Puddings

Chocolate log, (bouche de noel) or a pavlova made like a wreath and 'decorated' with berry baubles. Enjoy!

We make our own Christmas puddings. But always as an alternative I make roasted hazelnut ice-cream with chocolate truffle. If I have people on Boxing Day I serve one of the two summer puddings made the previous July and kept in the freezer.

Humbertbear, Eton Mess with mincemeat is a brilliant idea! Wish I'd thought of it years ago. Definitely on our menu this year.

We aren't Christmas pudding people either. The other year I made a chocolate cherry bomb. I have to say it was delicious!!
It contained kirsch though so not good for kids. I normally make a trifle, maybe chocolate and raspberry (bit of a theme...)

Beautifully light chocolate mousse liberally smothered in fresh cream. Very sought after and goes down a treat.

Homemade pavlova, trifle and Christmas pudding

Not any more, and don't know whether they still exist, I would whip up an Angel Delight, had a few flavours in the cupboard, for those who wanted a desert but too full of turkey etc to manage xmas pudding or mince pies.

We rarely have room for pud. DH is diabetic so isn’t bothered anyway. Trouble is, being just the two of us and not ones to fuss a lot about fancy food, it just ends up like an ordinary Sunday roast dinner. I often wish we could go to my son’s for Christmas dinner but DH would hate it. He just wants to stay at home.

I'm the only one who likes Christmas Pud so it is usually a posh cheesecake- I did mango last year & something with chocolate.
Mind you I'm tempted by syllabub now!

I am making raspberry panacotta and a vanilla cheesecake with raspberry couli for those that dont like Christmas pudding.

My additional pudding is Irish Coffee Meringues. Home made meringues which I sprinkle with a little demerara sugar before baking to look pretty, served with double cream whipped up with some strong black coffee and Irish whiskey. Always very popular.

Personally I love a (jelly) trifle but apparently no one else in the family does, and I can't be bothered to make one just for me, particularly as I'd have to make some gf sponge from scratch beforehand.

Come, come. yesterday was "stirup Sunday" - not made your own puds??? I used to when we were many, now there are rarely more than three of us, I buy my pud [which we all love] from Lidl. Once I forgot that I had several and kept one or two over from the previous year and they were lovely too.

Aldi individual or large. Get the delux. WE find a small individual pudd serves my husband and I. ONe minute in the microwave. They have little tiny tubs of brandy cream.

My DC don't like Christmas pud or trifle either, so DH and I have it at other times during the year on our own.

I go along wih Kittylester, syllabub is lovely and very pretty in a glass. You can make it with whipping cream rather than double (so it is not so rich) and use many types of white wine including sherry, white port, masala, champagne or prosecco. I've also made one with elderflower cordial.

We make a dessert that is layered in a glass, with rataffia biscuits, morello cherries and jelly made with the cherry juice. We layer it with cream, custard, ice cream and decorations and our GC help to make it. It sounds "trifleish" but if you leave out the custard it is not at all like trifle, more like a knickerbocker glory. The rataffia is delicious, much nicer than soggy sponge.

Pen50 some rataffia biscuits are gluten free. My mother loved trifle but was coeliac and we originally made a custardy version of our layered pudding as an alternative to trifle.

orange flan. or a cheescake. we usually have orange flan .mandarine segments from supermarket with sugar .gelatine free setting jelly..in a sponge flan case...its yummy and very light to eat

A really easy pudding that looks great, is a pavlova with the usual cream , topped with mango and chopped stem ginger , so easy to make too .

Christmas pud for my daughter and me - but the grandkiddies are not keen so they will probably just help themselves to the fruit bowl instead!

Here is the link to a Jamie Oliver "cheats" recipe which can be (adapted and) made in advance and looks really good:

goodfood.uktv.co.uk/recipe/winter-pudding-bombe/

The pudding I make came from an old Home & Freezer Digest Christmas cookery book. It is called raisin capped Christmas pudding and contains raisins, apricots, cherries and crystallized ginger topped with golden syrup. Lighter than conventional Christmas pudding and preferred by DH. I got the ingredients today, will make it tomorrow and it will be frozen until required.

Hestons satsuma Christmas pudding from Waitrose for us, I know it’s smallish but we like it better than the larger orange one, Iceland’s chocolate Christmas tree shaped ice cream lollies for the little ones and I will probably make a fruit pavlova for the Christmas pudding haters

Waitrose have some lovely desserts have a look on line.

Try a classic unbaked cheesecake, always popular and you can serve it with a fruit topping or with fruit on the side. By the way it doesn't taste cheesy.

Sorry about double message - gremlins in the lap-top (or in my brain!).

I once ruined a molded dessert that was to be the perfect ending for my holiday dinner party and instead resulted in a runny mess.

At the eleventh (desperate hour), I pulled two boxes of 'Devils' chocolate cake mix from my pantry. While still warm, I infused the cakes with Brandy. When they got to room temperature, they went into the freezer overnight. In the morning, they had to be coaxed out of the molds, but I still managed to get the two large cake rounds removed in one piece. Cakes don't really freeze completely, so the two layers were cold yet frost ready right away.

After a few more toothpick stabbings and more brandy, I decided to go with Mocha frosting! I mixed butter, cream cheese, vanilla, cocoa powder, one tbsp. of strong instant coffee, and a bit more instant coffee powder (as needed) all combined with powdered sugar.

Sprinkled top with chopped nuts to garnish. I surrounded the cake with a few sprigs of well placed greenery and two or three fake poinsettias thus giving it the 'Christmas' touch.

Dessert looked amazing and was so delicious, people still ask me for it today