The History of the Famous Carved Angel Christmas Pudding

Shortly after the opening of The Carved Angel Restaurant in Dartmouth in 1974 Joyce Molyneux soon recognised that the business in Dartmouth was heavily dependant on the Summer months and that during the long Winter period she would have to conjure up ideas to keep her staff as well as herself occupied.

So one day whilst regularly beavering through one of her many recipe books she came across a recipe for a Christmas Pudding created by the well known Victorian Chef Eliza Acton.

Hastily she set to work following the instructions on how to produce her recipe, little realising at the time that she was about to embark on creating her own little bit of Christmas History.

After several attempts to recreate the perfect pudding ( perfectionist that Joyce was) she finally was satisfied with the result she had achieved…A Christmas Pudding that was neither too dark or too light in colour, a texture that was moist and light and a flavour that captured a harmonised combination of subtle spice and sweetness whilst enveloping the warmth and uniqueness of the brandy and soft textured fruit.

Now Joyce set to work making as many as she could. Twenty-four hours a day the burners at the stove would be firing and glowing through the open kitchen that was visible from the outside and the inside of the restaurant, steaming the Christmas puddings. Joyce who lived on the premises would rise twice through the middle of the night to check on her little 2LB babies.

Finally and traditionally with Victorian times, Joyce set the puddings in earthenware bowls, covered them in muslin, tied with a few simple knots and was ready to sell to the local community of Dartmouth and the guests that entered the doors of the restaurant.

Very soon and as the years went by the reputation for these puddings spread throughout little pockets of the globe and The Carved Angel Christmas pudding soon became the essentiality of the Christmas Dinner table.

Today nothing in the process of how the first Carved Angel Christmas Pudding was born has changed. The same ingredients and methods of production are used, hand in hand with absolute care and dedication under the strict guidance of our chefs.