Christmas Pudding

Instructions

Put the raisins, currants, candied peel and chopped apple in a large bowl with the zest and juice of the orange and lemon. Stir well and leave them for an hour so the fruit takes on the citrus.

In a second bowl, cream the butter and muscovado sugar with a spoon until fluffy. Add the eggs slowly, mixing as you go.

Sift the flour and mixed spice together. Fold them into the creamed mixture bit by bit, along with the breadcrumbs and almonds, then fold in the soaked fruit.

Butter a pudding basin generously and lay a small round of baking paper in the bottom. Spoon in the mixture and level the top.

Cut a sheet of baking paper and a sheet of foil, lay them together over the basin with a crease across the middle so the pudding has room to rise, and tie them on firmly with string.

To steam, set the basin in a steamer over simmering water, cover, and cook for 8 hours, topping up the water whenever it runs low. To boil instead, stand the basin on a trivet such as a metal jam lid in a large pan, with two strips of string or foil underneath to lift it out later. Pour in boiling water to halfway up the basin, cover, and simmer, adding water as needed, until the pudding is a deep, dark brown.

Lift out the pudding and let it cool for 1 to 2 hours. Replace the paper and foil with fresh ones, then store it somewhere cool and dry. It can be frozen for up to a year.

To serve, steam or boil the pudding for 2 hours to reheat it, then turn it out onto a serving plate.

To flame it, warm a little brandy in a small pan, pour it over the hot pudding at the table and light it with a match. Serve with the brandy butter alongside.