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1
Place all of the dried fruits into a bowl and pour the Buckfast over - cover well and leave for a couple of days in the fridge.
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2
Strain the soaked fruits, keeping the Buckfast.
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3
In another (large) bowl mix the suet, flour, breadcrumbs, sugar, spices and salt - mix well.
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4
Then mix in the zests, peel, nuts, apple and finally the drained soaked fruits.
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5
In another bowl beat the eggs with the reserved Buckfast pour all over the dry mixture and stir - this is a big job to do so you can cheat by using a machine, but as its Christmas everyone in the family should give the pudding mix a stir for good luck - the mix should be a dropping consistency if it's a touch dry add a little more Buckfast.
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6
Cover bowl with cling film and put in the fridge overnight for the flavours to develop.
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7
Grease your chosen (size) pudding basin with plenty of unsalted butter.
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8
Pack in the mixture and level off evenly, cover with a circle of greaseproof paper then a pleated piece of tin foil sealing around the rim of the basin/s well.
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9
Steam pudding/s for 8 hours minimum, check from time to time that the pan you're steaming in doesn't boil dry!
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10
When done - cool and store (best made in late October/early November)
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11
When needed (I suggest Christmas day - Ha!) steam for 2 hours and serve with a drizzle of Buckfast over the top of the piping hot pudding and a good dollop of Devon (obviously) clotted cream.
