Snackmas Day 7- Tesco Finest Kir Royale Sponge Pudding

Ah Christmas Pudding.. It's a glorious thing. I always make my own, fruit filled version for the Big Day but never shy away from the varieties that the Supermarkets have to offer.. Especially when they are wreath shaped and topped with cherries! We're 1 week in, it's Snackmas Day 7, it's time for the Tesco Finest special.. It's a Kir Royale Sponge!

Priced at £6, the 400g pudding is designed to feed 4 and is suitable for vegetarians - Probably best to steer clear if you are a nut allergy sufferer though! Given its nature, it also comes with a long shelf life, making it an ideal dessert to have in the cupboard for those impromptu moments.

I followed the instructions of stabbing the film lid before zapping in the microwave for 90 seconds until it possessed the heat of something worthy of third degree burns. The pudding can also be steamed over boiling water or in a saucepan trivet for those who like to make life difficult and have 45 minutes to kill. 

Inspired by the classic Kir Royale, a delicate champagne and cassis infused, light free range egg sponge with cassis-soaked cherries, plump blackcurrants, topped with a golden cinnamon sauce. 

Having whacked the plastic basin upside down and left to stand for 1 minute after heating, the pudding came out perfectly, albeit not quite as glossy as the packaging image with a poor distribution of fruit and one side being totally void of cherries. Can we also just take a minute to appreciate the gorgeous gold rimmed plate? 60 years old it is from my Nanny Dearests wedding! Hi Nanny Dearest! 

Cutting the medicinal smelling sponge, the pudding didn't have the soft and fluffy texture, I envisaged.. Instead it was more like a bit of dry, stale bread which was generally grim and claggy. Things didn't improve flavour wise either unfortunately with hardly any sauce but enough to pack a revolting throat lozenge-esque taste, thanks to the overpowering blackcurrant and cassis. No cinnamon was distinguishable along with the champagne aspect being just as MIA which meant only one thing.. I spat my mouthful out and lobbed the rest in the bin. VILE. 

So.. It is safe to say that this Tesco Finest Kir Royale Sponge Pudding is bloody awful and should be taken off Tesco shelves for incineration - I'm even willing to do a bit of Advent arson myself just so people don't have to be subjected to something so foul and nauseating! It's a big fat 0 out of 5 from me!