The Great British Food Awards celebrate the finest artisan food and drink from across the country. With an impressive array of acclaimed chefs, food journalists and influencers on their judging panel, this is a tough team to impress.

After scooping a Gold Award in the regional category, our Christmas Pudding went on to be awarded the coveted Grand Champion product!

The judge commented: “This Christmas pudding is moist, flavourful and full of festive character. Packed with plump raisins, sultanas, crunchy almonds and tender apple pieces, it delivers a delightfully satisfying texture. A touch of cider brandy adds warmth and depth, balancing the sweetness of the fruit. Each bite is rich and indulgent, encapsulating Christmas comfort in every mouthful.”

Our Christmas pudding also recieved a Gold Taste of the West award, a Gold Food Drink Devon award and a Gold Star in the Great Taste Awards 2025.

We’re so proud of our little Christmas pudding. When we started Figgy’s 18 years ago, we couldn’t have imagined being where we are now. Our first child was newborn back then and making a hundred Christmas puddings felt like making 10,000!

Now that newborn has just turned 18 and Figgy’s is Grand Champion – we’ve come a long way and we’re excited to see what the next 18 years will bring. A huge thank you to all our customers and pudding fans!

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A free, not-for-profit event, spread across one of the most beautiful coastal towns in Britain, and drawing in the finest producers, internationally-renowned chefs and a whole host of celebrities and entertainers.

And after a five year break, we’re so excited to be heading back to the festival this October with our fabulous Christmas puddings!

You’ll find us in a grand marquee nestled on the waterfront, where a plethora of yachts and powerboats come and go all weekend in search of the best of Devon’s food and drink. Here you’ll find producers too small for any supermarket – some of them you’ll never even find in a farm shop!

Jo finds it hard to stay put on our stall with all the temptations around us… intricate handmade chocolates, the finest local cheeses, exquisite pastries… not to mention the pop-up lunch options:

“Looking for lunch is such a culinary adventure” said Jo. “I remember one year watching a top local chef making fresh crab tacos on the waterfront, then turning into a tiny tudor walkway only to discover a huge charcoal grill with Devon ribeye steaks engulfed in the flames and octopus being cooked in a giant copper pot!”

From the peel of the early morning church bells to the ferry ride across the river back towards Exeter, this is the ultimate, quintessentially-British food Festival and we love it!

Dates for 2025: 24th-26th October

www.dartmouthfoodfestival.com

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Christmas pudding is one of those traditional dishes that doesn’t really like the microwave, but how do you heat it without over-loading your hob or turning your kitchen into a steam room?

There’s no denying it, things can get hectic in the kitchen on Christmas Day, so here are our top tips for heating your pudding to wow your guests with the minimum of fuss for the chef.

“Do I have to steam my pudding all day?”

At Figgy’s we’ve already steamed your pudding for hours and hours – so you’re simply warming it through on Christmas Day: maximum two hours.

“But why not just microwave it?”

Ideally a Christmas Pudding should be warmed slowly so the suet can melt gradually and infuse through the pudding, giving you the deliciously light and succulent texture of a proper Christmas pudding.

“Steamer, saucepan, bain marie, slow cooker, steaming oven… choices, choices!”

There are lots of different ways to steam a Christmas pudding. All of them will give great results because they each use essentially the same method – slow steaming.

“But I don’t have room on the hob!”

Below you’ll find our tried and tested alternatives to the hob or follow our top tip:

Top Tip: If you’re short of hob space, take the pudding off the hob for a few minutes while you cook your greens, then put it back on the heat to finish off while you serve and eat your main course (just make sure it has the full cooking time in total – don’t include the time it spends off the heat). 

Saucepan

Probably the method your Grandmother would have used to heat a Christmas Pudding. Put the basin in an inch of water in a large saucepan with the lid on… simple. However, this method is prone to boiling dry, or conversely bubbling over into the pudding and making it too moist, so we prefer the following options.

Hob-Top Vegetable Steamer

This is our preferred method of heating our own Christmas pudding at home. If you tend to be short of hob-space, see our Top Tip above. Put the pudding in the top tier of the vegetable steamer, as this typically has the most space. Add plenty of water in the bottom and it will be less likely to boil dry. Don’t be tempted to cook your veggies in the same steamer or your pudding may come out tasting of sprouts!

