Have you met? The Cotswold Pudding Company

Sticky puddings are a firm family favourite so thank goodness for Karen Laggett and her range of ‘gloriously handmade’ puddings. This Christmas swap your traditional Christmas pud for Karen’s Sticky Toffee & Toasted Pecan Nut version or try the divine Salted Caramel and Apple Brandy Sauce drizzled over your mince pies. With gluten free puds available as well, this is home baking at its best – the proof, as they say, is in the pudding!

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1 – How did The Cotswold Pudding Company come about?

I was working as a secretary for many years but really wanted to try my hand at something completely different – something that I actually enjoyed! Baking has always been a passion and after seeing a traditional steamed pudding at our local supermarket that had been imported from New Zealand it got me thinking. We started selling our puddings at Stroud Farmers’ Market and soon began supplying local independent retailers including Warner’s Budgens and various farm shops. We now use a company to distribute the puddings all over England and Wales. We found out this month that they are now taking the puddings over to Luxembourg where they are being sold from an independent retailer specialising in British food, so we’ve now gone international! I will still however continue to sell them at Stroud Farmers’ Market which is such a fabulous outlet for us.

2 – How many puddings do you make a week?

During our busiest times in the autumn/winter I can be baking over 1500 puddings a week.

3 – What’s your most popular pudding?

I think it has to be Sticky Toffee Pudding but the Sticky Lemon is popular in the warmer weather.

4 – Why did you choose to go into gluten free puddings?

So many people at Stroud Farmers’ Market asked me if I could make them but I was a little wary as I thought they would be heavy and not very appetising but once I had experimented with different flours, I settled on the Dove’s Farm Gluten Free self-raising flour which is excellent. The puddings are as light as our puds made with wheat flour and they are proving to be very popular.

5 – Tell us about your sauces – how should customers use them?

We now make a range of caramel sauces which are delicious served with ice-cream, brownies, crumbles and even porridge! Some of my customers spread the sauce on toast and at Christmas, our Salted Caramel and Apple Brandy Sauce is absolutely yummy drizzled on mince pies and Christmas pudding.

6 – Do you have any Christmas/seasonal products for December?

Our Chocolate Orange and Toffee & Toasted Pecan Nut Puddings are popular at Christmas and make a lovely alternative to traditional Xmas pud.

  7 – Which product should Farmers’ Market visitors try next?

We are currently in the process of introducing a Gluten Free Sticky Chocolate Pudding, so watch this space!

8 – What makes your puddings so special?

Using really good, natural ingredients (local if possible) sticking to straightforward traditional methods and most importantly enjoying the whole baking process which hopefully shows in the puddings and sauces I produce.