The Difference Between American And British Pudding - Chowhound (2024)

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What is the difference between British pudding and American pudding? ›

American puddings are closer to what the Brits would call "custard." A British pudding is a dish, savory or sweet, that's cooked by being boiled or steamed in something: a dish, a piece of cloth, or even animal intestine.

In the U.S., when we say pudding, we're referring to something sweet and custard-based or jelly-like in texture. Think the classic chocolate pudding, rice pudding, or even tapioca — all are sweets with a jiggly, creamy consistency. Across the pond, ordering pudding won't get you a spoonable custardy treat.

In the United Kingdom and some of the Commonwealth countries, the word pudding can be used to describe both sweet and savoury dishes. Unless qualified, however, the term in everyday usage typically denotes a dessert; in the United Kingdom, pudding is used as a synonym for a dessert course.

In Commonwealth countries these [North American] puddings are called custards (or curds) if they are egg-thickened, blancmange if starch-thickened, and jelly if gelatin based. Pudding may also refer to other dishes such as bread and rice pudding, although typically these names derive from the origin as British dishes.

In the US, what us Brits call a biscuit, Americans would call a cookie - whilst an American biscuit is something resembling a British scone… making a name like Biscuiteers seem rather confusing!

You're forgiven if you think Christmas Pudding is the round English version of an American fruitcake. While it has similarities, they are altogether different. Both improve with age and include dried fruits, chopped nuts, hearty spices, and steep in a cold dark spot for weeks, but that is where the similarities end.

Like haggis, Stornoway Black Pudding is a U.K. favorite that contains sheep's lungs. This ingredient makes it illegal to import into the United States, despite it being a regular menu item across the pond.

The first puddings were neither wobbly nor eaten for dessert, however. They were more like sausages: made from minced meat, a grain such as oatmeal, dried fruits, spices, and salt, and stuffed into a casing. The word pudding (first used circa 1200) in fact comes from boudin, a French word for a type of sausage.

The main difference is the ingredient used as a thickening agent. Eggs are an essential ingredient in custard, as they give the dessert its gelatinous texture. Instead of egg proteins, flour or cornstarch are thickeners in puddings.

History. The popover is an American version of Yorkshire pudding and similar batter puddings made in England since the 17th century, The oldest known reference to popovers dates to 1850. The first cookbook to print a recipe for popovers was in 1876.

What is a cookie called in England? ›

A cookie (American English) or biscuit (British English) is a baked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat, and sweet.

Black pudding is a distinct regional type of blood sausage originating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is made from pork or occasionally beef blood, with pork fat or beef suet, and a cereal, usually oatmeal, oat groats, or barley groats.

English zucchini goes by courgette in England, the French word for the green gourd. The United States inherited the Italian name, and both terms reference the summer squash. Note that the word squash refers to a fruity drink in Britain, and a mature version of the courgette fruit becomes marrow.

Traditional British puddings are usually steamed, baked or boiled desserts, such as Christmas Pudding, Spotted Dick, or Summer Pudding. They're a bit like cake that is steamed so they're very moist, take the shape of the bowl or basin they are cooked in and have a 'close' texture - very unlike traditional fluffy cake.

It has been suggested the pudding was given the name “Yorkshire” due to the region's association with coal and the high temperatures this produced that helped to make crispy batter.

In the UK it is traditionally made with a high-starch, short-grain rice sometimes known as “pudding rice”, which is cooked with milk, vanilla and other spices, and often dried fruit.

Ingredients for Making Pudding

It is simply milk and cream, sweetened and thickened by a brief bout of cooking on the stovetop or in the oven. Unbaked puddings, like this one, get their richness and thickness from a mixture of cornstarch and egg yolks.

While the dish has been known as black pudding for centuries, blak podyngs having been recorded c. 1450, a number of dialect names have also been used for the dish, such as black pot (in Somerset), and bloody pot.

A British biscuit is what Americans know as a cookie or a cracker. In the United Kingdom, the word biscuit refers to any hard, thin, bread-like product. A distinguishing factor between an American cookie and a British biscuit is that a British biscuit must always have a “snap” because it is crispy.