James Martin’s Christmas pudding

My Christmas pudding is rich, dark and spicy. I always make enough mixture for two puddings,one for Christmas Day and the other to give as a gift, or to eat another time.

Makes 2 x 1.2-litre puddings; each pudding serves 6 Prep 20 mins plus overnight soaking Cook 6 hrs

500g mixed dried fruit 100g stoned dates or

prunes, chopped

100g stem ginger, drained and chopped, plus 2 tbsp syrup 2 oranges, zested and

juiced

225ml stout butter, for the basins 50g whole almonds,

chopped

200g vegetable or beef

suet

2 eating apples, grated 100g dark muscovado

sugar

5 tbsp black treacle 100g self-raising flour 85g soft white

breadcrumbs

100g ground almonds 1 tbsp mixed spice 1 tsp ground ginger ½ tsp ground cloves 3 large eggs brandy, to serve

(optional)

1 Mix together the dried fruit, ginger, orange zest and juice, and stout in a bowl. Cover and leave to soak overnight.

2 Butter two 1.2-litre pudding basins. To prepare your steamers, put a upturned plate in the base of two large, deep saucepans, big enough to hold your pudding basins. Add the remaining ingredients (except the brandy) to the fruit mixture and stir well, making sure there are no pockets of flour. Divide between the prepared basins and cover with buttered baking parchment and a foil lid. Tie with string to secure and make a handle for easy lifting.

3 Stand the puddings on the upturned bowls or plates in your saucepans. Pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the basins, cover with a tight-fitting lid and steam for 6 hrs, topping up with water if needed. Once cooked, the puddings can mature for up to a year in a cool dark place, so if you only eat one this year, that’s fine.

4 To serve, reheat in a steamer for 1 hr until the pudding is piping hot throughout. Flame with brandy as you bring to the table, if you like.

PER SERVING 527 kcals, fat 23g, saturates 9g, carbs 70g, sugars 58g, fibre 3g, protein 7g, salt 0.4g

“I always make enough mixture for two puddings – one for Christmas Day and the other to give as a gift, or to eat another time