The best sweet Christmas food: tried and tasted

Don’t let stodgy stollen, grim gingerbread or a poor pud ruin your big day this Christmas.

Our mother and daughter duo, Diana Redfern and Emma Gill, have picked the finest festive sweet treats to serve.

Stollen
Best luxury

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference 6 Stollen Slices 200g, £4

Great texture slices with a perfect ratio of marzipan and fruit makes for a tasty traditional stollen.

The dusting is the ideal quantity and combines superbly with the strong almond flavour, while the hidden hint of brandy delivers a subtle pleasure.

Best value

Aldi Holly Lane Stollen Bites 350g, £2.99

Plentiful stollen parcels with a rich marzipan centre that oozes when you bite into it.

The raisins and citrus fruits are well balanced, the cake perfectly moist and, while the sugary topping might be too much for some, we feel it combines well and makes these really moreish. 

Our pick

Waitrose 6 Stollen Slices 200g, £3.50

For those who like a lighter marzipan taste, these delectable, spicy stollen slices are packed with ample mixed vine fruits, while the almond and rum butter flavours pair nicely without being overpowering. 

Though not as gooey as some and more cake-like in texture, a generous sweet dusting makes these deliciously hearty.

Image credit: M&S

M&S mince pies are a firm favourite

Mince pies

It wouldn’t be Christmas without mince pies. So we felt they deserved a space of their own, where we tested more than 20 different brands and varieties of classic, luxury and flavoured to bring you the very best mince pies.

Gingerbread
Best luxury 

Pertzborn Mini Gingerbread People 100g, £9 

Made in Germany, these mini gingerbread people have a powerful but unusual blend of spices. Softer than expected, the texture is spongy and a little bendy – not at all chewy, they melt in the 
mouth.

If you enjoy a lot of icing, these aren’t for you: simply decorated with a face and buttons. 

Best value

Tesco Gingerbread Biscuit 37g, £1 

Suitably festive in a red bow tie, this gingerbread biscuit is brilliant value. Not too hard and not too soft, we like the texture, which has a good chewiness to it.

However, the ginger flavour isn’t as strong as we’d like – a bit too subtle.

Our pick

Baked by Steph Santa Gingerbread Cookie 36g, £5

This jolly gingerbread person is a work of art – dressed like Santa Claus in a red icing suit and hat with fluffy white beard. As a result, it is heavy on the icing and unsurprisingly sweet, though not enough to overpower a punchy ginger flavour.

With a lovely crumbly texture, this is our top choice – but we wouldn’t recommend to those who aren’t the biggest fans of icing.

Image credit: Cat Harbour

Our taste testers Diana and Emma, sampling the best of the festive supermarket shelves

Christmas pudding
Best luxury

Waitrose No1 12 Month Matured Christmas Pudding 400g, £7.50

Extremely dark and luscious, this looks good – and tastes as good as it looks. 

Subtly spiced and containing an abundance of juicy mixed vine fruits, plentiful pecans and almonds and with more than a hint of cognac, the ingredients combine perfectly to deliver a luxurious, top-quality Christmas pudding.

Best value

Waitrose 6 Month Matured Christmas Pudding 400g, £4 

A very moist pudding with a lovely balanced flavour and a rather appetising ‘homemade’ look and taste.

With a rich, dark colour and packed with succulent sultanas and raisins, the texture is perfect and enhanced with a ‘splash’ of brandy, rum and sherry. At this price you can’t go wrong.

Our pick

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference 18 Month Matured Christmas Pudding 400g, £6

A firm but nicely moist pudding with a strong nutty flavour. Although lighter in both colour and fruit quantity, it still provides a hearty pudding with a fruity flavour and a satiating citrus tang, complemented by a healthy dose of spices and with good alcohol content.

The perfect way to round off Christmas Day’s main event.

Gluten-free

Sainsbury’s Free From Christmas Pudding 400g, £4

Made with sultanas, raisins, cider and rum, this pudding is suitable for coeliacs.

Don’t forget the custard

There’s nothing better than Christmas pudding with hot and creamy custard. We tried and tasted the supermarket brands to find the best ready-to-serve custard.