Christmas Pud

Our daughter Ella just walked into the kitchen and announced with glee "It smells like Christmas in here!" That's because the Christmas pudding - having spent its formative days soaking in a mix of brandy and our Sangiovese dessert wine "Dolce Nero" - is now wrapped in a calico bundle and boiling away on the stove, filling the kitchen with cinnamon, clove, butter and brady infused steam.

It's not too late to make your Christmas pudding  - here is my recipe.

350g currants

350g sultanas
150g mixed peel
150g chopped dried figs (you can use your own mix of fruit to make up 1kg - I just don't like glace cherries!)

250ml brandy (I use a little less brandy and a good slosh of our Dolce Nero - others use rum)

250g butter

250g brown sugar

6 eggs

1/2 teaspoon each ground nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves

450g self raising flour

Mix the fruit together and soak for one to three days in the alcohol.

On the day you make the pudding, make sure you have enough time to have it on the boil for six hours!

Cream the butter and sugar (I grate the cold butter into the bowl to make it easier to blend) and add the eggs slowly, one at a time, so that the mixture doesn't curdle. (If it does, don't worry - carry on!)

Stir in thr marinated fruit (there won't be much liquid left as it will all be in the fruit), flour, spices and a pinch of salt and mix well.

Make sure everyone in the family has a turn stirring the pudding for good luck!

Dust a large square of calico with flour (an old pillow-slip will also do) and spoon the pudding mixture into the centre. Bring the corners together and form a tight ball and tie off with string.

Immerse the pudding into a large pot of boiling water and let it boil away for six hours. You will have to top up the water occassionally to keep the pudding immersed. After six hours, sit the pudding in a colander until it stops dripping then hang in a well ventilated place to dry. I find it is best to pop it into the fridge until Christmas - especially here in Australia where the pudding can go mouldy in the heat and humidity of Summer!

On Christmas Day,  re-boil the pudding for about and hour before serving with vanilla ice cream, thick cream and/or brandy butter. This recipe makes a large pudding - enough for the extended family!