Light Fruitcake Pudding

Serves 6-8, Prep and Cook: 5 hours, 30 mins

375g packet sultanas (2¼ cups)

1 cup finely chopped dried apricots

½ cup brandy

Cooking oil spray

175g unsalted butter, melted

¾ cup caster sugar

¹∕³ cup honey

3 eggs

1½ cups fresh breadcrumbs

1 cup self-raising flour

3 tsps mixed spice

Vanilla custard, to serve

1 Combine sultanas, apricots and brandy in a large bowl. Stand, covered, overnight. 2 Lightly spray a metal pudding steamer (8-cup capacity) with oil. Line base and side with four, 3cm wide, strips of baking paper at different angles. (If not lined, pudding may be difficult to turn out.) 3 Add butter, sugar, honey, eggs and breadcrumbs to sultana mixture. Mix well. Stir in combined sifted flour and spice. Pour into prepared steamer. Smooth over top. 4 Place a piece of baking paper then foil over top of steamer. Tie firmly with string to secure. Cover with metal lid. 5 Place a small, heat-proof saucer in the centre of a removable bowl of a 5 to 6-litre capacity slow cooker. Sit steamer on saucer. Pour in enough cold water (about 8 cups) to come three-quarters of the way up the side of steamer. Cover cooker tightly with two sheets of foil. Cover with lid. 6 Cook on high for 5 hours. Remove steamer from cooker. Stand for 15 minutes. Remove lid, paper and foil. Turn out pudding onto a plate. Remove lining paper. 7 Serve warm pudding with warm or cold custard.