Happy ever afters

Ginger and orange pudding

Cole's Traditional Foods

Great Chesterford, Saffron Walden, Essex

01799 531053

Ingredients: Ginger, wheatflour, breadcrumbs, sugar, hydrogenated palm oil, orange peel, humectant (gycerol), invert sugar syrup, skimmed milk powder, salt, raising agents, preservatives, orange oil.

£1 for 110g; £2.20 for 275g (both prices approximate)

l Wholesale only

l Tasters' comments: The aroma of the oranges is very distinctive; the taste fails to match up to the strong smell; the texture is really heavy and quite chewy.

Original bakewell pudding

The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop

The Square, Bakewell, Derbyshire

01629 812193

Ingredients: Puff pastry case, strawberry jam filling, topping - sugar, butter, eggs and ground almonds.

70p per individual 125g pudding; £1.50 per 300g pudding; £2.50 per 500g pudding(all approximate)

l Phone for a list of suppliers

l Tasters' comments: Home-made, rustic appearance; good strong almond smell; pastry is too soggy and doughy.

Syrup sponge

Essex Larders

Pyes Farm, Hounslow Green, Dunmow, Essex

01371 820272

Ingredients: Self-raising flour, eggs, vegetable fat, sugar, milk, golden syrup.

£9 per case of 12 individual portions

l Order directly

l Tasters' comments: Appearance is a bit uninspiring; the taste is good and the syrup comes through well; has a good texture.

Apricot crumble cake

Bury Farm Bakery

Nuthampstead, Royston,

Hertfordshire

01763 848217

Ingredients: Self-raising flour, caster sugar, vegetable margarine, apricots, eggs, milk, almond essence, cinnamon, demerara sugar.

£1.77 per 450g

l Order directly

l Tasters' comments: Has a nice, crispy appearance that looks home-baked; could be well complemented by custard; a bit heavy.

Sticky toffee pudding

M Ray

High Street, Prescot, Merseyside

0151-426 6148

Ingredients: Butter, sugar, eggs, dates, milk, bicarbonate of soda, wheat flour, baking powder, vanilla essence.

£6.80 for 1kg (sauce sold separately); £14.40 per box of 16 individual portions (including sauce)

l Phone for a list of suppliers

l Tasters' comments: Smells of syrup and ginger come through strongly; has a good uniform shape; texture is nice - slightly granular.

Treacle tart

Portlemouth Pastries

Kingsbridge, Devon

01548 854073

Ingredients: Sweet pastry - margarine, sugar, egg yolks, flour; centre filling - breadcrumbs, golden syrup, fruit juice.

£6.25 for a 10-portion, 10in tin; £3.75 for either a four- or six- portion, six-inch tin

l Order directly

l Tasters' comments: Very generous portion; lovely treacle smell and the pastry looks really good; sweet taste is powerful, some lemon would balance out the taste; would be perfect served with custard.

Sticky ginger pudding with ginger wine and brandy sauce

Puddings & Pies

Hyle Farm, Westbury, Sherborne, Dorset

01935 817373

Ingredients: Flour, eggs, butter, molasses, apple, stem ginger, ginger, ginger wine, brandy.

£4.75 for an eight-portion 1.1kg cake

l Order directly

l Tasters' comments: Strong smell of alcohol and a dense aroma of black treacle; tastes like bread pudding; texture is fine.

Traditional Christmas pudding

Meg Rivers

Middle Tysoe, Warwickshire

01295 688101

Ingredients: Sultanas, currants, raw sugar, brown breadcrumbs, eggs, vegetable suet, raisins, dates, wheat flour, raw carrot, glacé cherries, walnuts, orange and lemon peel, ground almonds, fresh lemon, fresh orange, stout, mixed spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, cloves.

£8.50 for 450g; £11.50 for 900g

l Order directly

l Tasters' comments: Looks like a good traditional Christmas pudding; bitter taste with a citrus-juice undertone; dates and walnuts come through prominently.

TRADITIONAL puddings such as treacle tarts and syrup sponges are no longer simply memories of British menus from days gone by. During the past few years, they have made a culinary comeback in all areas of the catering industry.

The rise in the popularity of pub food has been a large contributor to this, according to market research company Foodservice Intelligence, with many pubs serving steamed or baked sponges almost every day.

The report states that sponge, milk and other hot puddings are served in two-thirds of all UK catering establishments at least once a week.

Many puddings are made in-house, either from scratch or using a dehydrated mix, but to find out exactly what is being produced from the smaller, more specialised manufacturers, Chef teamed up with Food From Britain, a Government-funded organisation that promotes home-produced speciality foods, to sample a range of traditional puddings from the UK. The aim of the session was to provide a platform for caterers to make the most of the assortment of home-produced puddings now available.

The tasting was hosted by the Laughing Monk restaurant, Strete, near Dartmouth, Devon. Our panel consisted of six representatives from the catering industry. Eight products in all were sampled without any added sauces.

The tasters

TRUDY ROTHWELL, host for the tasting, is co-proprietor of the Laughing Monk. Her restaurant serves an average of 40 covers each day at weekends, with an average spend per head of £26 including wine. Diners are charged £3.75 for desserts. With all traditional puddings Rothwell considers taste as important as presentation and texture. She says: "The desserts should be light even if it is a steamed suet sponge."

SUZANNE LYONS is chef-proprietor of the 32-seat, one-AA-rosette Lower Pitt Restaurant in East Buckland, Devon. She serves an average of 15 covers on weekdays, rising to 30 at weekends. Of the £30 average customer spend, which includes wine, £4 is on desserts. For Lyons, flavour and presentation are the most important aspects of traditional desserts.

NICK COILEY is chef and co-owner of the three-AA rosette Carved Angel in Dartmouth. The 45-seat restaurant has a daily average of 40 diners who usually spend £40 per head including wine, with up to £8.50 going on puddings. Coiley puts taste and texture at the top of his list of requirements in a traditional pudding.

NORMAN MYLES is a Gardner Merchant catering manager for engineering company Mitel Semiconductor in Roborough, near Plymouth. The 200-seat staff restaurant is open 8am-4pm and 8pm-2am and serves an average of 220 people per day. Myles is mainly concerned with the appearance of the puddings.

TOM JAINE is a Dartmouth-based publisher of regional food books, and was previously a restaurateur and co-founder of the Carved Angel, Dartmouth.

With traditional puddings he likes to experience "lightness with substance and comfort-type food".

NICK CROSLEY is chef-proprietor of the Cutters' Bunch in Dartmouth. The 32-seat bistro is full most nights, serving an average of 25 customers who spend up to £30 including drink, with £3.75 on desserts.

Crosley says he makes sure his puddings are traditionally English and likes desserts that are "undetectable from something that is home-made". n