Australia’s best premade Christmas puddings – and how to make them better

Pastry chef Andy Bowdy likes his custard at ‘a slightly thicker, pouring cream consistency’. Photograph: Jenner Images/Getty Images

The store-bought Christmas pudding can become an impressive table centrepiece if picked judiciously and fancied up with a side of booze and cream.

“It conjures up those wonderful feelings of nostalgia and indulgence,” Choice editor Pru Engel says. “Few desserts say Christmas more powerfully than the … pudding.”