Sweets yule like

THE SWEET MAKERS AT CHRISTMAS

BBC2, 9pm CHRISTMAS is not only a time of goodwill, it’s a time to stuff your faces with chocolate and sweets. The more the better. If you haven’t got a cupboard full of Cadbury variety packs, it’s just not Christmas.

So you will enjoy this homage to the sweet treats that have become an integral part of the festive celebrations. From sugar mice (remember those?) to candy canes and chocolate coins, this is a yummy yuletide, calorieladen sugar overdose.

To talk us through it, four modern confectioners will recreate some of the best-sellers of Christmases past and present.

We’re not entirely sure why they find it necessary to dress up in period costume – the flat caps and bonnets are oddly distracting.

But they seem happy enough as they get stuck in up to their elbows in flour, sugar and eggs.

They are chocolatier Paul A Young, bespoke cake decorator Cynthia Stroud, chocolatier Diana Short and sweet consultant Andy Baxendale. They even use original recipes and equipment in an impressive display of true method presenting.

Along the way, we’ll learn about sugarplums, jelly pistols, a boar’s head cake – which sounds less delectable – and the predecessor of the beloved Chocolate Orange, the Chocolate Apple.