How do you eat your Christmas pud?

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the pud. Just like mince pies and turkey, mulled wine and carols, the Christmas pudding is a tradition that stretches back centuries.

Immortalized by Dickens and Agatha Christie, enjoyed by everyone from kings to battle weary troops, our favourite festive pudding is a must have over the seasonal period.

But how do you eat your pud? Whether you cover it in brandy or smother it in lashings of warm custard a Christmas pudding completes a festive dinner like nothing else.

One of the inspirations behind this season’s exciting range is the site development chef David Sanderson: “We want to bring Christmas alive, make it fun and add some theatre to the festive tables up and down the country.”

“I adore the intense smell of mixed spices and the wonderful woody dried fruit aromas that are synonymous with our Christmas afters. They’re great with crème fresh or really nice once cooled with cheese, especially smelly ones!”

Lisa Davé, the new product development manager said: “From boozy, fruity puds that are rich and indulgent to those free in gluten, alcohol or nuts we have created the perfect Christmas pudding for every occasion.”

“We began the planning process for this season’s Christmas pudding early last year and most of them are made between six and 18 months in advance.”

“I enjoy our leftover pud in an ice cream or a sausage meat stuffing. It’s also tasty clumped together, dipped in flour and batter then deep fried!”

HOW DO YOU EAT YOURS? David prefers his with crème fresh or smelly cheese!

Here are a few more helpful tips from our pudding experts:

- Warm the brandy slightly before pouring it over the pudding so that it will definitely catch light when you put a flame to it. 

- Don't waste hours steaming your pud. Stick it in the microwave for a few minutes and the results will be just as good and this frees up space on your cooker top.

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Matthew Walker, the world's oldest Christmas pudding maker, has been making puds in Derbyshire for more than 100 years. The facility in Heanor produces 25 million puddings a year using the finest spirits, dried fruit and spices from around the world, whether this be cider brewed in Suffolk to sundried raisins from California.