Vegan Christmas pudding

1 . Stage

Grease a 2-litre pudding bowl with dairy-free margarine, then line the base with a circle of baking parchment. Grease a large sheet of baking parchment, then lay it on top of a large sheet of foil, margarine side up. Fold a pleat in the middle of each sheet.

2 . Stage

Roughly chop 125g of the figs and set aside. Put the remaining figs, the dairy-free margarine and the rum into a large food processor and whizz until smooth-ish, then scrape into a large mixing bowl. Tip in the chopped figs, sultanas, raisins, grated apple, sugars, breadcrumbs, flour and allspice. Stir everything together, then spoon into your pudding basin.

3 . Stage

Cover with the buttered paper-foil sheet, tie with string and trim. Lower into a large saucepan, with upturned saucers or scrunched-up bits of foil in the bottom (so the pud doesn’t touch the bottom), then fill the pan with enough boiling water from the kettle to come halfway up the sides of the bowl. Cover with a lid and simmer for 3 hrs, topping up the water as needed. Remove and leave to cool. Will keep in a cool, dry cupboard for up to a year.