I think this would go perfectly with chocolate bread....yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......I can feel my hips getting bigger just thinking about it! ;-)

I've always heard it called hard sauce and it's usually just butter, powdered sugar and brandy. I like on mincemeat pie.

Christmas is coming and the brandy butter is in the fridge!

In the UK brandy butter or failing that, brandy cream is essential with Christmas pud or mince pies...yummy. Believe me, if you haven't tried it you haven't lived.

I've never heard of the egg white business though.

Haven't tried brandy butter, but I make a lot of orange butter and cinnamon butter that goes over extremely well this time of year, especially on dense breads!

Yes to charise! My (British) mother always called it hard sauce and made it to go with mincemeat pie/apple pie... I used to eat it straight out of the jar, of course!

What a lovely photo, it really caught my eye, then I read the post and that caught my appetite. Looks wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

Brandy butter is my husband's favourite...English. I personally prefer cream or homemade vanilla ice cream with my Christmas pud. But now I have a recipe maybe I will make it for him and he'll be super happy.

My Boston family makes a version of this called hard sauce and they pair it with plum pudding. Not my thing--too buttery, if there can be such a thing--but I can attest to the fact that most people love it.

I've got a store-bought jar in my fridge that I LOVE on toasted extra-sour sourdough. The tang of the bread with the soft, sweet, aromatic brandy butter is divine.

This isn't a traditional recipe (it's usually just butter, sugar and brandy beat together-I remember my British father making this every single Christmas Eve in preparation for the next day), but it sounds interesting. I can't not have brandy butter with christmas pudding.

Very traditional here in the UK, though I have never seen it with egg whites, or whipped before. Mind you, we don't have whipped butter like the Aussies do. Usually it's just brandy, icing sugar and butter. It's great on christmas pud :-) I like the sound of the cinamon butter from @lifeinthefortress, that sounds interesting!

I love hard sauce and apple brown betty, which is very easy to make.

We called this hard sauce in my house, too. My family immigrated to the Canadian Prairies and Boston from the UK (England & Scotland) in the 1800's and this is one of those old time recipes that has been passed on from generation to generation. It's a staple at this time of year at my grandma's. Tastes great on Christmas pudding.

well now that we know what to put it on... who's got the best recipe for Christmas pudding??

We also call it hard sauce - Boston Irish background - and use it to stuff dates, apricots, etc., for Christmas gatherings (just butter, confectioners sugar and whiskey). It is so so so amazing. Sugar overload of course :)

karenenen, I went searching for a Christmas pudding recipe this morning! My British coworker says James Beard's version looks authentic enough: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Superb-English-Plum-Pudding-20010?id=20010

Apparently though, it's best when made a full year in advance. I may buy one this year from a local tea house...the dried fruit makes the recipe somewhat pricey.

Holy cr*p. That looks extremely delicious.

How can you never have heard of brandy butter?!!! You've not yet lived!!!

I'm a Brit in Aus, and I can attest that both countries stock it as a christmas staple in every supermarket, and it's fantastic on christmas pudding and mince pies (that's fruit mince pies for those that haven't heard of mincemeat, like most of Aus apparently). Also happy to echo the simple recipes above, of butter, brandy, and sugar (icing/confectioner's sugar works best, other sugars are gritty). It's basically boozy buttercream :-)

JMD: there isn't a product called "whipped butter", Aussies just have normal butter like the UK - in this recipe the whipped means just the same as creamed...