When I was younger it seemed the whole world was against me because I loved Christmas pudding. It was seriously uncool. It was cool to like chocolate log, or the profiteroles I used to get at my friends' houses that were from 'Marks & Sparks', but my love of Christmas pudding evoked the same sneers you got when you wore the wrong thing on Own Clothes Day. Needless to say I never spoke of my mum and me frying up leftover Christmas pudding in butter and dousing it in cream!

Despite my adoration of the stuff, the question I get asked most at this time of year is what my favourite alternative is to Christmas pudding.

I was pretty much bought up on black sticky gingerbread. It’s possibly one of the best cakes in town, but if you’re looking for a pud, serve it warm with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream. It’s THE pudding to rival Christmas pudding and, dare I say it, I think it kicks the bottom of the best sticky toffee puddings. It’s brilliant for dinner parties if baked in individual dishes.

Another more calorie-laden pudding and a great way of using up any excess panettone over Christmas is this panettone bread and butter pud. There is rarely any left in our house; as you can imagine the Christmassy spices and fruits in the bread make this really special.

I don’t know if this is just me, but Christmas feels a bit wrong without the inclusion of trifle somewhere on the menu. You can make it really seasonal by using winter berries and I am smitten with this recipe from BBC Good Food. I have made it with amaretti biscuits in place of Madeira cake, as I prefer the taste and it knocks down the calorie content a bit to boot.

I adore a chocolate log and the great thing is that the cake base is really low-fat as it’s got no butter in it, meaning it’s a great slimline cake! Who’d have thunk it? OK, let’s not mention the topping and filling... Anyway, I think this one is so Christmassy with the cranberry addition, but what I love to do is swap the cranberries for 200g/7oz of chestnut purée mixed with three tablespoons of icing sugar, and spread it on the log before spreading with cream. It’s what I’ll be eating this year.

So what’s on the dessert trolley this year at your house? Are you a traditionalist, favouring Christmas pudding slathered in brandy butter? Or do you dare to be different with a festive trifle, cheesecake or Yule log?

Gizzi Erskine is a food writer, chef and TV presenter.