Gluten Free Christmas pudding

[Gertrudetheadelie]

Hello! I'm hoping someone here might be able to help me. I'm hosting my aunt for Christmas and she's coeliac. I've been refining my GF pastry and I think I've nailed it enough for mince pies but I've left it too late to trial a Xmas pudding. Does anyone have any store bought recommendations, please?

I'm trying really hard to make her not feel like she is singled out so the rest of my menu has been designed to not be 'gluten free' but just coincidentally doesn't have gluten, but I can't do without a pud!

M&S. I find them very good for g-f cakes, bread, Christmas pudding and mince pies.

If I remember correctly it’s also vegetarian (no animal suet) and possibly vegan.

Does it have to be a pudding? Because I'm planning on a flourless Black Forest roulade.

I will do other puddings like that because I've realised now, a year in, that the best tasting GF stuff often seems to be the stuff that was never intended to have flour in the first place!

I was hoping for a traditional pudding though as she was feeling quite low when she was diagnosed about how much she'd miss out on, so I'd like to see if I can try to be as inclusive as possible and we're a family that has never not had a Christmas pud!

Thanks so much for responding though @AsWithGlad and @MrsTerryPratchett . I appreciate all the wisdom!

I like the M&S christmas pudding best, and for mince pies my favourite this year is the Waitrose large gluten free ones just in case you want to buy some as well

Watching with interest . I would just give everyone gluten free

There's not that much flour in a christmas pud (Delia?) As there's lots of breadcrumbs. Could it be worth trying one with gf breadcrumbs and some gf flour? Or is that too much hassle

I like the Sainsburys taste the difference GF pud.

That a way to help the g-f friend feel included, but g-f food is often a lot more expensive, though.

@AsWithGlad @BCBird unfortunately, another in the party is a big fan of gluten (don't ask) so I can't just make the whole menu GF. That would be a lot easier! 🙄

If an alternative pudding is ok, the Cook GF chocolate & raspberry roulade is delicious and no one would suspect it's GF

PS Cook meals have some great GF options and their labelling is the best

How confident are you about avoiding cross contamination? It's not just buying an individual pudding or packet of mince pies, it's every surface, every cooking appliance and utensil, the herbs, spices and seasonings, pickles, condiments, where you store ingredients and whether Mr Wheat In Everything & Fuck Autoimmune Disease isn't going to use the spoon for ready-made colmanns mustard or horseradish sauce to contaminate the actually gluten free powdered version.

@Gertrudetheadelie if you do decent GF food your person who loves gluten may not be able to tell? Most Christmas dinner ingredients are easy to make GF without major adaptations. For CC control I'd do all GF and just not announce the fact unless anyone specifically asks (obviously tell your coeliac guest though).

@NeverDropYourMooncup I buy new for everything when I bake for them in terms of ingredients so that there isn't cross-contamination if I've been lazy with a spoon, but I obviously can't guarantee the behaviour of others. That said, they don't appear to have had a problem so far and my aunt is well aware of their preference for not everything to be gluten free and allows/encourages it so it's not really my place to quibble.

@DrCoconut yes. I tend to do this but announce one as definitely with gluten so that my aunt knows the rest is safe. I have, in the past, made all of it gluten free but she's deliberately avoided eating a particular cake that I spent hours carefully making GF, telling him that it has gluten so that he will think he's getting his gluten in!

To the original point though, I'm happy with the Christmas dinner in general, I can do a GF Yule log and a GF mince pie and things and even stuffing I can do with GF bread but I was unsure about the qualities of GF Christmas puddings and it's a bit late to make one now (plus it would be my first ever and I think GF might be a challenge too far!).

Pavlova. Always pavlova. Mary Berry recipe. But surely a store bought one gf free too

Tbh it depends on the cost. I tend to keep cakes for myself because are quite expensive.
I like M&S GF Christmas stuff.

I buy a gluten free pudding in Lidl or Aldi every year as l am gluten intolerant. Clearly marked.
I love Christmas pudding and they are always lovely. I am a late diagnosis so have years of regular pudding and these are right up there. They both carry them and l got mine already in Aldi last week.

@junebirthdaygirl thanks for this. So is my aunt (diagnosed in her 70s!) so knowing that they are as tasty as standard puds is very helpful!

As someone who has to eat gluten free for medical reasons, can I just say thank you on behalf of your guest. You will have no idea how much you going to this much effort this means to someone. It's always so awful to feel the odd one out or the cause of irritation.
I'm hoping you have been told / already know about the risks to people with Coeliac disease of cross contamination as well as products not being able to contain gluten themselves.

@MrsBrady7 yes, don't worry. Most of the meals are solidly GF but without needing to be made so with specific products, and things like cakes I've bought whole new bags of sugar and raisins and cocoa in case I've double dipped a floury spoon! That said, any other tips for avoiding cross contamination are always welcome 🙂

Sainsbury's gf pud tastes the same as a regular one. Gluten free gravy is easy too, as corn flour is gluten free. Christmas dinner is definitely one of the easier meals to adapt.

If you are making a buffet with snacks at some point I suggest making chapattis and filling with something like coconut cauliflower curry, chick pea flour is gluten free and my curries all are too, no special ingredients required.