One of Viva! Patron Martin Shaw’s favourites! Don’t let the ingredients or cooking time put you off making this pudding – the effort is minimal and the end result is light and delicious.
Variation: you can split the mixture in to several smaller pudding basins. If you make it in advance re-boil it for 2 hours or microwave for a few minutes to ensure that it is reheated thoroughly. It also tastes wonderful eaten cold.
Time to prepare: 15 mins
Time to cook: 6 hr 20 mins
Dietary requirements: Dairy-free, Egg-free, Halal, Kosher, Vegan
Ingredients
450g (1lb) plain flour
450g (1lb) currants
450g (1lb) brown sugar
450g (1lb) potato, cooked, mashed and cooled
450g (1lb) carrots, peeled and grated
225g (8oz) apples, peeled, cored and chopped
100g (4oz) raisins
100g (4oz) nuts, chopped
1 tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp mixed spice
450g (1lb) vegetable margarine, melted
Pinch of salt
Instructions
Thoroughly mix all of the ingredients together in a very large mixing bowl.
Put the mixture into a large greased pudding basin (approx. 4 pint or larger) – it should come two thirds of the way up the height of the basin.
If the basin has its own lid (many plastic ones do) put it on. If not cover with greaseproof paper and tie with string, put some foil on top and tie that with string too to ensure no water gets in.
Place in a very large saucepan of water (water should come up to two-thirds of basin), cover and boil for 6 hours. To ensure the water level doesn’t drop too much keep topping up with boiling water at least once an hour. Serve with dairy-free cream or ice cream.
Robyn Cochrane
06 January, 2015
I made this pudding(yes even in the heat of an Aussie Christmas) Absolutely fab