The perfect centrepiece to your festive feast with our traditional Christmas Pudding

1. Put the currants, sultanas and scissored prunes into a bowl with the sherry, then cover with clingfilm and leave to steep overnight or for up to 1 week.
2. When the fruits have had their steeping time, put a large pan of water on to boil and butter your heatproof plastic pudding basin (or basins), remembering to grease the lid, too.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the remaining pudding ingredients.
4. Add the steeped fruits, scraping in every last drop of liquor with a rubber spatula, and mix to combine thoroughly, if you want to add coins then fold in now – cleaned in cola.
5. Scrape and press the mixture into the prepared pudding basin, squish it down and put on the lid.
6. Wrap with a layer of foil to make the basin watertight, then either put the basin in the pan of boiling water (to come halfway up the basin) or in the top of a lidded steamer (this size of basin happens to fit perfectly in the top of my all-purpose pot) and steam for 5 hours, check occasionaly to ensure that the water hasn’t bubbled away.
7. After 5 hours remove carefully and unwrap the foil, put the pudding in its basin  out of the way until Christmas Day.

Christmas Day

1. Rewrap the pudding in foil and steam again, this time for 3 hours.
2. To serve, remove from the pan or steamer, take off the lid, put a plate on top, turn it upside down and give the plastic basin a little squeeze to help unmould the pudding. Then remove the basin
3. Put the sprig of holly on top of the pudding