Baked Christmas Pudding And Rum Sauce - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Pudding
1/2 cup margarine or 1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
2 1/2 cups mincemeat
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup grape jelly
1/3 cup orange juice
1 orange, rind of, grated
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup walnuts (optional)
Rum Sauce
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups cold water
2 teaspoons rum (or to taste) or 2 teaspoons rum flavoring (or to taste)

Preparation

Pudding:
Cream margarine. Add sugar, eggs and mincemeat. Sift dry ingredients. Combine jelly, orange peel, juice and add alternately with flour mixture. Stir in 1 cup walnuts (optional). Pour into greased 10 inch tube pan. Bake in 325 degree oven for 80-90 minutes. Cool and unmold. (the mincemeat used in this recipe is canned mincemeat used for fruit pies, not ground meat).
Sauce:
Combine sugar, butter and cornstarch. Dissolve in water. Bring slowly to boiling point stirring occasionally. Cook until thickened. Remove from heat.
Serve over pudding. If sauce has cooled at serving time reheat.