Bought ones are horrible. Gotta be homemade and with decent ingredients. Omit all citrus peel if that's what's provoking the gag reflex. The mix of fruit is OPTIONAL - can use any dried fruit to make up the volume required. I like having apricot and dried cranberries in the mix but that's just me. My sister uses more sultanas than the Ottoman Empire at its height, dried mango and paw paw, and no currants at all. Both of us use whisky rather than brandy as such. Brandy belongs in the brandy butter to be served with it in our households.

The real joy of xmas pudding is Boxing Day breakfast, with slices of pud fried in a mix of equal quantities of brandy butter and orange juice, with custard. Perfect, I say perfect, hangover cure.