9 best Christmas desserts if a traditional pudding isn’t for you

Made up of pretty layers, this elegant dessert looks like something you’d find in a posh Parisian patisserie. There’s sherry-soaked sponge, wobbly raspberry jelly, creamy vanilla custard and a sprinkling of meringue and pistachio for added texture. Forget the kitsch trifles of your youth, this is full-flavoured but deliciously light, and a knock-out way to round-off your Christmas feast.

Christmas is all about indulgence – so why have one dessert when you could have two? The development team at Sainsbury’s has combined the delicious coffee-soaked sponge flavours of tiramisu with light, cream-filled profiteroles. There are delicious little pockets of chocolate mousse too and it’s topped with chocolate shavings. Coffee, cream and choux? Sainsbury’s has 'nailed the Christmas day dessert. Although Sainsbury’s say it serves eight, we reckon it’s more six to eight people, depending on how full you are from the turkey.

Everyone loves cheesecake but Iceland has taken inspiration from a gold bullion bar for their festive spin on this one. We loved the soft biscuit base, creamy caramel middle and layer of salted caramel sauce. The Belgium chocolate slab topper is also delicious but it does make serving even slices a little tricky, as it cracks under the knife. We’d be tempted to just pop the whole thing in the middle of the table and let everyone dive in. It arrives frozen and will need two-hours to thaw, so do factor that into your prep time. And this will easily serve six people, well done Iceland!

As much as we’d love David Beckham waiting for us under the tree this Christmas, these golden balls from M&S are probably as close as we’re going to get to the real deal. There’s always room for a much-loved profiterole and this stack contains 30 light choux pastries, filled with cream and covered with salted caramel, mini golden malteser-type balls and a gold lustre. Although if you split the balls evenly, according to the brand’s serving suggestion, each person will end up with 3.75 pieces each. Good luck dishing that one up!  

This festive sweet wreath is a combination of crowd-pleasing marbled vanilla and chocolate sponge and chocolate mousse, covered with whipped cream. We can’t imagine anyone could resist a slice. It’s topped with more caramel and chocolate drizzle, milk chocolate toffee balls, shards of dark chocolate and gold lustre. The only thing we would say is, it’s all quite beige. To brighten it up a bit, the brand suggests serving with fresh raspberries. We must be particularly greedy because we can’t see this serving more than eight people.

Organic, vegan and utterly delicious, whether you follow a plant-based lifestyle or not, this dairy-free cheesecake, is sure to wow. The “cheese” bit is made with cashew nuts and it’s infused with festive spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon, along with fresh orange juice and zest – it smells amazing. Handmade (just not with your fair hands), it’s free from refined sugar too, using just the natural sweetness of maple syrup. All in all, this is every bit as indulgent as you’d want Christmas dessert to be and we loved it. They don’t say how many it serves but we think you’ll easily get six to eight slices out of it, as it’s quite rich.

With a convincing-looking chocolate bauble decoration, this is quite the centrepiece. We loved that the centre spilled out to reveal chocolate balls when you cut into it – this is definitely one to dish out at the table. The rich chocolate orange sponge is decorated with sweet maple buttercream and although probably a little too heavy for after Christmas lunch, we reckon this is a great cake to have on standby during the festive season – we’re sure you’ll find an occasion.

This DIY kit is a great alternative to making dessert from scratch (but don’t worry, you’ll still get all the credit). Fun for the whole family, each pack contains a frozen cheesecake ready to be topped with treats. With chocolate shards, ganache and cookie dough, there’s even mini mince pies, candy canes and edible snow to really make this a Christmas dessert to remember. Entertaining and delicious, what’s not to love! There are only 100 kits available though, so if you want in, you’ll need to move fast.