# In the UK people call cake "pudding" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365 "2020-04-08T18:27:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/101 "2020-04-10T11:54:03Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Bird’s custard powder, despite its name, is not custard in any way. It resembles custard about as much as salad cream resembles fresh mayonnaise. Salad cream very closely resembles mayonnaise. It’s just a poor version of it. Or do we not agree on what “resembles” means? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/102 "2020-04-10T12:21:59Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Salad cream very closely resembles mayonnaise. It’s just a poor version of it. Or do we not agree on what “resembles” means? “Salad cream” is what 'Murricans call “salad dressiing,” brand name: [Miracle Whip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_Whip). It resembles mayonnaise in **appearance** , but mayo is made from egg yolks, oil of some kind, a dash of lemon juice, and possibly a soupçon of Dijon mustard. Miracle Whip is made of: > [@](#): > > water, soybean oil, high-fructose corn syrup, vinegar, modified corn starch, eggs, salt, natural flavor, mustard flour, potassium sorbate, spice, and dried garlic. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/103 "2020-04-10T13:06:18Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > “Salad cream” is what 'Murricans call “salad dressiing,” brand name: [Miracle Whip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_Whip). It resembles mayonnaise in **appearance** , but mayo is made from egg yolks, oil of some kind, a dash of lemon juice, and possibly a soupçon of Dijon mustard. Miracle Whip is made of: Well, yeah, different recipe from mayo, but we’re talking “resembles” rather than “is”! Both Miracle Whip and Heinz Salad Cream were conceived as mayonnaise-type condiments, to do what mayonnaise does. They may do it well or do it poorly, according to taste, but they’re all thickened, oil-based sauces with an acidic tang. The resemblance is in more than just appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/104 "2020-04-10T14:47:14Z")
For the record, in most of the US, in most contexts, “gravy” is brown, and consists of the juices of whatever meat you were cooking thickened with flour or starch (I think this is the same as the British usage). The white gravy used in biscuits and gravy is distinctively Southern, and you don’t see it much outside the South, except for in that one specific dish, or maybe with “country fried steak”. There’s also “redeye gravy”, which I don’t know much about beyond that it’s made with coffee, and in a very narrow region centered on Philadelphia, “gravy” means “thick tomato-based spaghetti sauce with lots of meat”. Banana pudding was a common treat at my grandmother’s house, in northern Appalachia, though I suppose she could have gotten the recipe from a Southerner (Gramma was very accepting of good cuisine, no matter where it came from). I think that the base of it was just dairy-and-starch, like most American puddings, but with sliced bananas mixed in, and topped with crumbled vanilla wafers or Graham crackers (those are similar to what the Brits call “digestive biscuits”). ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/105 "2020-04-10T14:50:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For the record, in most of the US, in most contexts, “gravy” is brown, and consists of the juices of whatever meat you were cooking thickened with flour or starch (I think this is the same as the British usage). The white gravy used in biscuits and gravy is distinctively Southern, and you don’t see it much outside the South, except for in that one specific dish, or maybe with “country fried steak”. There’s also “redeye gravy”, which I don’t know much about beyond that it’s made with coffee, and in a very narrow region centered on Philadelphia, “gravy” means “thick tomato-based spaghetti sauce with lots of meat”. Don’t some Italian-Americans call tomato sauce “gravy”? ISTR that from watching _The Sopranos_. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/106 "2020-04-10T15:11:11Z")
That’s what I said in the last line of that quote. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/107 "2020-04-10T15:12:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That’s what I said in the last line of that quote. :smack: That’s what I get for skimming. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/108 "2020-04-10T15:45:56Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Huh? I love custard. We cook it from time to time. My daughter plans to make some tomorrow. You’re going to have to elaborate on \*exactly \*what you mean by custard, because it’s possible we mean different things. And I think I mean something different by “_do_ custard” - custard that you plan days in advance by itself would be weird. It’s an accompaniment, not a dish. And of course, there are always going to be exceptions - which is why I said IME - every American I know who I’ve served some to (usually to accompany malva pudding) treated it as a novelty. > [@peedin](#): > > And then there’s sticky toffee pudding, the greatest of all puddings and desserts. Nope, sorry, I already linked to the aforesaid malva pudding in this thread, and believe me, toffee pud is just its poor country cousin. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/109 "2020-04-10T15:49:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Banana pudding was a common treat at my grandmother’s house, in northern Appalachia, though I suppose she could have gotten the recipe from a Southerner (Gramma was very accepting of good cuisine, no matter where it came from). I think that the base of it was just dairy-and-starch, like most American puddings, but with sliced bananas mixed in, and topped with crumbled vanilla wafers or Graham crackers (those are similar to what the Brits call “digestive biscuits”). Sounds a bit like bananas-and-custard. Is it served warm? