I need an alternative to Christmas pudding

[kickassangel]

DH and FIL will have shop bought Christmas pud.
MIL wants her 'family recipe' bread & fruit pudding (yuk), but doesn't want to make it & bring it. DD would love fresh fruit and/or ice cream (so would I), but i KNOW that MIL really wants a proper pudding, (With custard) and I will be full up & how much cooking does she expect us to do? At my parents it's CHristmas pud or fresh fruit cocktail, but PIL don't eat fruit.
Which makes me wonder - what puddings am i going to serve for the other 5 meals they're here for?

How about trifle (which is traditional) - you can buy a ready-made one to save time (or would that count as fruit )

I often get ready-made profiteroles at Christmas time too.

I personally wouldn't worry about serving a pudding at every meal (or dinner) - I don't do puddings on a regular basis, apart from things like youghurt or ice cream. If there is a lot of cake, biscuits and sweets in the house at Christmas, they don't need puddings as well.

Bread and butter pudding is about the only pudding I make from scratch myself, but it's a bit "everyday" for Christmas...

Apple pie? Or strudel with filo pastry, chopped apples and mincemeat? Why doesn't PIL eat fruit? [nosey emoticon]

Why not buy, or make Christmas pudding ice cream? Similar flavour to Christmas pud. Or does it have to be a proper oudding with custard?

oudding? What sort of word is that? It should be "pudding"

A pudding is nice, but an oudding is one that's extra yummy as it makes you go "oooooooooh!"

Christmas pudding ice cream is gorgeous.

'posh' ice cream might do. don't know why they don't each fruit, or sald, or many veg (FIL has major health issues and HAS TO have a healthy diet & exerciese, so no fruit or walking for him!)
They just always have pudding. we always have fruit. i can't even name any puddings that dd will eat, as we don't have them!
i know FIL likes apple pie & custard (incidentally, they're quite snobby & think of themselves as really middle class, but only have custard, not cream, which truly mc people wouldn't!)

so - Christmas Eve, apple pie.
Christmas day, pud for the men, fruit for dd & me, for MIL?
evenings, Christmas cake/mince pies. 9does that count?)
Still leaves me a pudding short for Boxing Day. I guess a posh ice cream, but not sure if that 'counts' with them - maybe fresh fruit cocktail & ice cream, then we can have something healthy?
Still doesn't sove MIL on CHristmas day!

don't know why MIL doesn't like Christmas pud as she likes mince pies & Christmas cake? but then i don't like CHristmas pud, except for my mothers! so i'll let her have her little quirk.
should i buy/make a cream pud (dh will then want that as well!)

I have ordered M&S profiteroles for those of us that don't eat the christmas pudding. and a traditional trifle for boxing day! After that it's mince pies and ice cream I'm afraid

Trifle
Apple, sultana and cinnamon crumble
A fruit tart made by crushing digestives and mixing with some melted butter to form a base, mixing equal quantities of whipped cream and mascarpone cheese and then put some sliced mixed fresh fruit (or just strawberries if you can find any decent ones this time of year). Glaze with some melted apricot/strawberry jam.

i like the idea of trifle/prifteroles - saves me cooking. they can eat their custard at home! also profiteroles we can freeze after, as we're then going to my parents.

i may even force feed them some veg, just to make me feel better!

They'll get custard in the trifle! It's a win-win pudding! I got one from M&S one year when I felt like frittering away some money, and it was gorgeous! Miles better than my own home-made floppy version.

i like the idea of trifle, but just remembered that they don't like cold food. the only time i've known them to eat salad, they had it with a hot quiche. hmm, i think MIL will just have to bring her own pud, relly don't think i can cope with full roast turkey & 3 different puds to prepare!
will probably buy a trifle & save it all for me ha ha.

You can buy a chocolate Xmas Pud type thing.

Christmas pudding ice cream.

Clementine cake (nigella's recipe)

Chestnut and chocolate cake (hugh f-w's recipe)

all traditional but a bit different

I make a great pannetone pudding (like bread and butter pudding), very simple, very quick. But if you don't like mil's bread and fruit pudding you might not like it.

Can't you just buy her a M&S bread pudding for Christmas day or would that make you the DIL from hell who couldn't be bothered to make her poor MIL a proper pudding at Christmas? What about a homemade fruit crumble on boxing day - satisfies her "proper pudding" thing and she can even have custard, you can stuff it full of lots of yummy fruit and cut down on the sugar content?

Nigella reprints a fabulous microwave chocolate pudding in How to Eat. It is marvellous - tastes like a really good steamed one, takes virtually no time (she makes it in the food processor, I melt the choc in advance in the mike and blend everything else in); and if we were having Christmas lunch at home this year it's what we would be having.

Chocolate roulade - favourite of DSs.
I saw that M & S is selling a long life Belgian chocolate pudding with melting choc centre - useful stand by.

Delia's chocolate log is lovely

pineapple upside downcake

treacle tart

flapjacks and custard

ginger sponge