Waitrose has seen its total Christmas pudding sales more than double since last year, thanks to Heston Blumenthal’s range of quirky desserts.

The company puts a large proportion of its sales growth down to the chef’s exclusive creations, which include a Hidden Orange Christmas Pudding and Black Forest Buche, in addition to a new Popping Candy Tart that went on sale this week.

Waitrose said they were expecting to sell 2.4 million of Heston’s Mince Pies with Pine Sugar Dusting this Christmas.

A spokesperson from Waitrose said: "We have had a phenomenal response to the Heston Puddings – we have upped orders by nearly 10 times this year, and in total we will have sold hundreds of thousands of puddings this Christmas. We sold a fraction of this last year."

The retailer’s Duchy Original from Waitrose Mince Pies have also shown an increase of 42% on last year, with the company introducing a new essential Waitrose mince pies range this year.

Mark Williamson, Waitrose’s commercial director, said: “As customers across the country begin to get into the Christmas spirit, we’re seeing a real polarisation of festive shopping trends. It’s clear that our customers are keen to impress and are not willing to compromise when it comes to the key elements of a Christmas dinner."