For Christmas, I received a Marks & Spencer's Christmas Pudding and a can of Ambrosia Devon Custard.

From what I understand, I should warm up the Christmas pudding. Do I warm up the custard as well?

Thanks!

I wouldn't have custard with Christmas pudding... you want brandy butter! (Butter at room temperature creamed with white sugar, plus a teaspoon or so of brandy).

If you don't fancy that, custard can be eaten either warm or cold, take your pick.

Thanks. I think I'll pass on the brandy butter.

If you use the custard warm it up, but make sure it does not boil, and add a bit of cream to make it taste more yummy.
I also prefer brandy butter though.

Maybe not everyone agrees with me, but I think this is as on-topic as on-topic can be. It is very relevant to Switzerland because if you lived anywhere else, you wouldn't have to ask the question.

You can have Christmas Pud with cream, custard or ice-cream as so many don't like brandy butter.
Custard just needs to be warmed up and you can cook the christmas pud in the microwave which is much quicker and tastes just as good.

Christmas Pud needs to be with rum sauce. Corn flour, sugar, milk warmed on the hob until you get a custard consistency then add dark rum to taste

Brandy butter is for southerners and posh people

Ooohhh...custard butties...

Cheers,
Nick

Lets start again - Christmas Pudding (Custard is a separate dish)

Christmas Pudding in the olden days was heated up over hot steaming water for hours, now-days much easier to heat up in the microwave, instructions should be on the packet - how many minutes depending on size etc

then serve it bum side up, pour some brandy or the like over it, then light it, usually turn the lights down low for the effect, flame(s) will not last more than a few seconds, usually eaten with cream - usually thick cream, can be flavoured with brandy, rum, cointreau, grand mariner if you like, but not necessary, some might prefer vanilla ice-cream, some like brandy butter (never understood that though, but each to his own)

It is a lot easier to explain this in English, rather difficult when I took them to Greece and explaining to them

the favoured thing usually to eat custard with is Apple Pie. It is usually heated, but is also eaten cold, more people prefer it hot

Most importantly, save yourself a slab of the cooked pudding to fry in butter for breakfast the next morning with a piece of black pudding (british style) and a couple of rashers...mmmm...

Please don't bring the reputation of British cuisine further down the scale.

I hope you meant to write, "Serve 2 slices of fried bacon & fried black pudding (a dark sausage) and afterwards clean the pan and fry a slice of Christmas pudding gently in butter."

Proper British people NEVER serve black pudding and Christmas pudding on the same plate. Please, let's just get that clear, before the French gather more ammunition to attack our culinary delights!

Hope you dont mind me sharing this family story with you.

My sister B, worked in Gabon, French west Africa, she had many invites from French for meals and had to put up with loads of custard pudding stories and so forth. She is a brilliant cook but what should she cook them. For dessert, she made Triffle, first soaking each fruit in a spirit to match it, ie oranges/satsumas in contreau and so forth, then brandy in custard and sherry in the cream. Aah that is the english custard pudding tee-hee

ps my OH and self big fans of Asterix stories

Reminds me of this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx5Wp...eature=related

Not your usual English trifle. :

You mean this Custard?

Less of the olden-days. Never owned a micro-wave. What packet?

Do I live in a time-warp?

Ours was steamEd for 3 hours. Don't own a microwave either even though we have child (seems its supposed to be a necessity with child)

This winter I have made about 4 one pound puddings and 2 larger ones from scratch. My problem is that the recipe suggests steaming the small ones for 4 hours and the larger ones for 6 hours.

Instead of cooking them in a pressure cooker or steaming them over water, my solution is to put them into the oven and cook many puddings for the same time at 100 degrees C (Covered tightly with aluminium foil). For reheating the microwave is fine, but too cook them I think you need the time plus the energy.

Did you enjoy your pudding and custard love?