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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU? Sad pudding.

33 replies

Thishatisnotmine · 26/12/2018 08:50

Mum made a lovely Christmas pudding. Offered to serve it with cream or custard. Except my lovely pudding was not sitting in a fridge cold puddle of double cream. She used Elmlea.

I had to eat the Christmas pudding and leave all the 'cream' as I didn't want to complain about a meal that was made for me. But really! A greasy cream subsitute on a lovingly made Christmas pudding! Would everyone else felt as sad about it?

OP posts:
Alienspaceship · 26/12/2018 08:52

Yes! It’s foul stuff.

ChesterGreySideboard · 26/12/2018 08:53

Why does Elmlea even still exist? What purpose does it serve?

Whisky2014 · 26/12/2018 08:55

Omg I didnt know elmlea wasn't cream!

trinity0097 · 26/12/2018 08:55

It’s long life, so you don’t have to worry about dates.

I wouldn’t touch it though! I just buy fresh double cream every week!

Cheby · 26/12/2018 08:57

Why does it exist anymore? Actual cream is cheaper or the same price. And cream usually has a fairly long date on it from supermarkets. I don’t get why people use it.

Oysterbabe · 26/12/2018 08:58

I think a lot of people don't realise it's different.

Singlenotsingle · 26/12/2018 08:58

It's supposed to be healthier. (Don't know if it is).

Sexnotgender · 26/12/2018 09:00

Elmlea is foul. YANBU! Revolting stuff.

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 26/12/2018 09:01

Did you forget to put "lightheaded"?
Let's hope so fgs.

Knittink · 26/12/2018 09:02

Of course it's not healthier! And it's revolting. It's made of vegetable oil, emulsifiers, lactose, stabilisers and artificial colouring, plus some buttermilk.

SandettieLightVesselAutomatic · 26/12/2018 09:03

IL's did that to me. I did the same as you! I didn't realise until the first bite, poor sad pudding.

They like to think of themselves as a bit eco-health warriors too which made it pretty weird. Home grown veg, locally sourced stuff, etc - and home made pudding with Elmlea!

outreach29 · 26/12/2018 09:06

I think Elmlea is fine and probably wouldn't have even noticed. You're basically eating a whole motherload of sugar anyway so what the hey

nicslackey · 26/12/2018 09:18

I like Elmlea. I always keep some in the fridge for emergencies such as recipes needing cream and the whipped one is just fine. I think "just buying fresh every week" pp is a bit wasteful as I hate throwing unused food out. Btw, great tip for those who are on a budget. People buy it who may not live handily close to the supermarket or find it hard to get out due to disability or no access to car. Ffs. I have got my Grinch on now and there's no stopping me!

Original poster
Thishatisnotmine · 26/12/2018 09:25

Yes, LIGHTHEARTED. My Christmas was obviously not ruined by a pot of Elmlea. I just didn't understand why she bought it. Everyone has cream so no worries about wasting a shorter life pot of dairy cream. Mum went to a lot of effort, like she always does, to make a really good Christmas pudding and then served it with a substitute for something better!

We'd just eaten three different roast meats plus sausages and bacon, no one was worried about cholesterol from animal fats!

OP posts:
Original poster
Thishatisnotmine · 26/12/2018 09:28

I think if you know you occassionally use a bit of cream in cooking it makes sense to have a pot to hand. But it feels different to cream to use it for pouring.

I did used to like the adverts though, that cats can't tell the difference. We need a cat tester!

OP posts:
DrinkReprehensibly · 26/12/2018 09:34

My ex didn't seem to realise Elmlea was different and wanted to buy it because his mother always got it. He seemed agast when I explained what it was. I think he thought it was better than the standard supermarket cream because it was a name brand. He still maintained it tasted better than normal cream but I guess that's the flavour he had grown up with.

I think it's horrible. YANBU.

Sexnotgender · 26/12/2018 11:19

I think "just buying fresh every week" pp is a bit wasteful as I hate throwing unused food out.

That’s making the massive assumption that people waste itConfused we buy fresh cream weekly and don’t waste any of it.

nicslackey · 26/12/2018 11:27

sexnotgender. I was talking about me, not everyone. Sorry if that was not clear!

maddiemookins16mum · 26/12/2018 11:37

My DP once purchased a, I can hardly say the words, baking block of Stork marg to go on toasted crumpets.

Dixiechickonhols · 26/12/2018 11:38

My mum used to buy it. Maybe it was heavily marketed in the 70/80s? I think a lot of people don’t realise it’s not cream. Maybe long life and fact it doesn’t need to be refrigerated we’re perks - people would only have had small larder fridges until relatively recently.
You know to check next time.

DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 26/12/2018 11:40

maddiemookins: KILL HIM. KILL HIM WITH FIRE AND ACID.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 26/12/2018 11:43

Ah you should've ad one of those tins of sterilised cream. You chill it , open a bit , pour off the liquid if you want it thick, or stir it in.

Obviously it tastes nothing like double cream , it has a unique flavour , but brings me right back to the 1970s/80s .

As you were Wink

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 26/12/2018 11:46

Oh forgot this ;
We used to have evaporated milk on our Christmas Pudding (or more likely Clootie Dumpling )

We had ours whisked till it was thick with a teaspoon of sugar then it sits like a floaty cloud (quality)

MereDintofPandiculation · 26/12/2018 12:07

Maybe long life and fact it doesn’t need to be refrigerated were perks Is there more than one type of Elmlea? The one I'm used to seeing is the double cream substitute, displayed in the chiller cabinet along with the crea, and its instructions say "keep refrigerated and use within 5 days".

MereDintofPandiculation · 26/12/2018 12:11

We used to have evaporated milk on our Christmas Pudding We used to have evaporated milk on our fresh strawberries, which had been cut in half and drenched in sugar which dissolved into a strawberry flavoured syrupy mess. It was heavenly! (though any resemblance to strawberries and cream was purely coincidental). I'd have this for tea every day during the summer - it always amazes me how my 1950s diet didn't lead to a lifetime of obesity.