vegan Christmas Pudding!

Can’t find any Christmas Pudding?

You have 2 options:

  • Make either Christmas pudding recipe on this site: the traditional one (needs to be made a month earlier to mature), or the Vegan, alcohol free version (doesn’t want to be made earlier)
  • Substitute the Christmas Pudding with some dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, candied citrus peel) and, if you like nuts, some chopped almonds.
    Take a 250ml measuring cup (about 1 US cup) and fill it with the above, heavy on the fruit, with just 1 – 2 Tbsp of nuts. Then follow the recipe.
topping cheesecake with glazed oranges
topping cheesecake with glazed oranges

Christmas Pudding Cheesecake Recipe

It really is the easiest thing. When I play around with cheesecake recipes, I always start with the basic vanilla version, like our New York Cheesecake. You’ll find that recipe here.

So that’s what I’ve done here. BUT, I went with the eggless version of our vanilla cheesecake recipe. For 2 reasons:

  • my girls are allergic to eggs.
  • since I started the Eggless recipes page about a year or so ago, I get at least 1 request a day to increase the collection. And I need to keep my readers happy!
cosy Christmas cake picture
Christmas Pudding Cheesecake

Don’t want to make it Eggless?

Not a problem. It’s a straight swap of the buttermilk for 1 large egg. Super easy. Or just follow the recipe for our Vanilla Cheesecake, and add the crumbled Christmas pudding in with the evaporated milk.

Cheesecakes are generally, easy recipes, and today’s Christmas Pudding Cheesecake is no different. This is what we’ll be doing:

  1. First, we make the biscuit base (10 minute baking time).
  2. Then we make the cheese filling by mixing everything together in turn.
  3. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes.
  4. Leave to cool in the oven, for another hour.
  5. Then it goes in the fridge for overnight chilling.

Easy, right?

What Cheese to use for our Eggless Cheesecake?

This particular cheesecake recipe calls for good old cream cheese. I guess the most well known brand is Philadelphia, but I just tend to use the local supermarket own brand version, which is always cheaper, but exactly the same. I use Waitrose full fat cream cheese.

eating cake with santa hat
there’s always one who can’t wait for me to finish with the photo shoot!

Can Half Fat Cream Cheese be used to bake Cheesecake?

Absolutely! And the good news is, you don’t have to compensate for the reduction in fat by adding anything else. Your cheesecake will be just as delicious, with much less fat!

Topping for our Christmas Pudding Cheesecake

I’ve gone for really simple here, as the cake is rich and sweet. So all I’ve done is made some caramelised clementine slices with sugar, cooled them and topped the cake with them.

In the image, you also see a border of some tine pieces of fruit. That’s leftover candied citrus peel from the Alcohol Free Christmas Pudding we made a few days ago.

You could also macerate those orange slices with some orange liqueur, as we did in our Cointreau and Orange Risotto.

Cointreau and Orange Risotto Brulée in tea cup topped with macerated oranges
Cointreau and Orange Risotto Brulée

Or, still sticking with oranges (as Christmas is rather synonymous with clementines here in the UK, you could “burn” them.

  1. Place the clementine wedges on a baking tray.
  2. Sprinkle with sugar liberally.
  3. Place under a hot grill until the sugar is caramelised and there are slight burnt bits to the oranges. Or use a kitchen torch.
  4. Cool completely at room temperature before using.

So to all my British readers who always have leftover Christmas pudding, here’s another way to use it up!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas, wherever you are! xx

More Festive Recipes

If you are looking for more festive recipes between now and the new year, head on over to the Desserts page, the Drinks page or the Christmas page for more inspiration. Like the following:

Christmas Cranberry and Ginger Tonic (a Christmas Mocktail)
This Christmas mocktail is a delicious blend of refreshingly sweet, citrusy and slightly bitter flavours. Perfect festive drink for non drinkers!
Get the Recipe!
Christmas Alexander, a Festive Winter Cocktail
Christmas Alexander – celebrate the holidays with this indulgent but potent take on the classic, with Baileys!
Get the Recipe!
Christmas Alexander, a Christmas Cocktail with Baileys
Poached Pears in Red Wine with Vanilla (an Easy Dessert)
Poached Pears in Red Wine recipe, such an easy, yet elegant dessert, you’ll be wanting to serve them all the time!
Get the Recipe!
Poached pears in red wine

If you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!

And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood

Lin xx

Eggless Christmas Pudding Cheesecake

Eggless Christmas Pudding Cheesecake (how to use up leftover Christmas Pudding!)

