Queen of Puddings

Monday 15 February 2010



In North America, a pudding would be described as being a dessert . . . created from milk, sugar, eggs and flavouring . . . soft and spoonable . . . not quite a custard, but . . . very similar.

Over here in the UK, however . . . the term pudding is used to describe any manner of prepared sweets that would come under the classification of desserts.



In fact . . . the dessert course is, more often than not, referred to as . . . "the Pudding."



If there is one thing that the British do better than any other culture, it is puddings!

Oh my goodness, they make my head swoon . . . delicious cakes and crumbles . . . pies and tarts . . . custards and flans . . . there is no end to the variety of puddings available to drool over.



British puddings have a very long and honourable tradition. Comforting, and homely, they are a well anticipated part of any meal, celebratory or otherwise . . . and for a great many children throughout the years, they have been the best part of most School dinners!!



One of our favourite puddings has to be Queen of Puddings. A delicious, old fashioned baked pudding composed of simple and humble ingredients . . .

soft bread crumbs, eggs, milk and jam. Only the British could take such something as simple as these things, and create something totally scrumptious.

One spoonful and I think you'll agree that it is not hard to reason why this pudding is called the Queen . . .

"We" are most impressed . . .




*Queen of Puddings*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

With it's beautiful cloud of meringue floating on top, it's not hard to see why this is called "Queen of Puddings." It is certainly one of the lightest and most mouthwatering puddings ever . . certainly fit for the royalty in this house!

1 pint whole milk
1/2 ounce butter
4 ounces fresh white bread crumbs
2 ounces caster sugar, divided, plus 1 tsp.
the grated rind of one unwaxed lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
pinch of salt
3 TBS of raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Generously butter a 1 1/2 pint glass baking dish. Set aside.

Place the milk along with the lemon rind and bring just to the boiling point over medium heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs and 1 ounce of the sugarsugar. Set aslide to infuse for 20 minutes.

Separate the eggs, putting the whites into a clean glass bowl, free from any grease. Beat the yolks and then beat them into the breadcrumb mixture. Pour this bread custard into the prepared baking dish, spreading it out evenly. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or just until set. Remove from the oven.

Heat the jam until it melts and then spread it evenly over top of the baked pudding.

Beat the egg whites along with a pinch of salt until foamy. Continue to beat, adding the remaining 1 ounce of sugar slowly, beating them until they form stiff peaks. Spoon this mixture evenly over top of the jam. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining tsp of sugar.

Place back in the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until the meringue is golden brown. Serve warm to 4 lucky people!

20 comments

  1. Oh, my goodness, Marie!!! I can't wait to try this one! I just love the name, of course, but this kind of "pudding" is just perfect in my eyes--just beautiful to look at, and I know it will be beautiful to devour!

    Love you loads & I'll talk to you tomorrow!

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  2. This looks really good. Thanks, Marie!
    xoxo Pattie

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  3. Good morning Marie from Canada! Toupudding looks so good. Hope you had a great Valentines Day.
    Rita

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  4. Queen's Pudding--always lovely, always a winner! I like the meringue-like topping! Thank you, Marie... Happy Day, dear friend--LOVE YA :o) ((BIG HUGS))

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  5. My husband loves this kind of dessert:) I fell for the crown~:)!

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  6. In my opinion ever meal should start with a pudding ... as well as end with one ;0)

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  7. boy oh boy does this look delicious! Your meringue looks cooked to perfection :)

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  8. I must agree, the British know pudding! I miss the ones my mom used to make. This looks and sounds incredibly scrumptious! I'm sorry I haven't been around much Marie, and I'm so glad you keep visiting me! I've been working so many hours lately it's been next to impossible to visit my blog friends :(

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  9. This looks wonderful. I'm American and I do agree that Brits know a thing or two about dessert, aka pudding. I'm always baking up delightful British treats. I'll have to give this one a try, sounds delicious!

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  10. I printed this one today - as soon as I lose a few pounds, this will be our star dessert!

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  11. Yum. I have not had that one id a loooong time. My kids love my "from scratch" rice pudding :)

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  12. Marie,Marie, this pudding is a beauty, and look fantastic! I cant wait to try it!! thanks by sharing dear!! kisses and huggs to you and Todd!!(Im in the beach by some days but some days I have PC (you know the kids) huggs)
    gloria

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  13. Love your post about pudding! And the recipe too!
    Have you seen Emma Bridgewater's plate with the pear which says, "Don't make pudding...have a pear and cheese!"? Now I know even more about the puddings!

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  14. Wow that looks amazing! I've never made this pudding but it's on my must bake list.

    Maria
    x

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  15. Hi! Im 4m srilanka! Tnx 4 d post! I wanna giv a try 2 dis!

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  16. Nice! I'm going to try this. I've wanted to make one for ever...

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  17. Can I ask a really stupid question? How do you make fresh white breadcrumbs? Fresh white bread is so soft ... do you just literally tear white bread up into very, very small pieces? Obviously, you wouldn't be able to 'grate' fresh white bread. Thanks for any help you can give me because I'm dying to try this recipe1 (I'm an American expat living in England.)

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  18. Hi Denise! So good to hear from another expat! You can actually buy fresh white breadcrumbs, already made, in Waitrose, but you can also make your own in a blender or a food processor. Just tear your bread, minus the crusts, into chunks and then blitz away. No liquid needed and they do a fab job! Hope this helps!
    PS - NO question is a stupid question!

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  19. I am so happy to have found your recipe. I recently was given some of my grandmother's recipes. Among them, I found one for the queen of puddings. This is a dessert with which I am unfamiliar. Her writing is hard to read. The paper is old and brittle as it dates back to the 1930's. She was a wonderful cook from the southern US (Nashville, TN). I have been able to decode her writing thanks to your recipe. Now I can try them both.

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  20. Fun to read this post :) I have a dish called "Queen Pudding" in the oven right now, and thought I'd google it to see what else had been written about this. Enjoyed your great info.

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