With many classic puddings on the verge of dying out, I set out to discover which should be back on the menu. It was a journey through some of the heaviest desserts in history
Britain’s puddings are under threat. According to research from English Heritage, only 2% of British households eat a daily homemade dessert, while a third never bake, boil or steam one at all.
“Sweet puddings are closely intertwined with British history and it would be a huge shame for them to die out,” said the charity’s senior curator of history, Dr Andrew Hann. But he went on to suggest that, at the current rate of decline, the British pudding will be extinct in 50 years.
Leaving aside complex questions about what does and doesn’t constitute a British pudding – we know an apple crumble is one, and a Calippo isn’t – we must ask ourselves why we’ve stopped producing old-fashioned cooked desserts. Do we lack the time, or the skill – or both? Have tastes changed? Have certain classic puddings simply faded from Britain’s collective memory?
I can’t answer that last one – I’m American. I’ve been exposed to many British puddings over the years, but I have no history with them, or nostalgia for them. To remedy this, I tried cooking 10 of Britain’s endangered puddings, in an attempt to find out which, if any, are worthy of a rescue effort, and which may deserve their approaching extinction.
