Thursday Cottage Christmas Pudding Boxed - 112g

It started in an actual cottage

Thursday Cottage was founded in 1963 in a cottage of that name outside Spaxton, Somerset. That is a better origin story than most business parks can offer. For many years it was owned and run by Hugh and Pam Corbin of Lyme Regis, who sold it in 2002. Through all of that, the idea stayed small on purpose: luxury handmade jams, marmalades and curds for the independent trade. It is the sort of jar you spot in a good local shop, not stacked by the hundred at the end of an aisle.

Now living in Tiptree

Thursday Cottage is now an independent part of the Tiptree group, and production is based at Trewlands Farm in Tiptree, Essex, where the range is still handmade. Its parent, Wilkin & Sons Ltd, was established in Tiptree in 1885 and has held a Royal Warrant for preserves and marmalades continuously since 1911. These days the warrant names them Purveyors of Tiptree Products to King Charles III. Each boil at Thursday Cottage still produces only about 100 jars. Nobody is in a hurry, and it shows.

The rest of the cupboard

If the pudding is the main event, the range has the supporting cast sorted. There is Amaretto Butter, sold as a twist on traditional brandy butter and handmade in small batches, for the people who think the butter is the real reason for pudding. Boxing Day breakfast gets the Fine Cut Orange Marmalade with Whisky, and the Strawberry Jam with Champagne waits for whoever is still celebrating. Toast at noon in your dressing gown counts as a British Christmas tradition.