Apricot & Almond Christmas Pudding

There's something SO Christmassy and SO authentic about a traditional steamed pudding.  It's not something that's often done apart from at Christmas, so I guess that adds to its appeal!  I think I've only ever made one steamed pudding before, so I was really keen to try another one this year - plus the fact I went and bought myself my very own pudding basin from K-mart ($9, what a bargain!!!)  I searched around in a few books and found this one in a Coles Magazine.  I love apricots, so I knew this one would be delicious.  It's actually really easy to make the pudding itself, just very time consuming to cook it!  But totally worth it, and served with custard - yum!!!  I think I'll definitely be making a pudding every year from now on :-)

Ingredients

2 cups Mixed Dried Fruit

1 ½ cups Dried Apricots, chopped

1 ½ cups Raisins

1/2 cup Blanched Almonds, chopped

1/4 cup Orange Juice

finely grated zest of 1 Orange

250 g Butter, at room temperature

1 cup Brown Sugar

4 Eggs

1 cup Plain Flour, sifted

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

2 cups Fresh Breadcrumbs

1/4 cup Apricot Jam

2 tbsp Brandy

Cream or Custard, to serve

Method

Place fruit, almonds, orange juice and zest in a saucepan. Heat until hot and steaming, but not boiling. Remove from heat and set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.

Grease and line the base of an 8-cup pudding basin with baking paper. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together, until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in fruit mixture. Fold in flour, baking powder and cinnamon, then fold in 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 (or use a pudding basin with a lid!) Stand pudding 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 hrs over 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 hrs. Warm the apricot jam and stir in the brandy. Brush over pudding. Cut into wedges and serve with cream or custard.

And as you can see, I had a little "helper" during the photo shoot for the pudding!

Mr Innocent!

Oh, you mean THAT pudding?!?

Bwahahaha!!!