Pedro Ximenez is sweet, rich and deeply concentrated; I use it to drizzle over vanilla ice-cream, soak raisins until they are fat and plump or just to sip. Serve with plum pudding or minced pies.

“It’s traditional for a figgy pudding to be set alight with brandy before serving with brandy butter or brandy sauce, cream, custard, or ice cream,” Heron says. “The term ‘plum pudding ...

This includes adding a stabilizing ingredient to your mixture to avoid ending up with rock-hard ice cream. Thankfully, instant pudding mix is an ingredient you won't need to search far for.

This plum tarte tatin is a cheat’s variation of the classic French dessert and makes an impressive pudding to serve in the autumn with lots of cream or ice cream. Equipment and preparation ...