Our Christmas Puddings
We make all our Christmas Puddings by hand at a small bakery near Exeter in Devon.
A passion for the finer things |
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 in the bowl
Our puddings are steamed
in Mason Cash 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 100% 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I have to tell you that your Christmas Pudding was the best we've EVER tasted. Truly heavenly!” K Payne, Hampshire, Jan 2010
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Ingredients
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), californian raisins and Australian 5 Crown sultanas. 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 a local organic bakery. They use flour from a local mill and none of the 'extras' you'll find in supermarket bread.
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 and grate them ourselves. Our orange and lemon is all freshly squeezed and zested by a local company and is not from concentrate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“ Just to let you know that the Christmas pudding I ordered from you was absolutely fantastic! I shall certainly order next year's pudding from Figgy's.”
M Talbot-Rosevear, Devon, Jan 2010
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full ingredients list
Raisins, sultanas, currants, carrot, breadcrumbs (wheat flour, vegetable oil, egg, water, yeast, sea salt, bread improver: vitamin C, soya), vegetable suet (vegetable oil, wheat flour), demerara sugar, golden syrup, free-range egg, O’Hanlon’s Port Stout, apple, 10-year-old Somerset Cider Brandy, glace cherries (glucose, fructose syrup, sugar, fruit juice: elderberry and aronia, sulphur dioxide), ground almonds, orange juice, lemon juice, mixed peel (orange, lemon, glucose, citric acid, potassium sorbate, sulphur dioxide), chopped almonds, flour (contains raising agents), orange zest, lemon zest, mixed spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter.
Allergy advice
Contains nuts, wheat, sulphur dioxide (less than 10mg/kg), eggs, milk, soya. Our bread is made in a small bakery that also handles nuts, cereals, celery, mustard, sesame and lupins.
Vegetarian
Our puddings are suitable for vegetarians and our eggs are from local, free-range hens.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“You have certainly set your product apart from the mass-produced product available from the supermarkets and we'll be coming back next year for another. ”
N Dent, Bucks, Jan 2010
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Storage
Store in a cool dark place, 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 too dry.
Heating instructions
Your pudding requires only gentle
steaming. Remove the tag and put the pudding in a steamer
or in a saucepan of water to two thirds the depth of the bowl.
Steam/boil gently for the time stated below, taking care that
the pan doesn’t boil dry.
Remove from the pan and leave to stand for five minutes, then
run a blunt knife carefully around the outside of the pudding
before turning 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!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“A big thank you for the lovely pudding. It was, yet again, much enjoyed by EVERYONE at the table...yours really surpasses the others, by far.”
J Arnold, Devon, Jan 2010
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About us
We are Richie and Jo Evans, a husband and wife team (plus two small helpers) based in Exeter in Devon. We started making Christmas Puddings for ourselves at home, and gave the extra ones away as Christmas presents for friends and family (if you've ever made Christmas Puddings you'll know it's impossible to just make one, as there's always far too much mixture!). We received such glowing feedback that we decided to sell them and, after two years of research and development (and a lot of pudding tasting!), we opened for business in 2007.
Since then our business has gone from strength to strength. We now have customers all over the UK and Europe and have been featured widely in the media from the Sunday Telegraph to the German magazine Stern. We still make, wrap and dispatch all our puddings ourselves by hand so you can be sure you're buying a Christmas Pudding that really is just as you'd make yourself at home.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The pudding was fantastic - everyone thought it was homemade!”
B Tonkin, Somerset, Jan 2010
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Links
Here are just a few people we'd love to tell you about:
- Chococo - Luxury, fresh, handmade chocolates - delicious!
- Click! Baby Photography - Capturing natural, reportage-style images to cherish.
- Emma's Bread - delicious artisan breads, handmade in the same bakery we use to make our Christmas Puddings.
- Hannah James Photography - Truly talented photographers with skills ranging from weddings to product photography (such as the image on our homepage!)
- Helen Leslie Illustration - beautiful hand-illustrated baby names which make fantastic 'new baby' gifts.
- Geometry PR - We can't recommend them enough - Just look at the coverage they've achieved for us!
- Guild of Fine Food - An excellent membership organisation for fine food producers and home of the Great Taste Awards.
- Laydilay Organic Eggs - Delicious free-range organic eggs and handmade mayonnaise.
- Mike Evans Photography - Fantastic product photographer with his own studio.
- NetEnergy - Internet hosting with good old-fashioned personal service.
- O'Hanlon's Brewery - The home of our lovely Port Stout, and many other real ale delights!
- Peradon Organic Farm - The best organic beef and lamb you'll ever taste!
- Pulse8 - For all things web and graphic design-related.
- Regency Wines - Exeter's only independent wine shop. A great place to find new and interesting wines from around the world.
- Rod and Ben's - Not just fruit and veg anymore! Lovely local food including a certain handmade Christmas Pudding.
- Shillingford Organics - Home of the bakery we use, and the best organic sweetcorn ever!
- St Thomas Stationers - Friendly, helpful and excellent value for money on all things office-related.
- The Somerset Distillery - mmm, cider brandy...
- Taste of the West - A great source of advice and information for SW food companies.
