Our Christmas Puddings
We make all our Christmas Puddings by hand in our small bakery near Exeter in Devon.
A passion for the finer things
At the heart of our business is a desire to produce the most luxurious Christmas Puddings. We’ve always made puddings for our friends and family and so have perfected our recipe over many years. We’ve also searched hard to find the best ingredients, many from local producers and suppliers (see below).
The finest Christmas cheer!
A truly luxurious Christmas Pudding requires the winning combination of a hearty real ale and a fine brandy. We’re lucky enough to have award-winning producers of both on our doorstep in the South West of England.
We use the fabulous Port Stout made by the Devon-based O’Hanlon's Brewery, and the warm and rich 10-year-old Somerset Cider Brandy made by the Somerset Distillery. Both of which we also highly recommend for after dinner relaxation!
The proof is also in the bowl
Our puddings are steamed in ceramic bowls, allowing the flavours to develop to their full potential and producing a far superior result to plastic. The bowls are then wrapped in a cotton pudding cloth, allowing the pudding to breathe and the flavours to mature in the traditional way. By steaming the pudding to warm it, you’ll ensure none of the fabulous flavours are lost.
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“Our Christmas dinner was extra special this year thanks to your amazing Christmas pudding!” K Lloyd, East Sussex, Jan 2012
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Anyone can say they use the 'finest ingredients', so here's a little more information to prove it's not just spin. We really have spent years refining our ingredients and suppliers to ensure our Christmas Pudding is truly memorable:
Vine fruits: There are a lot of cheap imports available these days, but of course you still get what you pay for, so we go for the best. We use Greek Vostizza currants (the finest in the world, with PDO status) and californian raisins. These high quality fruits are richer in flavour, softer in texture and not gritty like some of their cheaper counterparts.
Cherries: It's no wonder so many people dislike glacé cherries when all they've tried are the bright red supermarket versions that resemble soft plastic! Our cherries are coloured with fruit juices and as a result have a deep burgundy colour and soft texture that blends beautifully with the rest of the pudding during the maturing process.
Breadcrumbs: We make all our breadcrumbs by hand using fresh bread from the bakery next door, with none of the 'extras' you'll find in supermarket bread. Just flour, water, yeast and salt!
Eggs: If you've ever driven along the Sidmouth Road out of Exeter, you'll have seen the free-range chickens happily pecking around outside Greendale Farm Shop. They lay the delicious eggs we use in our puddings, and you can also buy our Christmas Puddings in their shop!
Alcohol: This is probably the most important ingredient when it comes to the flavour of a fine Christmas Pudding! When we were fine-tuning our family recipe before we started our business, we spent a lot of time trying a variety of different ales and brandy. The sweetness of the Port in O'Hanlon's Port Stout, and the delicate flavour of the Somerset Cider Brandy, were a delightful combination. We tried younger Cider Brandy too, but the ten-year-old is really worth the extra expense as it gives the finished Pudding a fantastic flavour.
Fresh fruit: We buy our apples and carrots from a local greengrocer. Our orange and lemon is all freshly squeezed and zested by a local company and is not from concentrate.
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“ As someone who thought my mother made the most awesome Christmas puddings on the planet, I think even she would have been impressed with yours!”
I Stevenson, Harrow, Jan 2012
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Ingredients: raisins, sultanas, currants, breadcrumbs (wheat flour, water, yeast, salt), carrot, vegetable suet (vegetable oil, wheat flour), demerara sugar, golden syrup, free-range egg, O’Hanlon’s Port Stout (5%), apple, 10-year-old Somerset Cider Brandy (4%), glace cherries (glucose, fructose syrup, sugar, fruit juice: elderberry and aronia, sulphur dioxide), ground almonds, orange juice, lemon juice, mixed peel (orange, glucose-fructose syrup, lemon, sugar, acidity adjuster: citric acid, sulphur dioxide), chopped almonds, flour (contains raising agents), orange zest, lemon zest, mixed spice (cinnamon, coriander, caraway, nutmeg, ginger, cloves), cinnamon, nutmeg.
Our puddings are suitable for vegetarians and our eggs are from local, free-range hens.
Allergy advice
Allergy advice: contains nuts, wheat, sulphur dioxide, eggs. The bread for our breadcrumbs is made in a bakery that uses soya, nuts, milk, cereals, celery, mustard, sesame and lupins.
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“All the family think it’s the best Christmas pudding ever. Service is fab too. Don’t change a thing!” A Pemberton, Herts, Jan 2012
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Store in a dry place (e.g. kitchen cupboard), away from strong odours and flavours. We age our Christmas Puddings for just the right length of time to ensure they're perfect by Christmas Day. As a result, we give a best before date of March in the following year, after which the flavours begin to fade and the pudding becomes increasingly dry.
Heating instructions
Your pudding requires only gentle steaming. Remove the ribbon and tag and place the pudding in a steamer or a saucepan of water to half the depth of the bowl. Steam/simmer gently for the time stated below, taking care that it doesn’t boil dry. Remove and leave to stand for five minutes (take care as the cloth with be very hot and wet!). Then run a blunt knife around the outside of the pudding and turn it out of the bowl.
Timings: 350g steam for 1 hr, 550g steam for 1.5 hrs, 950g steam for 2 hrs.
Death by microwave: Some things just aren’t meant to be microwaved. A real Christmas Pudding needs a second steaming to develop its true potential. Steaming is simplicity itself, and takes less time than your Christmas turkey. Microwave it at your peril!
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“All I can say is that your Christmas pudding was simply the best I have ever had.”
M Lawson, London, Jan 2012
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