Champagne Breakfast Outdates Christmas Cake!

Convenience is more important than convention for the modern Christmas dinner as traditional stuff like pennies in puddings, tangerines in stockings and toasting the Queen are vanishing, according to a recent study in the UK.

The research, conducted by the broadcaster UKTV in association with television chef Brian Turner, found that only 90 of 3,000 people (three per cent) planned to follow the tradition of putting a coin in the Christmas pudding this year.

While 48 per cent intended to follow the old ways of spicing up the mix with alcoholic butter, only 29 per cent would be dousing the pudding in brandy before settling it alight, the Telegraph reported here.

But, the most shocking of all is the plummeting popularity of Christmas cake.

Besides it, champagne breakfasts are becoming the favourite of almost everyone as more than 65 per cent of people like to have a glass of it before lunch.

Reacting to these changes, Mr Turner said, ''While we may be in danger of losing some of our culinary traditions such as putting a penny in the pudding, roasting chestnuts and filling stockings with tangerines and nuts, there are lots of new rituals such as the champagne breakfast and eating stollen and panettone that we can really embrace.'' With a large number of people changing the way they celebrate the festival, some traditions of singing carols, picking mistletoe and making a holly wreath are still popular.