Purchased: Dec 2009
Best Before: Mar 2011
Cooked: Steamed
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Black Plastic Tub with Purple Cardboard Box
Appearance: Shiny dark pudding, pretty similar to the standard one also reviewed today. However, noticeably more nuts visible.
Texture: Soft and fruity, but also some nuts give it a nice bite. Pretty decent I'd say.
Taste: This pudding is definitely nicer than the other Sainsbury's one I've just reviewed, however it's nothing special. There is a good level of alcohol that does not over power the flavour, however there's just not too much going on with it. There are better puddings around, such as the Finest one from Tesco I tried earlier in the week; so Tesco have beaten Sainsbury's this year on Christmas Puddings I reckon.
Score: 4/10
Saturday, 12 December 2009
Sainsbury's Christmas Pudding 100g
Purchased: Dec 2009
Best Before: Mar 2011
Cooked: Steamed
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Red Plastic Tub with Red Cardboard Sleeve
Appearance: Shiny dark pudding - what you expect from a supermarket pud.
Texture: Soft and very fruity. Not really gooey at all. I'm convincing myself a bit that maybe the microwave adds some gooeyness when it cooks a pud. Will endeavour to try the same pud cooked both ways at some point.
Taste: This was so dull. There was pretty much no flavour to this, beside a few sultanas. Nothing much redeeming about it. If I had this on Christmas Day after a lovely dinner I would be seriously disappointed. Steer clear.
Score: 2/10
Best Before: Mar 2011
Cooked: Steamed
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Red Plastic Tub with Red Cardboard Sleeve
Appearance: Shiny dark pudding - what you expect from a supermarket pud.
Texture: Soft and very fruity. Not really gooey at all. I'm convincing myself a bit that maybe the microwave adds some gooeyness when it cooks a pud. Will endeavour to try the same pud cooked both ways at some point.
Taste: This was so dull. There was pretty much no flavour to this, beside a few sultanas. Nothing much redeeming about it. If I had this on Christmas Day after a lovely dinner I would be seriously disappointed. Steer clear.
Score: 2/10
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Marks and Spencer Classic for Christmas Luxury Christmas Pudding 113g
Purchased: Dec 2008
Best Before: Feb 2009
Cooked: Microwave
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Rounded Plastic Tub with Cardboard Box
Appearance: Shiny dark pud with a rounded top.
Texture: Just about the right side of gooey. A few nuts give it a nice bite.
Taste: Classic pudding taste, but too much alcohol that's overpowering and lingers in the mouth too much. Otherwise pretty solid, if nothing spectacular.
Score: 5/10
Best Before: Feb 2009
Cooked: Microwave
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Rounded Plastic Tub with Cardboard Box
Appearance: Shiny dark pud with a rounded top.
Texture: Just about the right side of gooey. A few nuts give it a nice bite.
Taste: Classic pudding taste, but too much alcohol that's overpowering and lingers in the mouth too much. Otherwise pretty solid, if nothing spectacular.
Score: 5/10
Holly Lane Festive Luxury Mini Panettone Christmas Pudding 2 x 100g
Purchased: Oct 2009
Best Before: Aug 2011
Cooked: Microwave
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Plastic Tub with Cardboard Sleeve
Appearance: Mid-coloured pudding with a flat top.
Texture: Fairly soft with no real bite to it. A tad dry perhaps.
Taste: I tried the first one of the pair a while back and really didn't like it. I thought I'd give the second one a go tonight. There's not much to like about it to be honest and I wouldn't recommend these puds. A pretty poor effort. At least there's no lingering flavour in the mouth particularly (might be because I smothered it in cream to make up for the poor taste).
Score: 3/10
Best Before: Aug 2011
Cooked: Microwave
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Plastic Tub with Cardboard Sleeve
Appearance: Mid-coloured pudding with a flat top.
Texture: Fairly soft with no real bite to it. A tad dry perhaps.
Taste: I tried the first one of the pair a while back and really didn't like it. I thought I'd give the second one a go tonight. There's not much to like about it to be honest and I wouldn't recommend these puds. A pretty poor effort. At least there's no lingering flavour in the mouth particularly (might be because I smothered it in cream to make up for the poor taste).
Score: 3/10
Tesco Finest Matured Christmas Pudding 100g
Purchased: Dec 2009
Best Before: ?
Cooked: Microwave
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Rounded Plastic Tub with Dark Blue Cardboard Box
Appearance: "Normal" dark coloured pudding. Shiny.
Texture: Kind of what I have come to expect from supermarket puds. A little gooey probably best describes it.
Taste: This was quite a nice pudding. A good blend of fruit and nuts and the right amount of alcohol, it's gooeiness drops the score a touch. I am trying to find a pud for Christmas Day at the moment. There will be seven of us eating and I'm not sure on the correct size of pud! Tesco currently have an offer on their 907g version of this pudding - half price, only £5. I think that is excellent value for money and would recommend it. I guess this offer will be for a limited time only, so get in there quick if you want one. I will be buying one, but not sure yet if I'll use it on Christmas Day!
Score: 7/10
Best Before: ?
Cooked: Microwave
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Rounded Plastic Tub with Dark Blue Cardboard Box
Appearance: "Normal" dark coloured pudding. Shiny.
Texture: Kind of what I have come to expect from supermarket puds. A little gooey probably best describes it.
