Recipe for Ice-cream Christmas pudding..

This is a special 'two-in-one day' post just for Melody as she asked for a copy of the recipe I use for the ice-cream pudding in my menu list in the post earlier today. It comes from the Australian home-loving icon, Donna Hay - is she the new Martha Stewart????

Anyway, this is YUMMY!! Give it a whirl, it's really simple and the best part..you can make it ahead of schedule if you have enough room in your freezer.

BERRY ICE-CREAM PUDDING + SPICED CUSTARD (Donna Hay Issue #24)
Serves 8 (not in this house!!!)
2 litres store bought vanilla ice-cream, softened
1.5 cups frozen raspberries
1.5 frozen blueberries

Place the ice-cream and berries in a large bowl and stir well to evenly distribute the berries. Place the bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes or until the ice-cream just starts to harden. Cut out a 60cm (24in) square of calico cloth. Place the calico in a bowl, spoon in the ice-cream and gather up the edges. Tie the calico with string, ensuring the string is long enough to hang the pudding in the freezer over the bowl (to catch any drips) for a minimum of 3 hours or until firm. Remove the pudding from the freezer, undo the calico and place on a plate. Cut the pudding into slices and serve with the spiced custard.

Spiced Custard
1 cup single or pouring cream
1/4 cup brandy
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1 cinnamon stick
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons caster sugar
Heat the cream, brandy, vanilla and cinnamon in a small saucepan over medium heat. Discard the vanilla and cinnamon. Place the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until thick and pale. Slowly pour the hot cream mixture in the egg mixture, whisking continuously. Return to the saucepan and stir over low heat for 4 minutes or until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Set aside and allow to cool.