There is still time to make your christmas pudding, cake and mincemeat

Christmas Pudding

Preparation time overnight Cooking time over 2 hours Serves Makes 2 x 1.2 litre puddings

Lesley Waters’ last-minute Christmas pudding recipe is a lifesaver if you’ve left it all to the last minute this Christmas. Equipment and preparation: You'll need two 1.2 litre pudding basins.

Ingredients

900g/2lb mixed dried fruit (such as figs, apricots, sour cherries, raisins, dates, cranberries or sultanas)

150ml/5fl oz brandy or whisky

1 large orange, grated zest and juice

225g/8oz butter, softened, plus extra, melted, for greasing

225g/8oz dark brown sugar

4 large free-range eggs, beaten

110g/4oz self-raising flour

110g/4oz fresh breadcrumbs

85g/3oz chopped nuts (almonds, hazelnuts or pecans)

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 heaped tsp cinnamon

To serve

brandy, for flaming

fresh cherries

custard, thick cream or ice cream

Place the dried fruit into a large bowl (cut up any large pieces of apricot or fig so that all the fruit pieces are roughly the same size). Pour over the brandy or whisky.

Add the grated orange zest to the fruit, then pour over the orange juice.

Mix all of the bowl contents together until well combined. Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside in a cool place overnight.

The next day, lightly grease two 1.2 litre/2 pint pudding basins with the melted butter and place a disc of greaseproof paper into the base of each.

In a very large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar until pale and fluffy using an electric whisk (this will take about five minutes).

Whisk in the beaten eggs, a little at a time, incorporating each addition into the batter before adding the next. (NB: If the mixture starts to curdle, just whisk in a spoonful of flour.)

When all of the eggs have been incorporated into the mixture, add the soaked fruit and soaking juices and stir well to combine.

Add the flour and the breadcrumbs to the mixture and stir to combine.

Add the nuts and spices and mix gently until well combined. (NB: The mixture should be of dropping consistency.)

Spoon the mixture into the prepared pudding basins and cover with a double layer of greaseproof paper and a single sheet of aluminium foil. Tie with string.

Prepare a steamer and steam the puddings for four hours. You can eat the puddings at this stage, or you can cool them completely and store them, in their basins, for 2-3 months, in a cool dark place, re-steaming them for two hours before serving.

To serve, carefully remove the puddings from the basins and turn each out onto a serving plate.

Garnish the top of the puddings with the cherries. Carefully set the brandy alight using a match. Allow the flames to flare up, then pour the brandy over the puddings. (CAUTION: Keep the flame well away from the eyes, hair and face.)

Garnish each serving with a few extra cherries and serve with custard, thick cream or ice cream.

Last Minute Christmas Cake.

PREP: 50 MINS COOK: 2 HRS - 2 HRS, 30 MINS plus overnight soaking

EASY CUTS INTO 10-12 SLICES

Use your choice of dried fruit, nuts, citrus zest and booze (or even tea) and get your cake made as late as a few days or as early as six months in advance.

1kg mixed dried fruit (any blend of raisins, sultanas, currants, mixed peel, dried cranberries, glacé cherries, chopped dried apricots, dates, dried figs or dried pineapple)

150ml sherry, brandy, rum or brewed tea, plus extra for feeding

zest and juice 2 oranges, 2 lemons or 4 clementines

250g pack unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the tin

250g light, soft brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 egg

200g plain flour

2 tsp mixed spice

100g whole or flaked almonds, chopped hazelnuts, walnuts or brazil nuts (optional)

Put your chosen dried fruit mixture into a large bowl with your choice of alcohol or tea, citrus zest and juice. Mix well, cover and leave overnight.

Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Butter and double-line a deep cake tin – 20cm round or 18cm square – with enough baking parchment to come about 2.5cm above the top of the tin. Wrap the outside of the tin with a few sheets of newspaper, securing with staples or string.

