WHEN IS PUDDING CREAMY AND WHEN IS IT A CAKE
For those of us in the States, pudding generally refers to a creamy custard dessert. So when a recipe card reads “Spiced Crumb English Pudding Recipe”, one may be led to believe that the final result may be a spiced custard with some type of crumbly topping. Which does sound pretty darn good.
But, if the recipe card has ingredients like shortening, flour, brown sugar, and raisins it starts to feel a little more like what we know as a cake. And so we become a little confused.
We need to look to Britain for the answer to this conundrum. Though pudding can refer to a sweet or savory dish in the U.K., it is most often used the same way we use “dessert”. Like the figgy pudding or plum pudding in a Christmas Carol.
So, it stands to reason that this recipe card from Jane’s recipe box is from a friend who had a connection to English bakers.
WHEN A RECIPE CARD FAILS US
Many times with recipe cards there is an expectation that methods for making certain dishes are inherently understood. But somewhere along the line this knowledge can become lost and so we flounder a bit.
This recipe card was a great example of that. I became a bit confused by the “buttered baking ring”. Did it mean a bundt pan? Not likely, the recipe didn’t make enough batter to fill a bundt pan. And what size of a ring? Nine-inch, ten-inch. Did the ring have a hole in the center? I don’t know.
So, I did what every confused baker would do, I created what I thought a baking ring ought to be. I placed an empty pineapple can in the center of a springform pan, buttered it and then poured in the batter around the “ring” that is made and baked it.
While the pudding was baking, I decided to research a little more and discovered two recipes that were very similar to this one. Guess what? A baking ring is a cake pan 🙂
So, if you decide to make the recipe, you can either use my homemade kind-of-bundt-pan hack or just use a cake pan.
Either way, this English pudding (cake) is delicious with its warming spices and tangy, lemon-curd like sauce.
I hope you enjoy it!
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Ingredients
Pudding (Cake)
- 1 cup dry bread crumbs
- 1 cup sour milk
- 1/2 cup cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup cup raisins
- 2 tablespoons molasses
Lemon Pudding Sauce
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 teaspoons lemon juice
- lemon sliced to garnish
Instructions
- Soak bread crumbs in the sour milk for 1/2 hour.
- Sift the flour, cloves, cinnamon, and baking soda together and set aside.
- Butter a 10” spring form pan.
- Heat oven to 300˚F.
- With a stand mixer or hand mixer on low speed, beat the shortening until creamy and whipped.
- Add the sugar and beat on high until the mixture is combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically.
- Add the flour mixture, raisins and crumb mixture into the shortening mixture and beat to combine.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes.
- To make the lemon pudding sauce, add the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and nutmeg to a small saucepan.
- Gradually add the boiling water and cook over low heat until it thickens and becomes clear.
- Remove from heat and stir in the butter and lemon juice.
- Garnish the pudding with lemon slices and serve with the lemon pudding sauce.
Nutrition
Recipe Box Roulette
This recipe is from a social media game we developed called Recipe Box Roulette. Find a family recipe box and play along.
The rules are simple. Let your fingers wander over the recipes cards in the box, draw one at random, share it with us on FB Page or on your Instagram Feed. Remember to tag @theheritagcookbookproject and use the hashtag #recipeboxroulette.
Extra credit – make the recipe and share a photograph.
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I always wondered if pudding in the UK was pudding or cake. This looks incredibly good and I love that you baked the pudding with a pineapple can in the center of the cake pan.
Hey Laura, Sometimes you just have to go with what feels right. Turns out it wasn’t what the recipe actually called for, but sure did require some creativity and that can never be bad 🙂
What a beautiful recipe. I am not sure that I would have known what a baking ring is either.
I think the thing that was most confusing is that I knew how to make a Plum Pudding which is a lot more involved, so I thought this recipe would have to be a little more complicated than it was. Funny how we tend to make things more complex than they need to be at times 😉
I can basically smell this delicious looking crumb pudding from my house right now! YUM! Sounds amazing!
Hey GiGi! It is delicious with the sweetness of the raisins, the warming spicing and the sauce – which I could just eat with a spoon. I hope you enjoy browsing through some of the other Recipe Box Roulette recipes.
Lol, I love this because it goes to show that even experienced bakers have fumbles. I honestly get nervous copying recipes because I feel like I’ll get half way through and it’ll be so wrong. Love the pineapple can idea! xD But you did great, it looks amazing!
