The top 10: Puds & cakes

Festive cakes and bakes, from the perfect plum pud to mince pies, stollen bread and tipsy panettone
  
  


1. Carved Angel

With great chunks of fruit, and a good soaking of liquor, these puddings come ready to cook in a reusable ceramic bowl. Instructions are included. Small (serves up to three) £10; large (6-8) £16; extra large (12-14) £25.

Tamar View House, Gulworthy, Tavistock, Devon, 01822 835020.
thecarvedangel.com
Mail order or contact for stockists
Last orders: 17 December

2. Georgie Porgie's Puddings

Puddings made in Devon, shaped into a cannon ball then tied in a bundle. Ingredients are entirely natural and include preserved fruit, suet, breadcrumbs, lemon and orange peel, fresh eggs, booze and spices. Put in a steamer or suspend over a pan of water, cover with aluminium foil and simmer for 1½-2 hours until tender.

Unit 1, Alansway, Finnimore Trading Estate, Ottery St Mary, Devon; 01404 815561.
georgieporgiespuddings.co.uk
Mail order
Last orders: 18 December

3. Lavender Blue Cakes

Handmade fruitcakes baked by Sam Ross in Dorset. The Gamekeepers cake is stuffed full of dried fruit and sloe gin, the Pirates is made with exotic fruit and rum; £5/440g; £11 for a two-cake box. Christmas puddings also available.

Nth Dorset Business Park Sturminster Newton, Dorset; 01258 474300.
olivesetal.co.uk
Mail order
Last orders: 19 December

4. The Incredible Fruitcake Company

Based in Devon, Mary Galbraith and Debbie Swift make exceptional fruitcakes baked to the Medieval method - in wooden boxes. Made from sustainable wood, the boxes are reusable - each order comes with a recipe booklet for you to try baking your own. There's a boiled fruitcake with sherry and walnuts, a simnel cake, and a coffee fruitcake all made with no additives or preservatives, and 'quite a lot of brandy'. Small box (1kg) £20; large (2kg) £30.

01579 350 086.
incrediblefruitcake.com
Mail order
Last orders: 19 December

5. The Christmas Cake

Irresistible cakes made by three sisters with equally beguiling names, Portia, Scarlett and Pandora Edmiston. Great chunks of glazed nuts and fruit sit on top of the fruitiest, juiciest cognac soaked cake baked to an original recipe of their grandmother, a mission doctor who lived in Africa. Walnuts are sourced from France, black raisins from India; candied peel from Italy. Numbers are limited, so order early; £55 up to 2kg.

thechristmascake.com
07932 656898: Mail order
Last orders: 10 December

6. Daylesford Organic

Handmade cakes with organic ingredients, baked in neat wooden moulds. The ginger cake is delicious with hard cheeses such as farmhouse cheddar, £5.75/500g; the lemon and lime is light and syrupy; £5.60/500g, and the apple is chunky and well spiced £4.60/500g.

Daylesford, near Kingham, Gloucs; 01608 731 700; home delivery 0800 0831233.
daylesfordorganic.com
Mail order
Last orders: 14 December

7. Seggiano

Panbriacone - or 'drunk cake' - is an wickedly boozy version of panettone. Made in Tuscany, the yeast-based cake is packed with dried fruit then drenched in Vin Santo and Passito liqueurs. It's available just for Christmas by mail order from The Big Fat Olive, £4.99/130g; £14.99/700g.

The Big Fat Olive, 6 Chiltern Court, Back Street, Wendover Bucks; 01296 622444.
bigfatolive.co.uk
Mail order
Last orders: 19 December

8. Selfridges

The food hall is packed with an astonishing array of Christmas goodies - this year Selfridges' mince pies are based on Gordon Selfridge's original 1929 recipe. Buttery, crisp pastry, not too thick, with plenty of fruity filling.

Oxford Street, London W1, 0800 123 400, selfridges.com
Mail order: delivery within a 3-mile radius.
Last orders: 20 December

9. Ladurée Macaroons

It is the texture of these famous double-layer macaroons that is so extraordinary. An outer fragile, crisp shell encases a gooey, slightly collapsed centre, in every flavour from cassis to salted caramel. Then there are the delightful boxes - pretty rococo or modernist - to be filled with your choice, £6/100g (allow 48 hours for special orders).

Harrods, Brompton Road, London SW1; 020 7730 1234.
harrods.com
Last orders: 24 December

10. Konditor & Cook

Handmade stöllen, German cinnamon stars, chocolate figures, toffee almonds, and cakes made with real butter and natural ingredients. Children will love the little iced squares and stars.

22 Cornwall Road, London SE1; 020 7261 0456 and branches.
konditorandcook.com
Last orders: 10 December

With thanks to The Savvy Shopper by Rose Prince (Fourth Estate); Bigbarn.co.uk; The Guild of Fine Food Retailers, finefoodworld.com; Farma.co.uk (Government sponsored guide to farm shops and farmers markets).

 

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