Figgy's Artisan Handmade Christmas Puddings

Delight your guests on Christmas Day with a multi-award-winning Christmas Pudding from Figgy's. Handmade to an old family recipe, with a delectable duo of Westcountry brandy and stout, this is Christmas pudding as it used to be. 

Figgy's Christmas Puddings are made by Joanne and Richard Evans in their tiny bakery near Exeter in Devon. 

From humble beginnings in their home kitchen 20 years ago, the couple have won an incredible 27 fine food awards for their Christmas pudding, including gold stars in the Great Taste Awards for the past three years. 

They now supply farm shops and delicatessens all over the UK, as well as directly via their website (www.figgys.co.uk). Orders placed online now will be delivered in time for Christmas. 

They are one of the few producers who still make Christmas puddings in traditional ceramic bowls, choosing to use the quintessential Mason Cash pudding basin for their premium pudding. In time-honoured fashion, these puddings are topped with a natural cotton wrap, hand-tied in the classic 'rabbit-ears' knot to create a perfect handle for steaming. 

A 950g Christmas Pudding in a ceramic bowl serves 8 - 10 people and is £26.95. A 550g Christmas Pudding in a ceramic bowl serves 4 - 6 people and is £19.95. 

With convenience in mind, Figgy's also make their award-winning pudding in a fully recyclable plastic basin which can be warmed in the microwave. Presented in a beautiful festive box, with specially commissioned artwork by Devon artist Helen Leslie, this a fabulous alternative when time or space is of a premium but you still want to celebrate with a real Christmas Pudding. A 750g boxed Christmas pudding serves 4-8 people and is £17.95. A 350g boxed Christmas pudding serves 2-3 people and is £12.95.

Made in small batches, Figgy's Christmas puddings contain carefully selected ingredients, including breadcrumbs made in-house using bread from an artisan bakery, the finest French glace cherries coloured only with fruit juices, and free-range eggs from a farm shop just half a mile away. British apples and carrots add moistness, while California raisins provide sun-baked sweetness. 

The puddings are infused with generous quantities of Somerset Cider Brandy and Hanlons Port Stout from Devon, before being slow-steamed for many hours. 

This traditional production method gives a finish that is light and open textured, with none of the heaviness of mass-produced Christmas puddings. Maturation for several months ensures the Christmas puddings are at their very best for Christmas Day. Perfect for flaming, and a delight with any manner of cream or custard. 

Stir Up Sunday Comes Early to The Food WorksSW

Stir Up Sunday, the Victorian tradition of stirring the mixture for Christmas pudding and making a wish, has come early to North Somerset's The Food WorksSW with Butcombe Brewery. 

In preparation for the busy festive season in their pubs, the Bristol-based brewery recently produced enough Christmas pudding mixture to make 1,000 Christmas puddings at the food and drink innovation centre in Weston-super-Mare. 

As well as making Christmas pudding, Butcombe's chefs from across the country, including chefs from  the Liberation pub group in Jersey, spent a week in the specialist kitchens at The Food WorksSW perfecting some of the brewery's delicious Christmas creations and training for the holiday season under the watchful eye of Butcombe's Head Development Chef Jasper Prickett. 

Forthcoming delicious festive dishes prepared by the chefs included sticky figgy pudding, toffee apple, fig and chestnut crumble, mince pie ice cream, gilt head bream and Ox Cheek Wellington.

Butcombe Brewery hires the state-of-the-art kitchens at The Food WorksSW for menu development, training and business meetings throughout the year and make full use of the food and drink innovation centre's specialist equipment and spacious well-equipped kitchens.

Jasper says, “The Christmas pudding mixture we made in the commercial kitchen at The Food WorksSW is now currently steeping and will be ready to be shaped and steamed for the festive season and sent to all our pubs for Christmas Day."

He added: "We're really big fans of The Food WorksSW and we absolutely love it there. It offers so much and meets all our needs for menu development, training, equipment, storage, even meeting space. It's also in a great location just off the motorway so it's easy for all our staff to get to.”

Zoe Plant, who is new product and innovation manager said, “Whether it's equipment you need or expert technical advice, if you are a food or drink brand, be it big or small, you'll find everything you need at Food WorksSW and at very reasonable rates, too. You can hire any of our five specialist kitchens for just one day if that's all you require as we understand everyone's needs and budgets are different.

"Our top-of-the-range equipment within each of our kitchens, like the commercial kitchen Butcombe used, really do offer the perfect space for chefs and producers the chance to come in, experiment, develop and fine-tune food and drink products or menus.”

The only centre of its kind in the south west, The Food WorksSW is based in the heart of the Weston-super-Mare Enterprise Area, under half an hour from Bristol, and close to Junction 21 of the M5 motorway.

"It has state-of-the-art facilities including five product development kitchens available for flexible short-term contract hire for food and drink businesses of all sizes to test, develop and manufacture their products, prices begin at start just £96.90 per day (inc VAT).

Technical support packages are also available at the centre where a team of food industry experts provide technical support to businesses navigating their way through a range of food disciplines, from new product development and quality assurance, hygiene and food safety and efficiency. The team helps food and drink businesses develop products in a safe and efficient way.

For more information on how The Food WorksSW can help businesses, visit them at foodworks-sw.co.uk, or stay up-to-date follow @foodworks_sw on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. A range of case studies can be found on the website and on The Food WorksSW YouTube.