This Eggless Christmas Pudding Cheesecake is a creamy cheesecake with hits of honeyed, caramelised fruit with every single bite.
5 from 27 votes
Print Pin Add to Collection
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: British
Keyword: cakes, christmas, eggless
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Chilling time: 1 day
Servings: 12
Calories: 495kcal
Author: Azlin Bloor
Cost: £1.25 per person

Equipment

  • Cake Mixer or handheld beaters
  • Cake pan 23cm/9"

Ingredients

The Base

  • 200 g (7 oz) plain digestive biscuits (you can use your favourite biscuits here too. Ginger ones are always nice)
  • 100 g (3.5 oz) butter, melted

The Filling

  • 900 g (2 lb) full fat cream cheese
  • 250 g (8 4/5) oz caster sugar (slightly finer than granulated)
  • 2 Tbsp plain flour
  • 2 Tbsp cornflour cornstarch in the US
  • 250 ml (1 cup) buttermilk (or plain yoghurt)
  • 2 tsp vanilla paste
  • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 125 ml (1/2 cup) full fat evaporated milk
  • 250 g Christmas pudding crumbled up

Clementine Topping

  • 2 clementines peeled and wedges separated
  • 200 g (1 cup) white sugar
  • 125 ml (1/2 cup) water

Instructions

Ideally, bake your cheesecake the day before you are planning to serve it.

  • Preheat oven to 200˚C (390˚F/180˚C Fan).
  • Grease, line and grease again, a 9 inch/23cm springform tin, including the sides.

The Base

  • I like to do this in a food processor as it’s so much easier and quicker. Place the biscuits in the food processor and pulse to get fine crumbs.
  • Add the melted butter (through the feed tube if you have one) and pulse until it’s all thoroughly mixed. You’ll end up with a mixture that looks like dark wet sand.
  • Carefully press this biscuit mix onto the bottom of your greased pan, patting it and packing it flat with your palm.
  • Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. When done, I like to keep it out to cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack (set the timer if you might forget!), then straight in the fridge while I get the cheesecake done.

The Filling

  • In a tabletop mixer (or large bowl with handheld whisk), beat the cream cheese on medium-low until creamy for 1 minute. Add the sugar gradually during this minute in 2 additions.
  • Next, add the two flours, scraping down the sides if you have to.
  • Add vanilla, lemon juice and then the buttermilk, whisking for only about 30 seconds.
  • Finally, add the evaporated milk and crumbled Christmas pudding and whisk until just mixed, about 20 seconds. Don’t over beat. Check for lumps, squash the bigger ones with a wooden spoon but don’t worry about it too much.
  • Pour the mixture into the prepared tin gently.
  • Bake at the initial high temperature for 20 minutes. This aids the rise.
  • Reduce the temperature to 110˚C(230˚F/90˚C Fan) and bake for another hour. When done, the cake should still have a wobble in the middle.
  • Let it cool in the oven with the door slightly ajar for 1 hour.
  • Then cool completely at room temperature on your kitchen counter.
  • Finally, cover loosely with foil and refrigerate overnight. Serve straight from the fridge.

Clementine Topping

  • Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
  • Add the clementine wedges, and bring the mix back to a simmer.
  • Lower the heat right down, then simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Take it off the heat, cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge until needed.

Serving

  • When ready to serve, take the cake out of the cake pan carefully.
  • Top with the glazed clementine wedges, along with the little bit of syrup.
  • Cut and serve up.

Notes

The total time does not take into account the total chilling time.
When cutting cheesecakes, it’s a good idea to warm the knife in hot water, dry, then cut. Wipe between each slice. This will make your slices neat and clean looking.

Nutrition

Calories: 495kcal | Carbohydrates: 61.5g | Fat: 22.1g | Sodium: 510mg | Sugar: 43g
Did you make this recipe?Mention @azlinbloor and tag #linsfood!
Made it? Upload your photosMention @azlinbloor and tag #linsfood!

Share this with someone who'll love it!

8 thoughts on “Eggless Christmas Pudding Cheesecake (how to use up Christmas Pudding!)”

  1. Jayashree T.Rao

    5 stars
    That’s a lovely cheese cake pudding for Christmas. Glad that you have eggless recipes here.

  2. 5 stars
    This was extremely delicious, never thought of this before. Sadly, we’ve always just thrown out the left over, but not anymore!

  3. Denise Emerton

    Thanks Lin, I saw this yesterday and managed to get to the shops before they all shut to get the ingredients. Making for our Christmas open house tomorrow. Thank you, this may be a new tradition!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating