What is the Difference Between Pudding and Dessert?

Question: What is the Difference Between Pudding and Dessert?

In British and Irish food, the difference between pudding and dessert can be confusing; pudding can be a dessert, but a dessert can only be a pudding.

Answer: Traditionally a pudding is a cooked, substantial starch or dairy based sweet dish, as in a Spotted Dick Pudding which contains flour and suet, a Traditional Christmas Pudding or a Rice Pudding. A pudding is usually considered a more homely, rustic or traditional recipe.

To make it a little more confusing though, pudding is not always sweet. British food is awash with savory puddings - Yorkshire Pudding, served with Roast Beef in a traditional Sunday Lunch, Black Pudding or a winter-warming Steak and Kidney Pudding.

A dessert traditionally was uncooked, as in a fresh fruit, but is now regarded as lighter and more sophisticated than a traditional pudding; Chocolate, a Mousse, light, refreshing Champagne Jelly or a Souffle.

Though many don't like to admit it, using the term pudding or dessert has connotations of class. Using "Dessert" is thought to be posher than a homely pudding. This distinction has eroded with more traditional recipes making a fashionable comeback in recent times; many restaurants (including top end eateries) using Pudding to refer to the sweet course on menus.