Visitors to the Courtyard Tiptree tea room in Saffron Walden were surprised when Liana Bridges and Barry Lewis from BBC Essex arrived to stir the Christmas pudding; during a live broadcast for “The Quest” programme on Stir Up Sunday. They met Mark Jackson of Cole’s Puddings and Aimee Smith from the tea rooms to talk about pudding making.

Traditionally Christmas puddings were made on the last Sunday before Advent and every member of the family lined up to stir the pudding and make a wish.  Each pudding had 13 ingredients, representing the 12 apostles and Christ; the pudding was stirred from East to West.

The first puddings had savoury ingredients then gradually the sweet dried fruit took over to become the sweet traditional Christmas puddings; today there is a large range of festive puddings to suit many tastes: Tiptree’s traditional, organic, gluten free while Cole’s Pudding range includes: a Champagne Pudding, Festive Pudding and a spherical Brandy Port and Walnut Pudding. 

Visitors to the tea room had a chance to stir the pudding mix and make a wish; it was also a great opportunity for people to ask questions about ingredients, cooking and accompaniments whether Brandy Butter or a spirited sauce.