Recipe - Frances Bissells Low-Fat Christmas Pudding

230 g (8 oz) 4 loosely packed
Cups, fresh wholemal
Breadcrumbs
230 g (8 oz, 2 cups) EACH of
Roughly chopped muscatel
(black) raisins,
Sultanas (yellow raisins)
And dried apricots
60 g (2 oz, Three fourths cup) crumbled
Almond macaroons or
Amaretti
60 g (2 oz, Three fourths cup) chopped
Almonds
60 g (2 oz, One half cup) ground or
Flaked almonds
1 Grated appple
1 tablespoon Grated orange zest
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon Ground mace
One half teaspoon Ground cardamom; I had none,
So used cumin, which worked
As well!
One half teaspoon Ground cloves; I used whole,
And put them in the food
Processor
With the bread! Again, it
Worked
One half teaspoon Ground allspice
2 tablespoon Orange marmalade or candied
Orange peel
Juice of 1 orange
4 md Freerange eggs
6 tablespoon Or 1 miniature bottle of
Cognac
140 ml 5 fl oz, scant 2/3 cup,
Fortified muscat wine, port,
Marsala
Or rich oloroso sherry

Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Put the
marmalade, orange juice, eggs, brandy and wine in another large bowl, or in
the blender or food processor, and beat until well blended and frothy. Pour
the liquid over the dry ingredients. Mix until moist. Cover, and let sand
for a couple of hours at least and, if possible, overnight to let the spice
flavours develop.

Oil or butter the pudding basin and spoon in the mixture. As it contains no
raw flour, it will not expand very much during the cooking, so you can fill
the basin to within 1.25 cm (One half inch) of the rim. Take a square of
greaseproof or waxed paper, oil or butter it (I didn't bother, but did oil
the basins. I don't have a 3pint one, so used 1 2pint and 1 1pint one,
2 pints being ample for my family for Christmas dinner) and tie it over the
top of the basin with string.

Steam in boiling water for 5 hours. Allow pudding to cool completely
before wrapping it, still in its basin, in fresh greaseproof paper plus a
layer of foil. Store in a cool dark place.

On Christmas Day, steam for a further two hours.

Bissell/Levy suggest serving this with creme fraiche, rather than the
traditional brandy butter (don't ask not to be discussed on THIS mailing
list!!!), and I do think this is one occasion when a LITTLE cream is
permissible!

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini