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What is a Pudding ?

A pudding is the dessert course of a meal (`pud' is used informally). In Britain, we also use the words 'dessert, 'sweet'' and 'afters'.

"What's for pudding?"

"What's for afters?"

"What's for dessert?"

For more of the words we use, visit our British Words section.

Take care!
Not all our puddings are sweet puddings, some are eaten during the starter or main course like Yorkshire Pudding and Black Pudding.

Puddings and Cakes in England

There are hundreds of variations of sweet puddings in England, but each pudding begins with the same basic ingredients of milk, sugar, eggs, flour and butter and many involve fresh fruit such as raspberries or strawberries, custard, cream, and cakes.

The more traditional and well known home-made puddings are apple or rhubarb crumble, bread and butter pudding, spotted dick and trifle. The traditional accompaniment is custard, known as crème anglaise (English sauce) to the French. The dishes are simple and traditional, with recipes passed on from generation to generation.

Favourite Puddings include:

Spotted Dick
(Also called Spotted Dog)
Spotted dick is a steamed suet pudding containing dried fruit (usually currants), commonly served with either custard or butter and brown sugar

Where does this strange name come from?

Recipe

Trifle

Made with layers of sponge cake altternate with custard, jam or fruit and Whipped Cream. Sometimes alcohol-soaked sponge cake is used.

Apple Crumble

Often served with thick cream, ice cream or custard.

Hasty Pudding

A simple and quick (thus the name) steamed pudding of milk, flour, butter, eggs, and cinnamon.

Bakewell pudding - also called Bakewell Tart.
Recipe

Custard

A thick, rich, sweet mixture made by gently cooking together egg yolks, sugar, milk or cream, and sometimes other flavorings. Most people today use a yellow powder mixed with milk, water and sugar. Custard can be served as a hot sauce, poured over adessert, or as a cold layer in, for example, a trifle. When it is cold, it 'sets' and becomes firm.

Bread and butter pudding - old English favourite (see image) Recipe

Semolina Pudding

A smooth, creamy puddmade of milk, eggs, flavouring and sugaring. Semolina is cooked slowly in milk, sweetened with sugar and flavoured with vanilla and sometimes enriched with egg. Semolina pudding can be served with raisins, currants or sultanas stirred in or with a dollop of jam.

Roly-poly

A pudding made of jam or fruit rolled up in pastry dough and baked or steamed until soft.
Recipe

Treacle pudding

A steamed pudding with a syrup topping.

Jelly and Ice Cream

A favourite party food for children.

Cakes

Lardy Cake

The Victoria Sponge - Named after Queen Victoria

Parkin

A spicey cake combining oatmeal and ginger. Traditionally enjoyed around Guy Fawkes Night (November 5)

Simnel Cake

A traditional cake for Easter and Mothering Sunday (Mothers' Day)
Click here for a recipe

Other

English Crumpets (pictured right)

A tasty "muffin" that goes great with tea, and spread with butter and preserves.

Mince Pies

Pastry shells filled with mince meat, and sometimes brandy or rum. Traditionally eaten at Christmas time

Sample Pudding Menu Served in a Restaurant in England

Apple and Plum Crumble with custard
Served hot or cold with cream, custard or ice cream.

Apple and Blackberry Crumble 
Served hot or cold with cream, custard or ice cream.

Vanilla creme brulee
with a Shrewsbury biscuit

Lemon Meringue 
served cold with cream or ice cream.

Strawberry cheesecake
with strawberry sauce

Bread & Butter Pudding
served hot with custard

Sticky toffee pudding
with vannila ice cream toffee sauce

Ice creams - strawberry and cream, vanilla, chocolate, rum and raisin and honeycomb

Sorbets
raspberry, lemon, blackcurrant, mandarin and apple

Cheeses
Stilton, Shropshire blue, Appleby's Cheshire and Mrs Kirkham's Smoked Lancashire cheeses served with celery, grapes and biscuits

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