Christmas pudding made with beer

Method

1. Mix all the dried fruits, grated apple and carrot, marmalade, spices and golden syrup with the stout or porter in a saucepan. Stir, bring to the boil, turn off the heat and leave for 1 hour.
2. In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale brown and fluffy in texture. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, completely combining with the mixture before adding the next. Stir in both flours, the salt and breadcrumbs. Stir in the flaked almonds, soaked fruit, any residual stout or porter and the whisky until combined. Spoon the mixture into the pudding basin.
3. Put a piece of baking paper on top of a piece of foil and fold both along the middle to create a pleat (this is so when the pudding expands, it doesn’t burst out of the paper). Place these two folded sheets over the top of the pudding basin, centring the pleat. Fold the edges down and tie tightly with kitchen string.
4. To steam, put a clean tea towel in the base of a large saucepan. Fill the pan halfway up with boiling water. Lower the prepared pudding into the pan: the water should come about two thirds of the way up the pudding basin. Put the pan over a very low heat and cover the pan with a lid. Steam for 3 hours. Keep an eye on the water level, checking every 30 minutes or so: it’s dangerous for the pan to boil dry, so top up with boiling water from the kettle, if needed.
5. When your pudding is cooked, take it out of the pan, remove the tin foil and baking paper and leave it to cool and dry out. Once dry and cool, place a new, clean covering of baking paper and tin foil on top in the same way as before, and store the pud in a cool, dry place (see Make Ahead).
6. When you’re ready to eat, steam the pudding as in step 4 for 21⁄2 hours. Once the time is up, remove the covering and run a knife around the edge of the basin: the pudding should slip right out. Serve it flaming (see deliciousmagazine.co.uk for a how-to guide to flaming) with brandy butter, brandy sauce, cream or ice cream.