Ingredients

115g Plain Flour

115g Breadcrumbs

115g Suet

95g Sugar

115g Currants

115g Sultanas

40g Raisins

1 egg

1tbsp Syrup

10g Mixed Peel

1 Apple (grated)

1 Carrot (grated)

½ Lemon (juice & rind)

½ tsp Nutmeg

½ tsp Mixed spice

½ tsp Salt

2 tsp Baking Powder

Milk & Water to mix

* I swapped the quantities of the currants and raisins, as I prefer raisins, and instead of adding candid peel and the rind of ½ a lemon I added the rind of 1 lemon and 1 orange.  As the recipe just said sugar, I assumed that this should be caster sugar. When I saw the colour of my mixture I wondered if it would have been better to use brown sugar. As I wanted my pudding to be brown I added a tablespoon of black treacle. I think that this wouldn’t do any harm even if you use brown sugar.

You could add 100ml of sherry if you are not making this for primary school children. I also think that it would have improved the pudding if some chopped nuts had been added, maybe some almonds and hazelnuts.

Method

1) Wash and prepare fruit.

2) Sieve flour, spices, baking powder and salt.

3) Add sugar, breadcrumbs and suet and mix.

4) Add dried fruit, grated apple, carrot, lemon rind (and orange if using).

5) Then add lemon juice, syrup (treacle) and the egg and stir well.

6) Mix in the milk and water, a little at a time, until you have a dropping consistency.

7) Steam for 5 hours.

This pudding would serve 8-10 people.

* If you are making this pudding in advance, leave it to cool and then wrap it in greaseproof paper. Store in a cool place for up to a week. Steam for 1 hour before serving.