It’s that time of the year when we start preparing our delicious Christmas Pudding. The earlier you do this, the better, so the flavours of all the dried fruits baked together with the spices, eggs, flour, and butter have time to mature.
Ingredients
150g currants
150g sultanas
150g prunes
175ml sherry
100g plain flour
125g bread crumbs
150g vegetable suet
150g dark brown muscovado sugar
1tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1tsp baking powder
grated zest of 1 lemon
3 large eggs
1 medium cooking apple (grated)
2 tbsp honey
Equipment
Steamer
Large mixing bowl
Heat-proof basin
Spoon
Other
Cling film
Foil
Baking paper
Method
Mix currants, sultanas and prunes in a bowl. Add sherry, cover with cling film and leave to soak for a week. Give them a stir every now and then.
After a week, butter a heat-proof basin and mix remaining ingredients. Add soaked fruits and press it down. Cover with foil and steam for 5 hrs. When ready and cooled, remove foil and replace with a baking paper and cling film on top. Leave on the side (we place it inside a kitchen cupboard or on top of the fridge) until Christmas day. In the meantime you can uncover every now and then to pour in more sherry if you wish and cover again.
On Christmas day, steam for another 3 hrs and serve.
