CHRistmas Pudding

Ingredients

2 cups Mixed Dried Fruit
Dried Apricots, chopped
Raisins
Blanched Almonds, chopped
Dates, chopped
Dried Figs, chopped
Dried cherries
Use them in the proportion of your choice. Totally it should be 2 cups.
1/4 cup Orange Juice

1 no- Apple, peeled and grated
1 tbsp – Candied orange peel
250 g – Butter, at room temperature
1 cup – Brown Sugar
4 nos – Eggs, room temperature
1 cup – Plain Flour, sifted
1 tsp – Baking Powder
2 tsp – All Spice (1 tsp – Ground Cinnamon,1/2 tsp – Clove powder, 1/4 tsp – Dry ginger powder,1/4 tsp – Nutmeg powder)
2 cups – Fresh Breadcrumbs
1/4 cup – Apricot Jam/orange jam/ cherry jam/ mixed fruit jam
2 tbsp – Brandy

Method
Place fruits and orange juice in a saucepan. Heat until hot and steaming, but not boiling. Remove from heat and set aside to cool, stirring occasionally. ( you can replace this fruit mixture with the rum soaked dry fruits like how we do in Christmas Rum Cake)

Grease the pudding basin with butter and line the base with baking paper. Incase you dont have a pudding tin, you can use any steel , aluminium or glass bowl of your choice.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together, until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in fruit mixture, grated apple and orange peel. Fold in flour, baking powder and all spice, then fold in breadcrumbs.

Spoon into prepared basin, packing down lightly as you go. Cover with a circle of greased baking paper and two sheets of foil. Tie securely around rim of basin with kitchen string. Stand pudding on a trivet inside a large saucepan or stock pot.

Fill with enough hot water to come two-thirds up side of basin.

Cover and cook for 5 hrs over low heat. Top up with boiling water as needed. Maintain the level of water all the time. Remove basin from pan, cool completely . Pour in a tbsp of brandy on the pudding and store in fridge until Christmas Day. Season the cake by splashing a couple tbsps of brandy over the pudding every 4 days once.

To reheat, boil pudding, using above method, for 2 hrs. Warm the apricot jam and stir in the brandy. Brush over the hot pudding. Cut into wedges and serve with Brandy Butter Sauce.