There's nothing better than tucking into a warming Christmas pudding. Cooking doyenne Mary Berry shares a foolproof recipe with Carol Driver.

If a very good friend recommended a recipe for your family Christmas pudding - one that she has made every year and her guests love - you'd gratefully try it. After all, the final course is often the piece de resistance of the festive meal - so it has to be perfect.

Cooking guru Mary Berry, who has more than 60 cookery books to her name, says it wouldn't be Christmas without a proper steamed pud.

"Christmas pudding is pure tradition and everybody would miss it if it wasn't there," she smiles. "When you get to the end of the meal, people usually just want a little. But they expect it and they all love it."

Christmas pudding is traditionally made on Stir Up Sunday (last Sunday before Advent) at the end of November.

But for the ultra-prepared, Mary, who will start her pudding at the beginning of December, says you can make it now - or, if you must, leave it until the last minute.

"It's not the end of the world - you can do it the day before, but you wouldn't want to," she says.

"Everybody wants the pudding to be dark and it gets dark through long, slow simmering - the longer you do this the darker it gets.

"I think it's better to do all nearly all the boiling ahead, then cool it and just reheat it on Christmas day."

For first-time pudding makers, Mary says her favourite recipe - from her new book, Mary Berry's Christmas Collection - is foolproof.

"It's very, very simple. If you follow the recipe, it will be perfect," she says.

Once the pudding is cooked, it should be stored in a cool, dry place and then steamed or boiled for about an hour before serving with brandy butter, rum sauce or boozy cream on Christmas Day.

"It's a good pudding to serve that all the family are going to 'ooooh and ahhhh' about," she grins.

*Mary Berry's Christmas Collection, by Mary Berry, is published by Headline, priced £20.

Christmas pudding (serves 8-10)

INGREDIENTS

* 75g (3oz) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

* 450g (1lb) dried fruit (use a mixture of sultanas, raisins and snipped apricots)

* 1 small cooking apple, peeled, cored and roughly chopped (about 175g/6oz) finely grated rind and juice of 1 orange

* 50ml (2fl oz) brandy or rum, plus extra for feeding and flaming

* 100g (4oz) muscovado sugar

* 2 eggs

* 100g (4oz) self-raising flour

* 1 level tsp ground mixed spice

* 40g (11/2oz) fresh white breadcrumbs

* 40g (11/2oz) whole shelled almonds, roughly chopped

METHOD

Lightly butter a 1.4-litre (21/2-pint) pudding basin. Cut a small square of foil and press into the base of the basin.

Measure the sultanas, raisins, apricots and apple into a bowl with the orange juice. Add the measured brandy or rum and leave to marinate for one hour.

Put the measured butter, sugar and grated orange rind into a large bowl and cream together with a wooden spoon or a handheld electric whisk until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little flour if the mixture starts to curdle. Sift together the flour and mixed spice, then fold into the creamed mixture with the breadcrumbs and the nuts. Add the dried fruits, apple and liquid and stir well.

Spoon into the prepared pudding basin, pressing the mixture down, and level the top with the back of a spoon.

Cover the pudding with a layer of greaseproof paper and foil, both pleated across the middle to allow for expansion.

Tie securely with string and trim off excess paper and foil with scissors.

To steam, put the pudding in the top of a steamer filled with simmering water, cover with a lid and steam for about eight hours, topping up the water as necessary.

To boil the pudding, put a metal jam-jar lid into the base of a large pan to act as a trivet. Put the pudding on to this and pour in enough boiling water to come one-third of the way up the bowl.

Cover with a lid, bring the water back to the boil, then simmer for about seven hours, until the pudding is a glorious deep brown colour, topping up water as necessary.

Remove the pudding from the steamer or pan and cool completely. Make holes in the pudding with a fine skewer and pour a little more brandy or rum. Store in a cool, dry place.

On Christmas Day, steam or boil the pudding for about an hour to reheat. Turn the pudding on to a serving plate.To flame, warm 3-4 tablespoons of brandy or rum in a small pan, pour it over the hot pudding and set light to it. Serve with Rum Sauce, Brandy Butter or Boozy Cream.