ITS CHRISTMAS! Oh yes – that officially means calories do not exist until the new year. It’s the season for, indulging in, great food with family and friends. Each year brings a new set of traditions as households grow and supermarket shelves expand from the traditional turkey to the puff pastry salmon slice or even the vegan nut roast – there is something for everyone!

Each Year new items hit the shelves for Christmas ranging from savoury to sweet. However, the classics are still going strong with traditional fayre like Christmas pudding remaining the “dessert of the day” favourite. Legend says, Christmas pudd can be traced back to medieval England where it was made from 13 ingredients said to represent Jesus Christ and the 12 disciples, although written recipes were not recorded until the 17^th century and showed a little more complexity. Known for its dense fruity nature, recipes for this dessert have previously been handed down through family generations all adding their own unique twist. Possibly a little different today, as its commercially available in the supermarket. However, with a younger, new market to target, Christmas pudding’s have been renovated with new elements being added to the classic dessert – Aldi booze it up with champagne and bucks fizz, whereas M&S really want to highlight those fruity notes by adding cherry and orange liqueur to their Christmas pudding wreath.

Not only is the classic pudding having a revamp as new innovative ideas flood in, but the classic Christmas pudding flavours are also hitting markets other than just in dessert – for the savoury toothed among us, Tesco have released Christmas pudding crisps, or for a pairing with your tea, Whittards released an all butter, Christmas pudding biscuit. Of course, let’s not forget about the perfect pairing of Christmas pudding and rum, so why not have them distilled together creating a liqueur which combines those sweet sensational notes – What new twist on this tradition has tickled your taste buds this year?