Plum Pudding, Scotish Style?

The first pudding I made this year is a cook's illustrated recipe which I cut down by half and did some substitutions on after Thanksgiving Dinner.

1 1/3 cups dark raisins (1/2 pound)
1 cup dried currents (5 ounces)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons dried orange and lemon peel
1/2 cup fresh whole wheat breadcrumbs
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon fresh ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 pound cold unsalted butter (1 stick)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup amontillado
3 tablespoons good scotch (because I did not have brandy)

I chopped the raisins and combined them with the currants in a large sauce pan with the water and covered it over high heat to bring to a boil. Then I reduced it to a simmer and stirred until nearly all the liquid had evaporated or been absorbed and then added in the lemon and orange peel. Then I put it in the window to cool.

Meanwhile I combined the breadcrumbs, brown sugar, flour, spices, and salt in my food processor. I processed it well so it was a nice homogeneous mixture without any lumps. Then I added the butter in large peices and pulsed until combined. I whisked the eggs until foamy and then beat in the sherry and scotch. Then I combined the crumb mixture and stirred it quite well and then added the cooked fruit once they were completely room temperature.

I greased a 1.5 L pyrex bowl quite well with vegetable shortening then poured in the mixture and covered with aluminum foil with a tight seal to the bowl. I placed this in my 10 quart stock pot on top of a burner grate to keep it off the bottom and an upside down plate over the top. Four liters of boiling water was added to the stock pot to bring it up about half way to the top of the bowl and then the lid put on and the burner put on high to bring it back to a boil as quickly as possible. Putting it on about the 1 or 1 1/2 mark on the burner seemed to keep it at a nice controlled simmer for the next three and a half hours. I turned it off and left it to cool overnight. The next day I unmolded the pudding onto more aluminum foil and wrapped it tightly. I left it out on the table for three days and have now put it in the refrigerator to save until a party or the Yule. It was not big enough to completely fill the 1.5 L pyrex bowl. Perhaps increasing the size of the recipe by 50% would be good.

So far so good. I think I will try one or two other recipes. I will try to adhear more closely to those recipes so I think that I shall sell something to get the money for a bottle of brandy.