Italian Christmas Pudding Cake Without Tuaca

Asked by AllanS. Answered on 24th November 2014

Full question

Hello! I know it's still quite a bit early until the Christmas season is upon us, but is there any way to make this cake kid-friendly by either omitting the liqueurs or substituting something else? I so want to make this for Christmas and there will be plenty of children at our celebration. Thank you! Allan

Hi, I live in Switzerland and I can't find the Tuaca liqueur. Do you know of any outlets that may sell it? Thanks, Flurina

Our answer

Nigella's Italian Christmas Pudding Cake (from Nigellissima and on the Nigella website) is a slightly lighter alternative to a traditional Christmas pudding and is in a way a Christmassy version of tiramisu. Nigella used an Italian liqueur called Tuaca as it has vanilla and citrus flavours, but she certainly is not rigid in prescribing Tuaca for the dessert and suggests that you can use rum, brandy or Grand Marnier as alternatives, or even marsala as that is already in the mascarpone mixture.

If you need to avoid the alcohol completely for children then we would suggest replacing the marsala with a tablespoon of vanilla extract and adding about 6 tablespoons of milk to the mascarpone and cream mixture, to give a thick but spreadable consistency. Instead of the Tuaca you could drizzle the pannetone slices with orange juice.

Unfortunately we have not been able to find a reliable source in Switzerland for Tuaca but we understand that some upmarket liquor stores are prepared to do special orders for customers so it may be worth checking with some local outlets to see if they can help. If you are near an Aligro store then it may also be worth trying there as they have a vast selection of liqueurs and spirits. Otherwise you could try one of the alternatives mentioned above.