Eight ways to serve your Christmas pudding (2024)

FAQs

Eight ways to serve your Christmas pudding? ›

What to serve with Christmas pudding. For some, a liberal glug of cold cream is all that's needed, but others prefer brandy butter. Try our classic version spiked with vanilla, or mix things up with brandy butter ice cream. If a boozy accompaniment isn't for you, go back to basics and smother it in homemade custard.

What to serve with Christmas pudding. For some, a liberal glug of cold cream is all that's needed, but others prefer brandy butter. Try our classic version spiked with vanilla, or mix things up with brandy butter ice cream. If a boozy accompaniment isn't for you, go back to basics and smother it in homemade custard.

To serve, the pudding is reheated by steaming once more, and may be dressed with warm brandy which is set alight. It can be eaten with hard sauce (usually brandy butter or rum butter), cream, lemon cream, ice cream, custard, or sweetened béchamel, and is sometimes sprinkled with caster sugar.

Creamy puddings are typically served chilled, but a few, such as zabaglione and rice pudding, may be served warm. Instant puddings do not require boiling and can therefore be prepared more quickly.

On Stir-Up Sunday, families gather together to mix the pudding. Each member of the family takes a turn in stirring the mixture whilst making a wish. The pudding should be stirred from east to west, in honour of the Magi (Wise Men) who came from the east to visit the baby Jesus.

Each family member was supposed to stir the mixture from east to west to honour the journey of the Magi. This ritual was also thought to bring the family luck in the coming year. Originally the puddings would have been shaped into a sphere and boiled in a cloth.

Last but not least, we have the original serve. While custard complements so many dessert items, nothing beats the combination of some cold custard with a warm serve of Christmas pudding.

As mentioned above, most modern coins contain nickel and/or brass, which can react with the ingredients in the pudding. For those who want to honour this age-old tradition, we recommend using specially-made coin tokens that are safe for use.

Religious significance

It is believed that a Christmas pudding must contain thirteen ingredients. These ingredients each represent Jesus and each of his twelve disciples. Traditionally, brandy is poured over the Christmas pudding and set aflame before serving. The flames are believed to represent Christ's passion.

How do you serve store-bought Christmas pudding? ›

Serving suggestions

These include homemade or store-bought custard, ice cream, brandy butter, eggnog cream, hard sauce and lemon butter. Or, flame the turned out pudding with brandy or other liqueur for dramatic effect.

Depending on where you are in the world, rice pudding can be eaten cold or warm. In the United States, where rice pudding is traditionally served as a dessert, it is usually cold. Whereas in Sweden, for example, rice pudding is warmed and eaten for breakfast.

Tradition would suggest that custard is the best thing to serve with Christmas pudding, but a pouring cream (particularly if it's spiked with brandy) and vanilla ice-cream are also excellent accompaniments and cooling contrasts to the main event.

For a long time it's been common practice to include silver Christmas pudding coins, charms or tokens into Christmas pudding. Finding a Christmas coin in your slice of pudding is believed to bring good luck and especially wealth in the coming year.

A silver sixpence was placed into the pudding mix and every member of the household gave the mix a stir. Whoever found the sixpence in their own piece of the pudding on Christmas Day would see it as a sign that they would enjoy wealth and good luck in the year to come.

Serving suggestions

These include homemade or store-bought custard, ice cream, brandy butter, eggnog cream, hard sauce and lemon butter. Or, flame the turned out pudding with brandy or other liqueur for dramatic effect.

Room Temperature: It's safe to store Christmas pudding at room temperature for a few days, but it's not recommended for long-term storage. Refrigerator: In the fridge, Christmas pudding can last for up to a week while maintaining its quality.

Our answer. Making a Christmas pudding and then umoulding it and storing it without the bowl is not something we would recommend. You will need to let the pudding cool completely before unmoulding it, and unmoulding a cold pudding is nore of a challenge.

Decorating delight

Nothing says “Christmas” like a sprig of holly. While this seems an obvious decorative choice, go one step further and add a large white chocolate snowflake by leaning it up against each serve of Christmas pudding.