Taste: This was quite a nice pudding. A good blend of fruit and nuts and the right amount of alcohol, it's gooeiness drops the score a touch. I am trying to find a pud for Christmas Day at the moment. There will be seven of us eating and I'm not sure on the correct size of pud! Tesco currently have an offer on their 907g version of this pudding - half price, only £5. I think that is excellent value for money and would recommend it. I guess this offer will be for a limited time only, so get in there quick if you want one. I will be buying one, but not sure yet if I'll use it on Christmas Day!
Score: 7/10
Tiptree Christmas Pudding 112g
Purchased: Dec 2009
Best Before: ?
Cooked: Microwave
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Plastic Tub with Dark Blue Cardboard Box
Appearance: Pretty light in colour compared to the majority of puds I have eaten
Texture: Soft, not too gooey. Good!
Taste: I really quite liked this. I was trying it because I have two Tiptree puds on my shelf (both 454g one, but one is the Organic version) and am thinking of trying one on Christmas Day. There was a good blend of fruit and you notice the alcohol without it being alcoholic, which is good. I might have another before the big day to decide. Dad wasn't so keen though, after the mouthful he had, and he's coming on Christmas Day, so perhaps I'll choose another?
Score: 8/10
Best Before: ?
Cooked: Microwave
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Plastic Tub with Dark Blue Cardboard Box
Appearance: Pretty light in colour compared to the majority of puds I have eaten
Texture: Soft, not too gooey. Good!
Taste: I really quite liked this. I was trying it because I have two Tiptree puds on my shelf (both 454g one, but one is the Organic version) and am thinking of trying one on Christmas Day. There was a good blend of fruit and you notice the alcohol without it being alcoholic, which is good. I might have another before the big day to decide. Dad wasn't so keen though, after the mouthful he had, and he's coming on Christmas Day, so perhaps I'll choose another?
Score: 8/10
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Thorntons Christmas Puddings?
I am quite distraught. It would appear that Thorntons are not selling a Christmas Pudding this year. I will endeavour to write to them to find out what is going on!
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Thorntons Luxury Christmas Pudding 454g
Purchased: Gift - so not sure
Best Before: Mar 2009
Cooked: Steamed
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Plastic Tub with Cardboard Sleeve
Appearance: Round top because of the rounded tub, nice shiny pud
Texture: Really great texture. A few nuts, which worked well. Soft pudding without being too gooey.
Taste: Wonderful. This was appreciated by the CCCPC in a tent! It was steamed in a saucepan over a Cobb BBQ, which worked really well. This has to be one of the best puddings we've tasted. Everything about it just worked, taste wise. I could have just done with it being a bit more melt in the mouth and some nicer packaging, particularly for a "luxury" pudding, and that would have given it an even better score. I'll be buying one of these when they appear again this year.
Score: 8/10
Best Before: Mar 2009
Cooked: Steamed
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Plastic Tub with Cardboard Sleeve
Appearance: Round top because of the rounded tub, nice shiny pud
Texture: Really great texture. A few nuts, which worked well. Soft pudding without being too gooey.
Taste: Wonderful. This was appreciated by the CCCPC in a tent! It was steamed in a saucepan over a Cobb BBQ, which worked really well. This has to be one of the best puddings we've tasted. Everything about it just worked, taste wise. I could have just done with it being a bit more melt in the mouth and some nicer packaging, particularly for a "luxury" pudding, and that would have given it an even better score. I'll be buying one of these when they appear again this year.
Score: 8/10
Waitrose Richly Fruited Christmas Pudding with Remy Martin - UPDATE
It's been a while since I have posted a review, so now two at once. Well, one and a half. (This is the half)
Recently I had the pleasure of having some more of the above pudding. This time we had cooked a 1.2kg weight pudding and it was seriously impressive. This leads me to up my previous score of 6 by a point. The larger pudding was not apoilt by the alcohol content and was better balanced. So updated:
Score: 7/10
Recently I had the pleasure of having some more of the above pudding. This time we had cooked a 1.2kg weight pudding and it was seriously impressive. This leads me to up my previous score of 6 by a point. The larger pudding was not apoilt by the alcohol content and was better balanced. So updated:
Score: 7/10
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Marks & Spencer Classics for Christmas 113g
Purchased: Dec 2008
Best Before: Feb 2009
Cooked: Microwave
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Black plastic tub with round bottom wrapped in red plastic wrap and a red cardboard sleeve.
Appearance: Round top because of the rounded tub, good for a small pud, dull, rather than shiny.
Texture: Mushy pretty much describes it! Not very distinct texture of fruit or nuts beyond this. It was also a bit stodgy.
Taste: It's OK and definitely nothing spectacular. E quite liked it, but I'm not so sure. Not much alcohol to taste, although it's listed on the box. It doesn't really light my fire.
Score: 5/10
Best Before: Feb 2009
Cooked: Microwave
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Black plastic tub with round bottom wrapped in red plastic wrap and a red cardboard sleeve.
Appearance: Round top because of the rounded tub, good for a small pud, dull, rather than shiny.
Texture: Mushy pretty much describes it! Not very distinct texture of fruit or nuts beyond this. It was also a bit stodgy.
Taste: It's OK and definitely nothing spectacular. E quite liked it, but I'm not so sure. Not much alcohol to taste, although it's listed on the box. It doesn't really light my fire.
Score: 5/10
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