Instructions: It is based on a very old jamaican recipe that appeared on the menu at Government House whenever royalty visited the island.

You will also need a 1.25litre ring mould (21 cm diameter) well buttered and dusted with flour and a 2litre pudding bowl well buttered.

Pre heat the oven to gas mark 4 350 degrees F (180 degrees C)

First seperate the eggs placing the yolks in a small bowl and the whites in a larger bowl.

In a mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until its a very light and fluffy mixture.

Stir the three tablespoons of rum into the egg yolks and beat lightly.

Using a clean dry whisk whip up the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Now fold both the egg mixtures and the sifted flour into the creamed mixture alternately (each one a little bit at a time and in proportion).

Finally stir in the macaschino cherries.

Pour the cake mixture into the ring mould and bake for about 55 minutes. When its cooked remove the cake to a cooling rack and leave it for 5 minutes or so before carefully loosening the sides with a palette knife and turning it out.

Leave it to get quite cold on a wire rack.

Meanwhile prepare the fruit filling: for this you need to slice the bananas fairly thinly and chop the pineapple into small dice.

Then sprinkle half the rum over the fruit and leave it for one hour to soak up the flavouf To assemble the pudding you need to cut the cake in half vertically.

Now slice one half thinly into 26 slices and pop these on to a plate: slice the other half in the same way and put on a separate plate.

Sprinkle one half with the Tia Maria.

Use the unsoaked slices to line the pudding basin over the base and sides making sure that they overlap and that there are no gaps then sprinkle the remaining rum over the cake lining.

Now into the centre put a layer of fruit then a layer of soaked sponge followed by another layer of fruit and so on until everything is incorporated and you finish up with a layer of sponge on top.

Now place a lightly buttered plate (buttered side down) on top of the pudding and press it down firmly.

Freeze the pudding for 24 hours and remove it from the freezer 4 hours before serving.

To serve loosen the sides of the pudding with a palette knife turn it out on to a plate and decorate by covering it completely with the whipped cream and arranging the cherries on top.

Serves 6 8

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