My Favourite Christmas Pudding Recipe

Instructions

1. Place the sultanas, dates, cranberries and pears in a large  mixing bowl. Pour over the brandy and stir through. Cover with a clean cloth or cling film and set aside overnight.

2. The next day, preheat the oven to 160 degrees C or 320 F. Grease a 1 litre pudding pot well and line the bottom of the pot with a circle of baking paper. Place the pecans in a food processor and roughly chop before adding them to the dried fruit bowl. To make the sourdough breadcrumbs, cut the crusts off the loaf and cut the remaining bread in to chunks. Weigh out 100 grams and place that amount in the processor and pulse to breadcrumbs. Discard the remaining bread and crusts. Add the breadcrumbs to the mixing bowl. 

3. Add the flour, sugar, all-spice, melted coconut oil, orange juice and zest and aquafaba to the bowl and stir until combined. Pour the mixture in to the prepared pudding pan smoothing out the batter as best you can. 

4. Cut two sheets of baking paper into circles with a circumference at least 3 inches larger than the mouth of your pudding pan (I use a dinner plate to measure). Lay the circles on top of each other and fold a pleat down the centre. Lay the pleated round over the pudding pot and lay a large sheet of foil over the top. Secure the cover with cooking twine as here