FORGET the turkey, crackers and sprouts, the only must-have for your Christmas table this year is the pudding.
But not just any old desert. The Hidden Orange Christmas puddings created by TV chef Heston Blumenthal for Waitrose have become a sell-out for the second year running, leaving canny customers to sell them on the internet for up to £150.
But the windfall may be short-lived as the super-market is about to restock its shelves with the product.
Waitrose, who won't reveal how many of the 75,000 puddings made have been sold, confirmed more would be hitting the shelves this week.
On eBay almost 700 are on offer as sellers try to cash in on their popularity.
Last year one even sold on the site for £250, while currently those on offer run from £5 for the small version, which retails at £3.95, to £150 for the larger pudding, which was selling in store for £13.99.
One shopper who ended up with an extra pudding was surprised when shop staff suggested she sell it online.
Claire Hendry, 36, from Glasgow, said: "There are more puddings on eBay than there are in the stores.
"I've bought two puddings, one for my mother, but she had picked one up already from Waitrose.
"I went back to the store to take it back. The member of staff said 'if I were you, I would put it on eBay, as some have been put on the website for £150'.
"I'm now going to put it on eBay and if I make any money out of it, I will give some money to charity.
"I've bought one because there was a lot of hype last year saying how great the pudding is.
"Having an orange Christmas pudding sounded a bit different, but it's been blown out of all proportion if people are trying to sell them for £250."
Waitrose has increased its orders of the king of fancy food's creation by 10 times and started selling them a month earlier than last year, in September.
The puddings feature a Valencian cured orange in the middle, which takes seven weeks to create.
Ingredients also include English cider and Spanish sherry.
A spokeswoman said: "As expected the Heston Hidden Orange Christmas Pudding has been a phenomenal success again this year due to the usual popularity of a Heston product.
"The pudding is by far a must have centrepiece for the dinner table this Christmas and will be back in store by the end of this week after having sold out again.
"The Heston Hidden Orange Pudding is our top selling pudding and to meet growing demand we will have 10 times more puddings in stores this year, including the mini Clementine Pudding version."
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