After losing this recipe every year and then spending hours and hours searching for it, I have immortalized it on FB, and now sharing it here.
My famous 2in1Christmas Cake / Pudding recipe,
You need an 8 cup pudding steamer and a 23cm round spring form pan (and a cardboard box)
300g unsalted butter (or nuttlex for diary free)
2/3 cup honey
1 1/4 cup soft brown sugar
2/3 cup apricot nectar
1 cup Boronia Marsala
1.5 kg dried fruit (I usually use fruit medley, currents, dried cranberries, cherries and sultanas)
440 g crushed pineapple drained
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
5 eggs lightly beaten
3 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tbs mixed spice
EXTRA FOR THE CAKE
extra 1 cup plain flour
1 pkt cherries
1/2 cup (+++++) Boronia Marsala
EXTRA FOR THE PUDDING
1 cup bottled fruit mince
1 cup chopped pitted prunes
3/4 cup fresh white breadcrumbs
Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, apricot nectar, Boronia, fruit and pineapple in a large pot. Stir over low heat until the butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 10 mins. Remove from the heat and let stand till cool (overnight if you can). Add the bicarb and mix well. Add eggs a little at a time, mixing well after each addition, add flour and spice and stir well. Remove 4 cups of this mix and set aside.
TO MAKE CAKE: Preheat oven to 160o, line the base of a spring form pan with double paper. Add extra flour and cherries to mix, spoon into prepared tine, sprinkle top with water, smooth with a wetted spoon, making and indent in the centre of the cake. Tap cake tin on bench to settle mixture. Place in box (remove sticky tape) or double wrap with brown paper and sit on a folded newspaper in oven if no box. Bake for 3 - 3.5 hours (or less if you like it boggy) Remove from oven and while still hot, pierce several times with skewer and pour extra Boronia over. Cover with foil and wrap in a towel. Allow to cool in tin, when cold remove from tin.
TO MAKE THE PUDDING: Grease an 8 cup pudding basin and line base with baking paper (a large ceramic bowl with a lip works well), to the reserved 4 cups of fruit mix, add fruit mince, prunes and breadcrumbs. Mix well, and get all members of the house to mix in a clockwise direction and make a wish at the same time, (you never know, they may just come true
) spoon mixture into prepared basin, cut a piece of baking paper and place over the top of the pudding, cover with foil, pleating the top, and then the pudding basin lid (or double paper and foil tied with string and a string handle) Place in a large pan on a trivet (or a cake cooling rake that fits pan) add enough water to come 2/3 of the way up the basin, cover with a tight fitting lid and bring to the boil, cook the pudding for 4 hours but do not let it boil dry (I add marbles to bottom of pan, when you can hear them add more water). Remove from water and allow to cook, refrigerate until required. On Christmas day remove from fridge early in the day (or the night before) and reheat same as above for 1.5 hours. ENJOY!!!!
