Chocolate orange Christmas pudding

This recipe is my attempt to satisfy my sweet tooth and pay homage to that great British institution - Terry's Chocolate Orange.  

Those of you that think it is too late to make a Christmas pudding for this year - think again; the  fabulous thing about this recipe is that you can make it right at the last moment (well, two days before serving) - it isn't designed to mature and can be eaten straight after steaming.

This pudding is incredibly moist and has been a huge success in our household with our friends David and Rachel declaring it delicious.  I hope you give it a go.

Makes: 1.5 litres of pudding

Ingredients

• 130 grams glace cherries - chopped
• 100 grams dried apricots - chopped
• 100 grams sultanas
• 1 tablespoons Grand Marnier
• 4 tablespoons crème de cacao
• The zest and juice of two oranges 
• 200 grams good quality dark chocolate chips 
• 75 grams fresh white breadcrumbs
• 75 grams plain flour
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice
• 50 grams chopped almonds
• 200 grams light brown sugar
• 100 grams butter - at room temperature
• 2 large eggs - beaten

Method

1. Place the cherries, apricots, sultanas, Grand Marnier, creme de cacao, orange zest and orange juice in a large bowl and stir well.  Cover and leave to steep overnight.
2. The next day, mix together the chocolate chips, breadcrumbs, flour, spice, almonds, sugar, butter and eggs.
3. Combine the mixture with the steeped fruit and mix well.
4. Place the mixture in a 1.5 litre pudding basin (or a 1 litre basin and 0.5 litre basin).  Take a piece of greaseproof paper and place a single pleat in the middle of it so that it has room to expand while the pudding cooks.  Cover the pudding with the greaseproof paper and then place the lid on the basin.  I use a plastic basin so that I can put it in the microwave to reheat it on Christmas day - much less hassle than steaming it.
5. Place the pudding basin on a trivet in a large pan.  Fill with boiling water so that the water covers two-thirds of the basin.  Steam for eight hours, checking the water level regularly and topping up as required to prevent it from boiling dry.  If you have split the mixture into 2 puddings, they will need less time:  In the region of 5 hours for a 0.5 litre pudding and 7 hours for a 1 litre pudding.
6. The longest that we have kept the pudding is two weeks.  It will probably keep for longer but why keep it when you can eat it?  Take care when you reheat it in the microwave as the high sugar content means that it is easy to burn it.  I heat it for 2 minutes at a time on a medium setting until it looks piping hot.  The other option is to steam the pudding again.  I suggest 2-3 hours but again check that it is piping hot before serving.
7. Serve with cream, ice cream or custard.  Personally I prefer it as it comes.

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