Chocolate Panettone Pudding with Spiced Cherry Compote

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160CFan and lightly butter a 1.5 litre baking dish or shallow casserole dish.

Lightly butter one side of each slice of panettone with the remaining butter and arrange the slices in the prepared baking dish, butter-side up (cut the slices into triangles if this makes it easier to fit). Scatter over the chopped chocolate.

Place the eggs, caster sugar, vanilla and Marsala in a large bowl. Whisk using a balloon whisk until pale then gently whisk in the double cream and milk.

Pour the egg mixture over the panettone, pushing it down to soak up the liquid. Set aside for 10-15 minutes to allow the custard to soak in. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the custard is just set and the top is golden.

Meanwhile make the spiced cherries, place the drained cherry syrup, marsala and sugar in a pan with the star anise, cloves and cinnamon, vanilla seeds and the scraped-out pod. Grate over a little nutmeg. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and reduce the sauce until halved in volume and slightly syrupy and thickened, (stir in some of the slaked arrowroot to thicken the syrup if needed). Turn off the heat and add the cherries to warm through for a couple of minutes.

Serve the panettone chocolate pudding with spiced cherries and a nice scoop of ice-cream or thick double cream.