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy, then beat in the eggs one by one. Tip in the flour, mixed spice, soaked dried fruit and any liquid from the bowl, plus your chosen nuts, if using. Stir everything together, then scrape into the cake tin. Using the back of your spoon, make a slight dent in the centre of the mixture, then bake for 1½ hrs.

Reduce oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1, loosely cover the top of the cake with a double sheet of foil or baking parchment, and bake for another 45 mins-1 hr or until a skewer poked right to the bottom comes out clean. Cool in the tin, then lift out, when cold feed with either alcohol or tea and wrap in greaseproof paper or baking parchment, and decorate later. Keep in a cake tin with a tight-fitting lid, or wrapped in a large sheet of foil, in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months. Open the cake every week or two to feed by poking with a skewer in several places and dribbling over a little more of your chosen alcohol or tea.

Mincemeat-Mary Berry

Makes 4 x 370g jars

175g currants

175g raisins

175g sultanas

175g dried cranberries

100g mixed peel

1 small cooking apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped

125g butter, cut into cubes

50g whole blanched almonds, roughly chopped

225g light muscovado sugar

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

finely grated rind and juice

of 1 lemon

200ml brandy, rum or sherry

Measure all of the ingredients except the alcohol into a large pan. Heat gently, allowing the butter to melt, then simmer very gently, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.

Allow the mixture to cool completely then stir in the brandy, rum or sherry.

Spoon the mincemeat into sterilised jam jars, seal tightly, label and store in a cool place. You can use this the next day, but the longer it matures the better.

TIP I no longer use cellophane tops or wax paper. I simply use clean sterilised screw-top jars saved from bought marmalade or jam.

PREPARING AHEAD Make the mincemeat up to six months ahead and store in a cool place. It’s not necessary to freeze mincemeat as it stores so well.

LAST-MINUTE MINCEMEAT CHRISTMAS CAKE - Delia Smith (I am sure she will not mind me sharing this with you)

INGREDIENTS

For the pre-soaking

150ml brandy

1 x 400g (approximately) jar luxury mincemeat

110g no-soak prunes, roughly chopped

50g glace cherries, quartered

175g dried mixed fruit

50g whole candied peel, finely chopped

For the cake

225g self-raising flour

3 level teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1½ level teaspoons mixed spice

150g spreadable butter

150g dark muscovado sugar

3 large eggs

50g Brazil nuts, roughly chopped

50g mixed chopped nuts

zest of 1 small orange and 1 small lemon

approximately 18 walnut halves, 18 pecan halves, 20 whole Brazils (or any other mixture you like)

For the glaze

1 heaped tablespoon sieved apricot jam

1 tablespoon brandy

EQUIPMENT

You will also need a 20cm round loose-based cake tin, greased with base and side lined, plus some baking parchment

METHOD

Even though this is last-minute, it's best to pre-soak the fruits if you can.

So just measure out the brandy, mincemeat and fruits in the bowl, give them a good stir, then cover with a cloth and leave somewhere cool overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours.

When you are ready to make the cake, pre-heat the oven to 170C, gas mark 3.

Now all you do is sift the flour, baking powder, salt and mixed spice into a very large, roomy mixing bowl, then add the butter, sugar and eggs and beat with an electric hand whisk until everything is smooth and fluffy. Now gradually fold in the pre-soaked fruit mixture, chopped nuts and finally the grated lemon and orange zests.

Now take a large spoon and spoon it into the prepared tin, levelling the top with the back of the spoon, then arrange the whole nuts in circles or rows on the surface.

Finally, take a double square of baking parchment with a 50p-sized hole in the centre (which gives it extra protection during the cooking) and place this not on the top of the mixture itself but on the rim of the liner.

Bake the cake on the centre shelf of the oven for 2 hours or until the centre springs back when lightly touched.

Cool the cake in the tin for 30 minutes, then remove it to a wire cooling tray to continue cooling.

While that's happening, heat the apricot jam and brandy together and brush the nuts with this mixture to make them shiny and glossy.

Store the cake in an airtight tin or in parchment-lined foil and it will keep beautifully.