Home Courses - The School of Artisan Food Breads & Baking Make Your Own Christmas Puddings (PM)

Make Your Own Christmas Puddings (PM)

£125.00

Beginner

Duration:

Half-Day-(PM)

Timings:

13:30 - 16:30

Course start dates:

06 Dec 2026

Hourly Schedule

Time

13:30
Arrival, registration and refreshments

14:30
Course starts

16:30
Course End

Step into the rich traditions of festive baking on this hands-on seasonal workshop at the School of Artisan Food.

At the heart of the course is the iconic Christmas pudding, a beloved centrepiece of the British festive table with a history stretching back centuries. Evolving from early festive recipes made with dried fruits, spices and grains, it became firmly established as a Christmas tradition during the Victorian era and remains a staple of seasonal celebrations today.

On this festive course, you’ll learn how to make a lighter take on the traditional Christmas pudding, packed with flavour while retaining all the character and warmth of this seasonal classic. Along the way, you’ll explore the ingredients, traditions and stories that have helped make Christmas pudding one of Britain’s most enduring festive foods.

As well as creating your pudding mixture, you’ll take home easy-to-follow instructions for baking and maturing your pudding in time for Christmas. You’ll also learn additional festive recipes designed to make the most of traditional baking techniques and seasonal ingredients.

What You’ll Learn

Through practical baking and expert guidance, you will:

Explore the history and traditions of the British Christmas pudding
Understand the ingredients that create flavour, texture and richness
Learn how to mix and prepare a lighter-style Christmas pudding
Discover how to mature and finish your pudding for maximum flavour
Gain confidence in making traditional festive bakes from scratch
Learn creative ways to use festive ingredients and leftovers

What You’ll Make

During the course, you’ll prepare:

Christmas Pudding
Create a lighter version of this festive favourite while learning about the history, traditions and techniques behind one of Britain’s most celebrated seasonal treats.

Spelt Bread
Learn how to make a wholesome spelt loaf, ideal for creating your own fresh breadcrumbs and exploring the flavour of heritage grains.

Homemade Eccles Cakes
Discover how to make these classic pastries and transform leftover Christmas pudding into a delicious festive bake.

Who Is This Course For?

This course is perfect for anyone who loves festive baking and wants to bring traditional seasonal flavours into their kitchen. Whether you’re an experienced baker looking to add new recipes to your repertoire or a complete beginner keen to start a new Christmas tradition, you’ll leave with the skills and confidence to create memorable festive bakes at home.

Please Note:
Whilst we make every effort to adhere to best practices regarding allergen control and cross-contamination at The School of Artisan Food, we sincerely regret that we are unable to cater for severe food allergies or coeliac disease. This is due to the continuous and varied use of our teaching spaces, common areas and food preparation areas.

If in any doubt, please contact us to discuss your individual circumstances prior to making a booking, as this will then enable us to produce a personalised Risk Assessment based on your own specific circumstances and better judge if we can safely accommodate you on site.

Your Tutors

Tutor

Paul Raddan

Paul Raddan

Paul’s love of baking started early, with happy memories of Sunday morning baking sessions at his Nan’s house.

Following Paul’s degree in Psychology at Reading University, the pull of the kitchen proved too great, and he spent the next 15 years in restaurants and kitchens across the East Midlands. A love of baking meant that he was baking bread and cakes on his days off as well as at work. When Paul’s wife established a sourdough culture in 2009, this obsession worsened!

Following a move to Rugby in 2012, Paul made the leap into full-time baking, and Rugby Real Bread was born. He started in his home kitchen, before building an extension to make space for the rapidly increasing oven and fridge space needed. Paul served the local community with an array of cakes and both yeasted and sourdough breads. Savoury scones were also very popular, favourites being feta & spinach, stilton & walnut and cheddar & marmite.

Sharing Paul’s love of baking and real food has always been important to him; Paul teaches practical classes at schools, food festivals, charities, adult education centres and community groups. He also run a Bread Club for local baking enthusiasts, so people can get together and showcase different breads and recipes.

Paul’s courses are fun, imaginative learning experiences. They will inspire you to take back what you have learned to your kitchen at home and to continue to spread the love of baking and good food.