Electric Vegetable Steamer

A lot of people have one of these gathering dust in a cupboard somewhere. Now you’ve found the perfect use for it! If you have a larger pudding, use the top tier as it tends to have more depth. Put plenty of water in the base and heat the pudding for the same length of time as you would in a pan (refer to the heating label/leaflet).

Slow Cooker

Another item that many people have tucked away in a cupboard, and perfect for heating a Christmas pudding. Stand the pudding basin in an inch of boiling water in the slow cooker. Set the slow cooker to its highest setting and pop the lid on. As long as you start with boiling hot water, the pudding will take the same time to warm through as it would in a pan. You can also leave the pudding in the slow cooker for an extended period until you’re ready to eat it (we recommend a maximum of three hours or your pudding will become darker as the sugars caramelise).

Bain Marie

If you have more than one oven, especially if you have a steaming oven or an Aga with a simmering oven, then a bain marie is another great way to heat your Christmas pudding. Put the pudding into a casserole dish in an inch of boiling water. Starting with hot water means the pudding will heat up in the same time as it would on the hob (refer to the label/leaflet for timings). Pop the dish into your simmering oven or steaming oven at 100C. Make sure the oven isn’t any hotter or it may damage/melt the pudding basin.

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We’re delighted to have been awarded two gold stars in the Great Taste Awards for the second year running, whilst also being selected as a Finalist for the Champion Product at the Taste of the West Awards.

The Great Taste Awards are considered by many to be the Oscars of the food and drink world, and to be awarded two gold stars is a real honour.

The Taste of the West Awards celebrates Westcountry Food and Drink, with an array of amazing products entering every year. The Champion Product will be announced at a spectacular awards ceremony in November.

If you’re like us and you enjoy discovering new and delicious artisan products, head to www.tasteofthewest.co.uk and www.gff.co.uk for a full directory of all the recent award-winners.

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Figgy’s are celebrating their best year yet after winning Gold for their Christmas pudding in three separate fine food awards, including a coveted two stars in the Great Taste Awards.

Their signature Luxury Handmade Christmas Pudding, made from their family recipe, has now won an incredible 20 awards since the company was founded in 2007, possibly making it the most decorated Christmas pudding on the market.

“Quality and tradition has always been at the heart of our business,” explains Owner and MD, Jo Evans, “meaning we never cut corners and we always make every Christmas pudding as if it were the only one.

“We never outsource production, so we can keep control of the making process and ensure the puddings are always as good as homemade. I’m convinced this is why they have won so many awards.”

In 2023, Figgy’s Christmas pudding has won two gold stars in the Great Taste Awards, and Gold awards in the Taste of the West Awards and the Food Drink Devon awards.

Figgy’s is run by husband and wife team, Richard and Joanne Evans, from their tiny bakery in Devon, UK. They hand make their Christmas puddings to their old family recipe, using award-winning local Somerset Cider Brandy and Hanlons Port Stout. They also use handmade breadcrumbs from a local bakery and free range eggs from the nearby farm shop.

The Christmas puddings are made in small batches and steamed slowly for hours in the traditional way. They are then aged and matured to allow the flavours to develop over several months.

“Time and patience are critical with making a really good Christmas pudding” explains Richard. “Traditional puddings can’t be rushed or you lose the light, open texture and the pudding becomes dense. This is why mass-produced puddings are often heavy and difficult to digest. That’s not a problem with our Christmas puddings – they’re easy to eat, even after a full Christmas dinner!”

Figgy’s multi-award-winning Christmas puddings can be bought online or from a wide variety of independent farm shops, delis and garden centres across the UK.

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We’re celebrating this year after receiving three more gold awards for our Christmas pudding, possibly making it the most award-winning Christmas pudding on the market!

Our Christmas pudding has now been given an incredible twenty fine food awards, since we started Figgy’s in 2007.  

During that time, we’ve won six Great Taste awards, Champion Dessert in the Taste of the West Award (twice!) and two Food Drink Devon Platinum Awards.

We think it just goes to show that good Christmas pudding isn’t about gimmicks and re-invention, but about tradition, quality ingredients and time well spent. The way it always used to be!

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