Nigella Lawson’s ultimate Christmas pudding

Serves: 8-10 INGREDIENTS

150g currants 150g sultanas 150g prunes, roughly chopped 175ml Pedro Ximénez sherry 100g plain flour 125g fresh breadcrumbs 150g suet 150g dark brown Muscovado sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon

tsp ground cloves 1 tsp baking powder Grated zest of 1 lemon 3 large eggs 1 medium cooking apple, peeled and grated 2 tbsp honey 125ml vodka (to flame the pudding) Sprig of holly METHOD

You will need a 1.7 litre/3 pint/1 quart heatproof plastic pudding basin with a lid.

Put the currants, sultanas and prunes into a bowl with the Pedro Ximénez sherry. Swill the bowl a bit, then cover with clingfilm and leave to steep overnight or for up to a week.

When the fruits have had their steeping time, put a large pan of water on to boil, or heat some water in a conventional steamer. Butter your heatproof plastic pudding basin (or basins), remembering to grease the lid.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the remaining pudding ingredients (except the vodka), either in the traditional manner or just any old how. Your chosen method of stirring and who does it probably won’t affect the outcome of your wishes or your Christmas.

Add the steeped fruits, scraping in every last drop of liquor with a rubber spatula. Mix t to combine thoroughly, then fold in cola-cl cola-cleaned coins or heirloom charms. If yo you are at all frightened about choking-indu choking-induced fatalities at the table,

leave out th the hardware.

Sc Scrape and press the mixture int into the prepared pudding basin basin, squish it down and put on the lid. Then wrap with a layer of foil (probably not necessary, bu but I do it as I once had a lid lid-popping and water-entering experienceex when steaming a pudding)pu so that the basin is watertight.wa Then either put theth basin in the pan of boiling wa water (to come halfway up the basin) or in the top of a lidd lidded steamer (this size of basi basin happens to fit perfectly in the top of my all-purpose pot) and ste steam for 5 hours, checking every nowno and again that the water hasn’t bubbledbub away. When it’s had its 5 hours, remove gingerly (you don’t want to burn yourself) and when manageable unwrap the foil. Put the pudding in its basin somewhere out of the way in the kitchen

Picture: DAN KENNEDY/ or, if you’re lucky enough to have CHILLI one, MEDIAa larder, until Christmas Day.

On the big day, rewrap the pudding (still in its basin) in foil and steam again, this time for 3 hours. Eight hours combined cooking time might seem a faff, but it’s not as if you need to do anything to it in that time.

To serve, remove from the pan or steamer, take off the lid, put a plate on top, turn it upside down and give the plastic basin a little squeeze to help unmould the pudding. Then remove the basin – and voilà, the Massively Matriarchal Mono Mammary is revealed. (Did I forget to mention the Freudian lure of the pudding beyond its pagan and Christian heritage?)

Put the sprig of holly on top of the dark, mutely gleaming pudding, then heat the vodka in a small pan – I use my diddy copper butter-melting pan. The minute it’s hot, but before it boils – you don’t want the alcohol to burn off before you attempt to flambé it – turn off the heat, strike a match, stand back and light the pan of vodka. Pour the flaming vodka over the pudding and take it as fast as you safely can to your guests. If it feels less dangerous to you (I am a liability and you might well be wiser not to follow my devil-may-care instructions), pour the hot vodka over the pudding and then light it. In either case, don’t worry if the holly catches alight – I have never known it to be anything but singed.

Serve with the Eggnog Cream, which you can easily make – it’s the work of undemanding moments – while the pudding is steaming.

Extracted from Nigella Christmas by Nigella Lawson. Published by Chatto & Windus @ £20. Photo C Lis Parsons.