Christmas shoppers are snapping up retro puddings as they seek comfort after a difficult year, according to Waitrose.
Sales of trifles are up 35 per cent on last year and other retro desserts such as sticky toffee pudding and cherry pie have seen a 60 per cent increase, figures from the British supermarket chain reveal.
The humble apple and blackberry crumble is another dessert which is receiving more love than normal as it has sold 13 per cent better than last year.
Desserts such as sticky toffee pudding, cherry pie and apple & blackberry crumble have also seen a rise in demand on last year (stock photo)
It’s not just sales that are on the increase though, with searches on Waitrose.com of ‘yule log’ up 153 per cent on last year.
Online searches for ‘sponge pudding’ and ‘bread and butter pudding’ also saw an increase by 888 per cent and 349 per cent respectively.
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With demand for nostalgic puddings on the rise, Waitrose have launched a new dessert which reimagines the trifle for their Christmas showstopper – The Queen of Trifles.
Waitrose said they have had to increase orders by 30 per cent in order to keep up with demand.
Will Torrent, consultant pastry chef at Waitrose, said: ‘Most of us will have memories of a grandparent making a trifle – more often than not with far too much sherry – and we wanted to create a dessert that would tap into this sense of nostalgia, while still looking beautiful on the Christmas dinner table.
‘The Queen of Trifles includes the flavours typically associated with a trifle – sherry-soaked sponge, vanilla custard and jelly, and we’ve used them to create a beautiful piece of patisserie topped with a meringue and pistachio crumb.
‘With layer upon layer of deliciousness, this twist on a retro favourite is set to be a Christmas show-stopper – so it’s no surprise it’s been one of our fastest selling desserts.’
In the supermarket’s recent Food and Drink Report, Waitrose Executive Chef Martyn Lee highlighted how this year ‘an increase in the importance of food and its power to bring us together has pushed many of us back to old fashioned meal planning and recipes. Comfort and nostalgia are back.’
Source: Food Recipes and News
