Best of the best Christmas pudding

Method

1. Put the dried fruit and glacé cherries in a bowl, then pour in the brown ale. Stir, then cover and leave to steep overnight.
2. The next day, peel and mash the banana with a fork until smooth, then mix into the bowl of fruit with the orange zest and juice. Add the remaining pudding ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon (clockwise while making a wish and getting the family involved, if you fancy).
3. Grease the pudding basin with butter. Lay out a sheet of baking paper with a sheet of foil the same size on top. Fold both in half, then take the top half and fold all but around 3cm of it back to leave a small pleat. Pour the pudding mixture into the basin, smooth the top, then cover with the paper, ensuring the foil is on the outside and the pleat runs down the centre (the pleat will let it expand if it needs to). Shape the foil tightly round the edge of the bowl, then secure it in place with a loop of butcher’s string. Tie another loop of string to either side of the basin to create a handle, then trim off any excess paper with scissors.
4. To steam the pudding, use a large lidded saucepan with an upturned saucer in the bottom to create a trivet. Put the pudding on top of the saucer, then carefully fill the pan with just-boiled water from the kettle to halfway up the basin. Cover the pan, put over a low-medium heat and steam for 4 hours, topping up the water every hour or so. Once steamed, remove the foil and paper, let the pudding dry off and cool, then cover in new foil and paper and store in a cool dark place until Christmas.
5. To reheat, steam the pud as before for another 2 hours. Meanwhile, to make the brandy butter, beat the icing sugar bit by bit into the softened butter, followed by the brandy a spoonful at a time. Don’t add the brandy too quickly or it might split the mixture.
6. To serve, turn the lights down low and briefly warm a little brandy in a pan. Ladle it over the pudding and set alight.