Christmas pudding is as much a part of the festive season as the Christmas decorations.
For many people, Christmas dinner is not complete unless the turkey is followed by a sweet and steaming pudding. These can be bought in the shops, of course, but making your own is just that little more special. This is not a standard recipe, but it will produce a pudding to be proud of!
The first step is to grease your pudding bowl using unsalted butter. Then, chop up 150g each of dates and dried apricots.
Place them in a mixing bowl along with some rosemary, 75g of crystallised ginger and 150g of nuts. Mix with 150g of raisins, dried cranberries, plain flour and suet, 75g of breadcrumbs and 200ml of semi-skimmed milk. Finally, add a single egg and a little clementine juice before mixing thoroughly.
Once the ingredients have been mixed together, pour these into your pudding bowl. Then, cover this over with two tin foil sheets and one piece of greaseproof paper, using string or an elastic band to fix them in place. Put the bowl into a deep saucepan before adding water until it reaches the halfway point.
The next stage is to boil this water and then turn the pan down to simmer level for four hours. The saucepan should be covered with a lid that fits tightly while the pudding is simmering. Check periodically to see if more water needs to be added to the pan.
When it is ready, just add some bourbon and golden syrup, and it’s ready to eat!
