Selfridges Dukeshill Christmas Pudding

Purchased: Dec 2009
Best Before: 30th June 2010
Cooked: Microwave
Lit Up: Yes
Cream or Custard: Ice Cream
Packaging: Red plastic tub wraped in muslin
Appearance: Mid coloured
Texture: A little cakey, soft, not very exciting. No nuts.
Taste: Fairly tasteless to be honest, it's a pretty non-descript pudding. Fairly fruity. Not really a great lasting taste either. Very disappointing given the 15 pounds original price tag.

Score: 4/10

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Cole's Foods Christmas Puddings

This is a selection pac of 4 puds. I tried the English Privilege and Brandy, Port and Walnut puds.

Purchased: Gift 2008 or 2007
Best before: July 2009
Cooked: Microwave
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Custard
Packaging: Silver tub containing 4 small puds. Each pud in it's own plastic tub.
Apearance: EP is a fairly light coloured pud with a dull appearance. BPW is dark and a litle shiney.
Texture: EP rather dry, cakey kind of texture. BPW much softer and a bit gooey.
Taste: EP flavour is quite nice, but the dryness of it makes it hard to really work it out! Quite fruity in general, with a nice bit of spice. Slightly odd after flavour though that lingers a bit too long. BPW noticeably different in that it has an alcoholic flavour to it and not a lot else. Overall both puds are quite disappointing.

Score: EP - 3, BPW - 4

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Sainsbury's vs ALDI

I was away at the weekend with a group of friends and one evening we had Christmas Pudding for pudding. There were two pudding brought, both 900g sized ones, one from ALDI and one from Sainsbury's. I mentioned that I'd had Sainsbury's selection from the last year and not enjoyed them, but hadn't tried an ALDI one yet. People were surprised to hear that I reviewed puddings... and were sceptical about the Sainsbury's pud being so poor. They were both cooked in the microwave and served with cream. I don't know exact details of the puddings, but they were both "luxury" ones. ALDI up first and it was really nice. It crumbled away, which is a bit of a shame, but the taste was good. It was also nice a nutty (which didn't please E too much). I can't post a full review as I don't have the full details of the pudding.

Anyway, so ALDI's pud was enjoyed and all who had it agreed it was nice... the Sainsbury's pud was cooked next and passed around. I was not wrong with my reviews shortly before Christmas on this one. It was horrible still. I've no idea what they did to their puddings this last year, but they got it wrong. Cue much amazement from some others that it could be so poor and I may have just got a couple of new readers of the blog this year (bringing the total readership up to about 3 people!).

New Year's Resolutions

1. Eat more Christmas Puddings this year

2. Remember to review them and post them on the blog

Lewis and Cooper Hand Made Traditional Plum Pudding 220g

Purchased: Gift 2008 (I think)
Best Before: Mar 2011
Cooked: Steamed
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Simply wrapped in baking paper and then with a green plastic wrap - Gold sticker telling me it got an award for great taste in 2007.
Appearance: This is a lighter coloured pudding than your average. There is the odd nut (almond?) visible.
Texture: Lovely and soft. Pretty similar to the Tiptree pud reviewed at the same time.
Taste: Another lovely pudding. What a treat to have two at once! Lighter coloured puddings can often have bizarre flavours (Carved Angel springs to mind), but this is one of the best. Fruity is the order of the day and a lovely lasting flavour. However, in comparison to the Tiptree I think it is just about beaten by a whisker.

Score: 7/10

Tiptree Organic Christmas Pudding 454g

Purchased: Dec 2006
Best Before: Dec 2009
Cooked: Steamed
Lit up: No
Cream or Custard: Cream
Packaging: Earthenware basin with cloth in a thick, green, cardboard box
Appearance: Mid-shine, very dark, pudding. This looks the business.
Texture: It doesn't get much better than this. Soft, but not too soft. No nuts, which is interesting, I do like nuts.
Taste: Wow. This is so nice. I'd have another if we had one (actually I have a tiptree non-organic on the shelf!). No nuts, but it's so tasty, so fruity, just the right amount of alcohol. Good spice level. Everything just works beautifully here. If you can find them - buy them...

Score: 8/10

Christmas Day - Marks and Spencer Vintage Christmas Pudding 907g

This year I went for an M&S pud as I always think they are pretty good. This one had also been on the shelf for a couple of years!

Purchased: Dec 2006
Best Before: Feb 2007
Cooked: Steamed
Lit up: Yes!
Cream or Custard: White Chocolate Sauce (see recipe on blog)
Packaging: Rounded Plastic Tub but in a lovely Red and Black Cardboard Box with Red Elastic Tie
Appearance: Shiny dark pudding. Really tasty looking - but I may be biased as I look forward to Christmas pud on Christmas Day especially!
Texture: Soft and fruity, but also some nuts give it a nice bite. A touch gooey, but not too much.
Taste: As I thought before I ate this it was a pretty solid pudding with a decent taste. I had a pretty alcoholic couple of mouthfuls to start with, but I think this was more likely the brandy I poured over when I lit it up! Nothing too spectacular, taste wise, but decent enough. Good balance of fruit, nuts and alcohol.

Score: 6/10

Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Cognac Laced Christmas Pudding 100g

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

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

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