Delia's Classic Christmas – a festive treat?

Delia Smith: demystifies where Nigella Lawson sprinkles fairy dust
Photograph: Trevor Leighton

So who's queen of the Christmas kitchen? After Nigella's pomegranate-strewn, over-the-top festive extravaganza last year, Delia fights back on BBC2 tonight at 9pm with a more sober and easier-to-emulate Classic Christmas. This is the screen showcase for the new recipe collection Delia's Happy Christmas (Ebury, £25) featuring "50 much-loved classics including Delia's Christmas Cake, Christmas Pudding and Roast Turkey". It's Delia's first Christmas book in 13 years and the first to appear since Nigella came on the scene, with her own book Nigella Christmas (Chatto & Windus, £25) as well as inventive Christmas recipes in How to be a Domestic Goddess and Feast.
The fascinating bit in Delia's collection, though, is the new stuff: "100 new inspiring recipes from Pot-roasted Guinea Fowl with Calvados, Salmon in Champagne Sauce and Chocolate and Sour Cherry Trifle." Hello, aren't some of these themes a bit familiar? Christmas Pudding (Without the Pudding) with Marsala Syllabub? Marsala is one of Nigella's signature ingredients. So are pistachios, chestnuts and champagne, all now in abundance chez Delia. Similarly, Nigella loves trifles and syllabubs. Delia gives us several new recipes for both.
Surely we've already seen Delia's Petits Monts Blancs (meringue nests topped with crème de marrons and mascarpone) in the shape of Nigella's Quickly Scaled Monts Blancs? Then there are Delia's Festive Sugar Plums (truffle-like balls of luxury dried fruit) – a dead ringer for Nigella's Christmas Puddini Bonbons (truffle-like balls of leftover Christmas pudding). Delia has Anna Del Conte's Italian Chocolate Nut Christmas Cake; Nigella has Anna del Conte's Certosino spicy fruit cake (in How to be a Domestic Goddess). And what could be more Nigella than Delia's new Chestnut Cupcakes?
Perhaps this is part inspiration, part hommage, part getting down with the kids. But what's best about Delia's collections is that – despite the odd whimsical touch – she doesn't ponce around with all the extras Nigella insists on. Where Nigella boasts butternut orzotto and maple-roasted parsnips on her Christmas table, Delia settles for Brussels sprout bubble and squeak. What a relief.
Delia remains affordable, too. Follow Nigella's ingredients to the letter and you will find yourself shelling out a small fortune in disco glitter at www.jane-asher.co.uk. If Nigella can include a difficult-to-find or expensive ingredient, she will. Pomegranate liqueur, butterscotch schnapps, edible gold leaf and lychee puree all feature in Nigella Christmas. And that's even before you've thought about buying some sugar poinsettias to adorn your cupcakes (£16 a box and sold out at Jane Asher).
There's none of that with Delia. Instead she's saving us money with Turkey Soup and Turkey Dripping with Toast. Not forgetting her mince pies, which cost 9p each to make – cheaper than any shop-bought mince pies. None of your messing around with fancy holly-and-berry candles here. (Whereas Nigella recommends these delightful beauties.)
But where Delia demystifies, Nigella sprinkles fairy dust. Lawson sells aspiration and lifestyle. Her recipes encourage you in the direction of luxurious fantasy. Nigella is flamboyantly decadent (and not afraid to flaunt her wealth): "I love wine and liqueur jellies." Delia is down-to-earth: "Braised red cabbage is a recipe I have been cooking for years." Delia boasts that her seasonal stand-bys "have faithfully served generations of Christmas cooks". Agreed. But has she inspired us and made us dream in the way Nigella has? And with this collection is Delia saying that that she wouldn't mind a spot of the Nigella magic herself?