Thu, December 18, 2008
How strange that we end our festive meal with one of the great rib-stickers of all time. But we've been eating a version of Christmas pudding ever since the pudding cloth
was invented in the 17th century. It is part of our culinary DNA and one ingredient of the feast that you cannot do without, even if you can just manage a spoonful or two and prefer to eat more fried up on Boxing Day.
Christmas pudding presents a problem for last-minute operators. Cooks in a dash cannot just throw one together in the final run-up to the big day. This is a dish that needs maturing for at least a month to let the boozy vine fruits, spices and other flavours meld together. To sort you out, here are the top five you can grab straight off the shelf.
Shop-bought puddings now come in all sizes, from single portions to whoppers. Some have so much festive wrapping – ribbons, cinnamon sticks, clothes and bows – that they look like presents to put under the tree. But beware. Once you get past the fancy packaging, the contents can get the flavour balance all wrong. Some reek of the likes of lemon oil or give off a cough-mixture blast of cloves.
Many are ultra-sweet and full of booze - and that's before you add the brandy butter.
Then the odd one tries to be worthy by using wholemeal flour, but and ends up claggy instead.
The selection of puds below – two small, three large – aims to suit all tastes, be it for the lighter in texture, the ultra-traditional, or one you can put on the table without further decoration – though it's always a shame not to flame.
Top 5 Christmas puddings
9/10 Harrods Ultimate Christmas Pudding
This would be my pick for those who usually make their own but didn't get around to it this year. Perfect if you are going to
old-fashioned friends or family and have offered to contribute to the meal. Not overly-sweet, it is full of plump fruit, brandy, sherry and rum and fragrant with mixed spice, lemon and orange peel. This is a tall pudding with a proud profile. Set it alight and feel traditionally merry.
8/10 Selfridges Christmas Pudding
Most shop-bought puds are ultra-dense in texture in comparison to home-made. This is a good example of a lighter, slightly more cakey style. You might actually be able to eat a whole slice of this, even after the turkey-fest. The flavours emerge nicely in an evocative spicy way, without one kind predominating.
8/10 Waitrose Richly Fruited Christmas Pudding
Topped with glistening pecans, brandy-soaked cherries and strips of orange peel, you do not need a jolly sprig of holly to make this pudding look good. The citrus gives it a slightly marmaladey edge and there's a strong brandy kick, with a bit of cider to make it more freshly fruity. Lighter in colour than most and unusual in appearance, this is a modern twist on tradition.
7/10 Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Heritage Christmas Pudding
This pudding is nicely orangey with the sweetness balanced by sherry and beer. The traditional recipe comes with a traditional tale – the 13 ingredients represent Jesus and his 12 disciples. There is also the cute addition of a limited edition threepenny bit - though not inside the pudding. Instead you are instructed to put the coin under "a lucky person's plate" (surely favouritism, not fortune – and a recipe for a full-on family scrap).
7/10 Marks & Spencer Christmas Pudding
One of the rare puddings made with beef suet (most shop-bought versions are vegetarian), this is one for those who like their pudding glossy, sticky and dense. The traditional dark appearance has an edge of bitterness from stout and treacle. High on booze, it still has other interesting tastes coming through.
