Christmas Plum Pudding

Ingredients:

350g currants
120g sultanas
120g raisins
120g mixed, candied, peel, chopped
240g cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
juice of 1 lemon
freshly-grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 orange
freshly-grated zest of 1 orange
350g shredded suet
60g chopped almonds
60g chopped walnuts
350g plain flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp mixed spice
240g brown sugar
240g caster sugar
120g glacé cherries, chopped
350g fresh breadcrumbs
4 eggs
2 tbsp brandy
200ml stout (eg Guinness)

Method:

Combine the chopped nuts, candied peel, cherries, apples in a bowl along with the orange and lemon zests. Sift in the flour, salt and spice then add the breadcrumbs, suet and sugars. Mix thoroughly to combine then add the lemon and orange juices, brandy, stout and eggs. Mix until combined well then cover with a towel and set aside to marinate over night (you must do this for the flavour to develop).

The following day, mix the pudding ingredients once more then grease three pudding bowls of various sizes (I tend to use 500ml, 1l and 1.5l bowls) then spoon the mixture into the bowls (if you are using ceramic the puddings will come out easier if you place a circular piece of aluminium foil that's been well greased on both sides in the base of the bowl). Make certain that you do not fill the bowls right to the top, as the puddings will expand as they cook. Cover with a secure lid or a double layer of greaseproof paper that's been greased. Tie securely then cover everything in a layer of aluminium foil.

Place the bowls in a large saucepan (set them on an upturned saucer to prevent them from moving and/or burning) then fill half way up with boiling water and bring to a boil. Cover and allow the puddings to steam (top-up with more boiling water, as required, to ensure the puddings do not boil dry). As a rule of thumb, a 500ml pudding will take 5 hours to cook, a 1l pudding 7 hours and a 1.5l pudding 10 hours.

Remove the pudding from the water and set aside to cool. You can store in a cool place for several weeks. For a richer pudding add about 2 tbsp brandy to the pudding every week until you're ready to eat.

To re-heat, either boil the pudding for about 150 minutes or microwave for between 4 and 10 minutes (depending on pudding size). Once hot, remove from the bowl and turn onto a serving plate. Douse with brandy and set the brandy alight. Bring to the table and as soon as the flames have died away serve hot. Traditionally this pudding is accompanied by brandy butter or custard.

Find more Christmas Recipes Here