BAKERS who must sign secrecy agreements before getting their hands on a century-old plum pudding recipe are rolling up their sleeves to work flat-out to cater for this year’s Christmas demand of the prestigious pud.

Lewis and Cooper was established in Northallerton in 1899 and has been handmaking luxury plum puddings for almost as long, after the store’s bakers bought a recipe from a regional baker, and added lashings of Hennesy Cognac and a secret ingredient that is closely-guarded.

Production manager Ann- Marie Whitehouse said work begins on the plum puddings as early as February but that the pressure to supply demand heats up as November draws in.

The recipe includes sunripened Chilean raisins, raw cane sugar from the West Indies, oak-aged Hereford Cider, full bodied Claret and a generous lacing of Hennesey Cognac – all infused with a rich blend of spices.

The pudding received a three gold star award in the nationwide Great Taste Awards in 2011.

She said: “The puddings are completely hand-made from start to finish – the ingredients are weighed out, then mixed in a large mixer before being mashed together by hand, then baked in the oven.

“We then decorate and wrap each one before sending them off to the shop or to restaurants, hotels and distributors around the country – some even go to France.”

She added that the puddings have a very good shelf life – they can last for up to five years with the flavour getting richer and stronger for the longer they are left.

Many people stock up on their plum puddings a year in advance so it has time to develop in flavour.

As well as the original classic pudding, which comes in a range of sizes, the bakers are looking at expanding the line with new flavour combinations that are not limited to Christmas time.

Ms Whitehouse said: “It is part of the job that I enjoy – we get in the kitchen and just try out new flavours.”

She remained tight-lipped about what those flavours might be but said in the New Year Lewis and Cooper would be trialling the products in store to get customers’ points of view on which ones work best.

“We have about four different flavours in mind but want to get it down to two so we will ask our customers what they think,” she added.

The small team of six fulltime staff members plus two further seasonal bakers and packers churn out thousands of plum puddings and Christmas cakes over the year – and Ms Whitehouse said it is great to see their products in demand rather than sitting on shelves.

She added: “The ingredients we use are expensive so they are a luxury product – but we think they are very special.”