Festive Fruit Pudding
Ingredients:
2 cups mixed fruit
1 ½ cups dried apricots, chopped
1 ½ cups raisins
¼ cup orange juice
250g butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
Finely grated rind of 1 orange
4 eggs
Method:
- Combine fruit, orange juice and orange rind in a bowl. Cover and stand overnight to soak.
- Grease and line the base of a 2 litre pudding basin.
- Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until pale and creamy.
- Add eggs one at a time beating after each addition.
- Stir in fruit.
- Fold in flour with baking powder and spices. Fold in the 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 hours on low heat, topping up with boiling water as needed. Remove basin from pan, cool completely and store in fridge until Christmas day.
- To reheat, boil pudding using above method for 2 hours. Serve wedges with custard.
