The trendiest things to serve this Christmas

Try our confit turkey legs with brined crown

Pandoro

Say hello to the new panettone – the pandoro. This sweet, buttery Italian bread is cooked in an eight-pointed mould, giving it a ridged effect when baked. To serve, slice it horizonally into five pieces and arrange them on an angle. The finished effect is a Christmas tree-like tower, sandwiched with boozy mascarpone and orange zest. If it sounds complicated, believe us, it really isn’t – you buy the pandoro ready-baked. You can get them online from Italian delicatessens and some national supermarkets.

Try our sherry, almond & orange pandoro

Prosecco gravy

When we carried out the blind tasting for our 2016 Christmas Taste Awards, we noticed a few trends from the supermarkets. As well as gold lustre and melting middles, Prosecco-flavoured food is still very much of the moment, although it occasionally misses the mark (for instance, it's a yes to Prosecco panettone – Prosecco crisps, not so). As we usually add a splash of wine to gravy anyway, this year we're using Prosecco to ramp up the flavour. The best part about this deluxe gravy is that you can make it weeks in advance and freeze it, leaving you more time to, erm, drink Prosecco come Christmas day…

Try our make-ahead Prosecco & wild mushroom gravy

Eggnog trifle

We love to turn the traditional on its head, and there’s nothing as trad’ as an old school trifle. This year, we updated this layered dessert with a drink we’ve seen surge in popularity on our website over the past few Christmas periods – American-style eggnog. The trifle is topped with a homemade meringue, blow-torched to toasted perfection. If the idea of all that whisking gives you a headache, try deconstructing the flavours of trifle and making it into an easy jelly cheesecake.

Try our showstopping eggnog trifle

Festive celeriac koshari

In a year when hyper-regional food and vegan and vegetarian cooking were two big restaurant trends, it seems fitting to pay due attention to your veggie offering this Christmas. We’ll be serving Rosie Birkett’s koshari on our buffet tables. Rosie – our contributing editor and avid food trend spotter – has taken the Egyptian street food dish and given it a festive twist with cinnamon and seasonal celeriac.

Try making Rosie’s festive celeriac koshari

Deep-fried sprouts

Southern fried chicken, arancini, topped fries… deep-fried food is still all over the street food scene. You don’t need an industrial-strength frier to achieve the same result at home, although you do need to feel comfortable working with hefty amounts of scorching hot oil. It’s worth the effort though, and we think our deep-fried sprouts would convert even the most hardened Brussels sceptic. The sprouts are served in a modern salad with black pudding and apple.

Try deep-frying your Brussels sprouts this year

Christmas grilled cheese

The grilled cheese sandwich has really taken off recently, and you can now find entire restaurants dedicated to this melty, pan-fried treat. So it’s only natural that our Christmas sandwich of choice this year is a toastie that comes oozing with cheddar. As per the street food way, use sourdough – it’s robust enough to handle being flipped around in a pan – and switch chutney for Spanish quince paste, membrillo. We have a secret ingredient for getting a really golden, crisp finish on the outside of the sandwich, too...

Try making our membrillo, chorizo & cheddar toastie

Turkey ramen

Ramen is now a mainstay on UK restaurant menus and we can’t get enough of it. This leftover soup uses up not only turkey meat but the gravy too, which creates an unctuous, authentic broth. We topped ours with sauce of the moment sriracha, crumbled sheets of nori (pressed seaweed – another trend to look out for) and silgochu chilli threads for added trendy kudos, but use whatever you can lay your hands on.

Use up your leftover turkey in our deluxe ramen recipe