When you are relying on recipes on cards that may have been written 40, 50, or even 60 years ago and especially from another country, it makes you put your thinking cap on for sure 😉 The pineapple can, though unnecessary, was kinda fun. Thank you!
You’re completely welcome. I look forward to seeing more of your recipes! Nice job.
Thank you Brie!!!
I always had this confusion.Nice recipe.Thanks for sharing
I hope that this helped to clear up the confusion 🙂 Thank you for visiting!
This sounds really good… might try to make my own vegan version 🙂
Hey Maartje. This would be so simple to make vegan with a nut milk. I would add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to activate the baking soda. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out. Cheers!
Wow, this looks really delicious and yummy. I can’t wait to try it out. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Joseph, I hope you do give it a try. Can’t wait to hear how you like it. Thanks for visiting!
What a wonderful cake/pudding! Those British folks are good at figuring out how to use up All The Things. I wonder if this was partly a wartime measure to use up all the dried out bread by making crumbs out of it and turning it into delicious cake? Regardless, this sounds lovely, and I like that it has a hole in the middle. 🙂
Hey Jenni, that is one of my favorite parts of this recipe. Both the bread crumbs and the sour milk. Don’t let anything go to waste! Yeah, I thought the hole in the middle was kinda cool too 😉
That looks a nice and easy recipe to prepare and satisfy friends and guests.
Kalyan, it goes together really quick – especially once you figure out what a baking ring is 😉 As rich as it is, it will serve a crowd. Cheers!
That looks really tasty and fluffy! I never tasted a spiced crumb english pudding but this one is irresistible! I might need to practice baking, I would love to bake this recipe.
Hey Kenneth, I hope you give it a try. Let me know how it turns out and what you think of all of the wonderful flavors. Cheers!
I’ve listened to enough Nigella and Diane Hay to now know that pudding is also dessert in the UK but was unaware until just a few months ago! Your ingenuity with this is commendable Leigh!
My introduction pudding was Pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall – “If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?!” 🙂 Thanks Beth, it is definitely a very different process than most of our desserts.
This looks so yummy! I’ve never had English pudding before and now I want to try some 🙂
Annabel, Happy to introduce you to something new. I hope that you try making it. Would love hear what you think. Cheers!
This recipe looks delicious. I will try this right away. I love different flavors of pudding.
Hey Geraline, Let me know what you think of it. Cheers!
Always interesting with those confusions regarding recipes! I had the same one when I was one a podcast recently, and we discussed scones vs biscuits. What was obvious to me (a European albeit with an American dad) was definitely not obvious to the American host!
It can be so confusing. Biscuits or cookies, pudding or cake, scones or biscuits. Supper of dinner. It does keep things pretty interesting though 😉
I must try this recipe. It so delicious and look so easy to make and I am sure my husband and my kids will give me a warmer hug because of this.
Alexandra, it’s always nice to get a warm hug when you treat your family to something delicious. Let me know how it goes 😉
I love finding a new recipe to try. I’m always so scared I am going to mess it up somehow. This looks easy enough for me though. Thanks!
Oh Clare, don’t be scared. What’s the worst that can happen – you just don’t make it again. This recipe is very easy and the results are delicious!
Wow, I love this recipe it is so delicious and look so easy to prepare. I will def try to make this for the whole family.
Rebecca, it is really a very simple recipe and quick to put together. Hope your family enjoys it!
Wow, I have never tried this recipe looks really delicious and easy. I will try to make this for my kids, thanks for sharing!
Hey Preet, happy that you are going to make this for your kids. I am sure they will enjoy it.
You had me at spiced crumb! Yes, my grandmother always call cake pans rings, it can be quite confusing. Overall the cake looks delicious!
Thanks for sharing that your grandmother also called cake pans, rings. The recipe is really tasty.
I like the idea of lemon pudding sauce. I think I’ll use it with homemade chocolate cake…would add a nice fresh Spring vibe to its gooey decadence.
– Nandita
Now that sounds delicious, Nandita. I wouldn’t refuse a piece of chocolate cake with lemon sauce 😉
I saw the title and couldn’t gather how pudding could have crumbs but this looks yummy
It is a little confusing to see crumbs and pudding in the same sentence. I hope that the story helped to clear that up.
That looks sooo good. I’ve never had English pudding before, but I already know I’m going to love it!
Thank you Stacie. If you make it, I would love to hear how it turned out and what you thought of it.
