After much experimentation, she discovered she could cut out all the stodgy suet – and remove a lot of the dense flour. Instead, she added a very generous dollop of butter, some zesty oranges, lemons, prunes and flaked almonds. She drenched it all in fine French Brandy and Guinness Stout, steamed it for eight hours – then then let the pudding mature to perfection for 6 months.