Christmas Pudding - River Cottage

Ingredients

• 100g pitted prunes or unsulphured dried apricots, roughly chopped
• 100 g dried apples or pears, roughly chopped
• 50g currants
• 100g raisins
• 50g dried cherries
• 75g preserved stem ginger, chopped, plus a little of the syrup from the jar
• 30g candied orange peel
• 15g candied lemon peel
• 50g roughly chopped whole almonds
• 50g toasted pumpkin seeds
• 150 ml apple cider brandy (or rum or brandy)
• 100 ml dry cider
• Butter for greasing
• 2 large eggs
• 75g dark muscovado sugar
• 2 pinches of sea salt
• Grated zest of 1 unwaxed orange
• 100g light wholemeal cake flour
• 2 level teaspoons baking powder (or use self-raising wholemeal cake flour)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground mixed spice
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp allspice
• 75g wholemeal breadcrumbs
• 1 eating apple grated
• 100g grated parsnip
• 150g beef suet or grated butter
• 50g black treacle