I really like this pudding recipes. I hope this can help people who has hobby of cooking
It would be wonderful if this recipe would inspire people to cook.
This recipe looks wonderful. Perfect for any tea party.
Jenny, I agree, it would be wonderful with a tea party!
Your recipe has caused my sweet tooth and I am craving for some dessert now. I think this is great for my weekends’ snacks. I love how your use lemon to place at the top.
Weekend snack, weekday snack, midnight snack. I would approve of all. 😉
I am an American expat living in New Zealand. Here they speak the king’s English so I know the pudding story. It took me ages to understand things like tea is dinner and pudding is dessert – any dessert. And yes English crumb pudding would be a cake, and yours sounds great – especially the lemon sauce.
Hey Rhonda, I imagine that there is a learning curve with the king’s English. The cake is so good and the lemon sauce is extraordinary. I could honestly eat it alone with a spoon 🙂
This pudding looks delicious!!! And very easy to bake. Will try to make it for sure, thanks a lot.
Hey Chad, yep, super easy. Let me know if you try it.
This dessert looks delicious! I wouldn’t mind having it right now. Delicious and classic. Can you ask for more? 10 starts out of 5
Ah, thanks Lyosha. Yes, there is always more dessert 🙂
Whether a pudding or a cake, this recipe sounds delicious! Thank you for your clarifications; I get a little mixed up on some baking terminologies myself!
Beth, glad to have cleared some things up for you. Can be a little frustrating, but generally delicious in the end.
I bet this recipe not only tastes good, but makes your home smell of sweet lemons and sugar! Sounds decadent!
Sara, this made the house smell absolutely fantastic. It was like a warm hug.
Ohh this is something new I havent heard or seen before! Love the sound of it though and it’s very pretty too!
Thank you Rachel. Happy to have introduced you to something new. Cheers!
Yum this sounds delish! I love both lemon and spice cakes so this is right up my alley. It looks so pretty as a ring. I would have done it the same way you did before realizing it was just a cake pan!! Printing this out to make soon!
Hey Hailey, I hope that you enjoy this cake as much as we did. Let me know what you think and if you made it like a ring. Cheers!
I love the subtle differences in English. A lot of my English friends kept referring to having puddings at the end of a meal and it took me forever to figure out they were talking about American cake. Wish I had seen your post before embarrassing myself, haha.
Elaine, just stick close, I have a lot more interesting information coming up. The next time you find yourself in Britain you will be forearmed 😉
Your photos are so beautiful! This cake sounds and looks delightful. I’d love a slice with some tea.
Catherine, thank you for your kind words. The cake really is delightful and a nice cup or Earl Grey or English Breakfast is superb with this.
It looks incredible good, I always wanted to cook a pudding, and this looks like the best recipe for me
Alexandra, it is a real simple recipe with great results. Let me know if you try it.
What a tasty recipe, I love pudding and now I’ll try to make this, it might taste different from what im doing but i’ll still try it for a change
Va Anne, It’s always fun to step outside of your normal routine and experience something a little different.
Sorry we confused you, it does look delicious though
No worries Kara 🙂 We got it figured in the end. And it is so tasty!
I have never tried or heard of this recipe. But I enjoy trying new dishes that go out of my normal eating habits. It looks pretty fancy especially for the holiday season.
Hey Chastity, I would absolutely put this on a holiday table. The flavors just beg to be served during the winter holidays.
that looks superb! I would love love LOVE to sink my teeth into a spiced crumb english pudding cake… holy yum yum!
Eloise, I am sure that both your teeth and your taste buds would thank you for serving them this. 🙂
I had no idea that pudding is used to mean dessert in the UK. This recipe sounds so good. I’m curious to try the cinnamon and lemon together. That sounds like a wonderful combination!
Kristy, isn’t it fun to learn new things? The flavor combination is really wonderful. Hope you try it.
I’ve never tried this. but it sounds interesting, i’ll have to give it a shot
Hey Jasmine, I hope that you do. Let me know what you think of it.
Oooo how yummy!!! This is one thing I haven’t attempted to make on my own. Definitely giving it a try
Hey Courtney, I hope that you enjoy the recipe. Let me know how it turned out.
This sounds and looks so delicious! As I was looking through the ingredients, I got a little confused. What exactly is sour milk?? This may be a dumb question lol
Hey Emmy. Well, when this recipe was written sour milk would have been just that, milk that had gone sour. But you can bet that there was not waste in the kitchen. Now days, you can replicate sour milk by adding lemon juice to the milk. The acidity helps to activate the baking soda.
