Mrs Darlington's Very Merry Christmas Preserve

Mrs Darlington's Very Merry Christmas Preserve is made near Nantwich in Cheshire by a family firm that has cooked its own preserves since 1980. Made with plums, port and spices, the maker says it tastes exactly like Christmas, and admits to eating it all year round.

Plums are prepared at 48g of fruit per 100g and cooked with sugar, 2% port, redcurrant juice, pectin, lemon juice and mixed spice, with no added colour or preservative. The plums give it a deep purple colour and a soft set; the port and spice sit behind the fruit rather than in front of it, so it reads as a warm, rich plum jam with a festive edge. Because the plums are cooked whole, the jar may contain the odd stone.

It is a breakfast jam for Christmas week, and a good one for baking: use it to sandwich a sponge, fill mince-pie cases when the mincemeat runs out, or warm it as a sauce for a steamed pudding. It also goes into a hamper well, next to Mrs Darlington's Cracking Christmas Chutney for the savoury side.

A 340g glass jar. No declared allergens, and every ingredient is plant based, so it suits vegans. Contains port.

• No major allergens declared

Delivery

We send food and drink, so parcels never wait in depots over the weekend. Order by midday, Monday to Thursday, for next-day delivery: DPD with a one-hour window for most orders, APC Overnight's specialist liquid service for anything containing wine, spirits or other liquids. Orders after midday Thursday, or over the weekend, dispatch on Monday.

Cheese is cut fresh to order and sent chilled, dispatched every Monday and Wednesday. Everything in your order ships together in one insulated box, arriving the next day.

Delivery £4.95, free on orders over £50. Chilled delivery £5.95.

Returns

If your order arrives damaged, faulty, missing an item, or not as described, contact us within 48 hours of delivery with your order number and clear photos of the packaging and the affected item. Please keep all packaging until we've reviewed the issue.