christmas pudding

1 cup beef suet (or butter), softened
2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups grated raw carrots
3 cups grated raw potatoes
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pistachios
1 cup mixed citrus peel (3 oranges, 2 lemons, 2 limes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together suet or butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Fold in flour and spices, then carrots and ½ of the potatoes, raisins, pistachios and citrus peel. Toss remaining potatoes in baking soda and fold into batter. Scrape into a buttered bundt pan, cover with foil and set into a deep roasting pan. Place in oven and fill roasting pan with 2-inches of boiling water. Bake for 2 hours or until pudding is set and a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and let set for ½ an hour before turning out onto a cake dish. Serve warm with custard sauce.

Custard Sauce: Into a medium saucepan, measure 3 tbs “Bird’s” custard powder and 3 tbs sugar. Over medium heat, gradually whisk in 2 ½ cups milk. Whisk constantly until custard comes to a full boil. Cool slightly.

Notes: If you’re feeling so intrepid, suet is occasionally available at better butcher's shops. And also, don’t waste time trying to zest a whole cup of citrus peel using a cheese grater. Get instead a hand-held citrus zester that adeptly shears away thin curls of pretty peel, while leaving behind the bitter white pith.