Nice recipe, going to give it a try
Great! Hope you really enjoy it!
I do not enjoy baking because one simple mistake has the potential to ruin the whole thing. I would love to try this recipe though despite my fear of baking lol. Your post was very entertaining , thanks for sharing.
Baking can be stressful, but also very therapeutic. There are always lessons whether the recipe is successful or not. I hope that you will put enough trust in yourself to give this a try. I am glad that you enjoyed the post. Cheers!
Something new for me. Seems interesting. You are really experimenting and that is great.
It’s so much fun to experiment with curated recipe cards from long forgotten recipe boxes. Cheers!
I do get what you mean about the nuances and differences between the language used in the UK versus America and how this even applies to baking. All differences aside, this does look and sound quite a delicious pudding and one that I would like to try making, even with my limited culinary skills. The recipe you have outlined here doesn’t look too complicated so I would like to think I could succeed with this.
Nicole, the recipe is not complicated at all. I think that’s the beauty of the recipes from the recipe boxes. They were/are something that women made for their families and friends and needed to fit into their busy lives. I hope you try your hand at this and find that you do have culinary skills buried deep inside 😉
This pudding looks delicious and I feel like I can smell the spices as I look at it in the photos. LOL I am definitely going to have to try this out soon!
Jasmine, the kitchen smelled so good when this was baking. Like you wanted to snuggle into a warm blanket, grab a cuppa, a good book, and a warm piece of pudding. Hope you have the same experience. Cheers!
Pudding is one of my favorite afternoon snacks to eat when I was a little. Your recipe looks really delicious and seeing that photo makes my mouthwatering!
I love that this brought back memories of your childhood. And that the photo made your mouth water. That’s the goal 😉
OMG Can I just say, I can’t help but drool over the picture! Who would not love to taste this! I’ll be printing out your recipe so I can try making this out over the weekends.
Alexandra, thank you for your kinds words. This would make a great treat on the weekend with a cup of coffee or tea. I hope you enjoy it with friends and family!
Wow, so delicious and easy recipe to make for the kids. I am sure my kids will love it like and will make their favorite.
It is easy enough for the kids to make. I hope it does become their favorite. Enjoy!
I love finding a new recipe to try. I’m always so scared I am going to mess it up somehow. This looks easy enough for me though. Thanks!
This is definitely a recipe to start with. It is simple and the results are amazing. Let me know if you try it. Cheers!
Wow, this recipe looks so good and yummy..! I better try this one. I really love trying different pudding recipes.
The recipe is surprisingly delicious and so simple. If you make it, please stop back by and let me know how it turned out. Cheers!
Haha I think another challenging part of old recipes is when they call for a “dash” or a “pinch” of something. And don’t even get me started on trying to learn from elderly family members. They eyeball everything!
Or a knob of butter of a wine glass full… I mean if you saw my wine glasses 😉 There is something to be learned from elderly family members and cooking, though. Trust you senses and practice makes perfect.
This looks so beautiful!!! I have to make this for one of my events coming up! Thanks for the great recipe and awesome pictures.
Sophia, thank you for your kinds words. I hope that you do give this a try for one of your events and that everyone enjoys it.
Now this recipe sounds delicious. I can’t wait to try it out myself. I’ll tell you all about it when I do.
Sue-Tanya, I can’t wait to hear all about it after you make it. Cheers!
I love cake but I have never heard of a pudding cake before! We are definitely going to try this out
It is a conundrum of language for sure. It is really a simple recipe and I hop that you give it a try and fall in love with it. Cheers!
This looks like such a delicious after lunch snack! Yum!
It is a perfect after lunch snack, Britney, especially if you have friends over for lunch. Enjoy!
I also have a lot of questions and confusion with some of the techniques in baking. Good thing that my bff’s knows a lot about this so she guides me and patiently answer my concerns. That sounds really good!
Chelle, it is always good to have a friend that bakes and even better when she is patient 😉 I hope you give this recipe a try.
Looks yummy! I like eating this kind of cake. Wish this is available here in our country. I don’t know how to bake.
Hey Kathrine. I am betting that this is a dessert that you could bake with your eyes closed. Give it a try, you may find that you really do know how to bake 🙂
This sounds so delicious. I’m really into baking at the moment so will give this a go
Hey Ellie. Baking is so therapeutic. Hope you enjoy this pudding as much as we do.