Apple, Prune And Peach Christmas Pudding - cooking recipe

Ingredients

250 g pitted prunes, chopped
200 g dried peaches, chopped
1 cup currants
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
100 g butter, chopped
1 orange, rind grated and juiced
2 apples, peeled, cored and grated
1/4 cup golden syrup
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups breadcrumbs, soft white and fresh
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted

Preparation

Place dried fruit, sugar, butter, juice and rind in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil stirring occasionally until butter has melted and sugar dissolved. Add apple. Transfer to a large bowl to cool.
Grease a 6 cup pudding basin and line base with baking paper.Pour over the golden syrup.
Stir the eggs into the fruit mixture and mix well. Fold through the breadcrumbs and flour.
Spoon the pudding mixture into prepared basin packing down firmly as you go. Cover the basin with a circle of buttered non-stick baking paper and two circles of foil. Tie securely with kitchen string.
Stand pudding on a trivet (heatproof raised rack) inside a large saucepan or stockpot. Fill with enough hot water to come 2/3 up the side of basin.
Cover pot with a lid and simmer for 5 hours, topping up the pot with boiling water as needed. Don't let it boil dry.
Cool and store in basin in fridge until Christmas.
To reheat, boil pudding using the method above, for 2 hours. Serve with custard, brandy cream or icecream and decorate with berries.