Christmas Pudding

Directions

1. Mix together all the base ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Grease 8 individual pudding basins or darioles with a little butter, then line the bases with circles of baking parchment.
    
2. Stir your choice of dried nuts, spices and liquid, plus nuts if you are using, into the base mixture. If you’re tailoring your puddings for each guest, then weigh out 225g/8oz base mixture per pudding, before adding the extras.
    
3. Heat oven to 160°C/140°C fan/Gas 4 and boil the kettle. Fill each basin or dariole with pudding mixture. Grease a large sheet of foil, then stick a large sheet of baking parchment on top. Cut it into 8 squares, large enough to cover the puddings with overhang, and make a small pleat in each. Cover the puddings by scrunching foil round the edges to completely seal.
    
4. To serve, turn oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas5 after the Christmas dinner has come out, and put the puddings back into a roasting tin with hot water, as above. cook for 40mins, then turn off oven and leave them there if you’re stille ating. Carefully turn out onto serving plates, then dust with a little icing sugar and serve with Avonmore Fresh Dessert Cream.