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Granny Cook’s Christmas pud

If you prefer a lighter, fruity Christmas pudding, share Sarah Cook’s family recipe, which makes three sizes of pud

Place everything but stout and eggs into your largest bowl and mix. Add stout and eggs, and stir everything together. Spoon into pudding basins – we used 1 x 2 litre, 1 x 1 litre and 1 x 500ml basins. Cover with pleated greaseproof paper and foil and secure with string.
Lower the puds into saucepans with upturned saucers or scrunched-up bits of foil in the bottom (so the puds don’t touch the bottom), then fill with water from the kettle until it comes halfway up the sides of the basins. Simmer the small pud for 1½ hrs, medium for 2½ hrs and large for 3½ hrs (topping up with water as necessary). Cool, then store in a cool, dry cupboard for up to 1 year.
To serve, re-boil puds as above to heat through, 1½ hrs for small, 2½ hrs for medium and 3½ hrs for large (top up as necessary). Turn onto a plate, decorate, and serve.