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/110 "2020-04-10T15:55:59Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Salad cream very closely resembles mayonnaise. It’s just a poor version of it. Or do we not agree on what “resembles” means? > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > “Salad cream” is what 'Murricans call “salad dressiing,” brand name: [Miracle Whip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_Whip). It resembles mayonnaise in **appearance** , but mayo is made from egg yolks, oil of some kind, a dash of lemon juice, and possibly a soupçon of Dijon mustard. Miracle Whip is made of: > [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > Well, yeah, different recipe from mayo, but we’re talking “resembles” rather than “is”! Both Miracle Whip and Heinz Salad Cream were conceived as mayonnaise-type condiments, to do what mayonnaise does. They may do it well or do it poorly, according to taste, but they’re all thickened, oil-based sauces with an acidic tang. > > The resemblance is in more than just appearance. Exactly what Yorkshire Pudding said. They are very similar products with almost identical applications. Their properties are very similar. To say they resemble each other is an understatement. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/111 "2020-04-10T16:04:42Z")
The banana pudding my grandmother made was not only not served warm, but she’d make it up in advance in individual-serving dishes, and leave the dishes in the fridge to cool. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/112 "2020-04-10T16:23:33Z")
Thinking of tapioca pudding reminded me of [boeber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeber), a Cape Malay dessert made with sago or tapioca. But while it can be pudding, it’s not _a_ pudding. More like a sweet spiced starchy milky soup. > [@Chronos](#): > > The banana pudding my grandmother made was not only not served warm, but she’d make it up in advance in individual-serving dishes, and leave the dishes in the fridge to cool. OK, not like bananas-and-custard at all. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/113 "2020-04-10T17:01:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > You’re going to have to elaborate on \*exactly \*what you mean by custard, because it’s possible we mean different things. And I think I mean something different by “_do_ custard” - custard that you plan days in advance by itself would be weird. It’s an accompaniment, not a dish. > > And of course, there are always going to be exceptions - which is why I said IME - every American I know who I’ve served some to (usually to accompany malva pudding) treated it as a novelty… The particular custard she was talking about making is creme caramel. She wasn’t “planning days in advance”, she was talking about making a food she likes to cheer herself up during the pandemic. We also make plain baked custard for dessert sometime. something like this: > **[How to make a baked custard like grandma did.](https://www.tastesoflizzyt.com/baked-custard-recipe/)** > > An old-fashioned homemade egg custard recipe, reminiscent of Grandma's kitchen. Our vanilla custard recipe is smooth and 6 ingredients. You may be talking about what I call custard sauce, or creme anglaise. > **[Crème Anglaise](https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/creme-anglaise-4984)** > > Crème Anglaise I think of that as more an ingredient than a dish, but I’ve made it for floating islands, and as an accompaniment for chocolate cake or berries. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/114 "2020-04-10T17:34:15Z")
About custard- In American usage “custard” can refer to lots of different forms, so we usually specify . It can be creme anglaise (custard sauce) or flan/creme caramel/creme brulee or a pastry filling (pastry cream ) or an ingredient in a pastry filling (crème légère) or a tart or pie filling, each of which has a different consistency. If someone just said “custard”, I would probably assume they were talking about a tart. I certainly wouldn’t assume it was the sauce ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/115 "2020-04-10T18:14:12Z")
> [@](#): > > The banana pudding my grandmother made was not only not served warm, but she’d make it up in advance in individual-serving dishes, and leave the dishes in the fridge to cool. > [@](#): > > OK, not like bananas-and-custard at all. Although… I think of bananas and custard as being a cold dish - sliced bananas, in individual serving dishes, sat on a marble slab in the pantry to set. My wife thought it was weird that I should expect it to be cold, I thought it weird that it would be served hot. I _think_ I have a point though: trifle involves cold custard and fruit and is a total classic. Numerous things involve chilled sweetened dairy stuff with fruit, or chilled jelly and fruit, whereas cold fresh fruit and hot sauce is otherwise not really a thing. Having it hot genuinely felt like someone had heard of the name of the dish, had heard that custard is served warm poured over desserts, and failed to grasp how it should really be. I’m still not convinced I was mistaken about that, to be honest! For context, we’re both around 40, both Brits. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/116 "2020-04-10T19:37:52Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > More recently, “mincemeat” as in “mincemeat pie” is made of chopped fruits and nuts without any animal flesh. However, I think even that usage is almost obsolete. Yeah, it’s really weird that my mom would never let us eat leftover mince pie the day after Thanksgiving… ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/117 "2020-04-10T19:50:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For the record, in most of the US, in most contexts, “gravy” is brown, and consists of the juices of whatever meat you were cooking thickened with flour or starch (I think this is the same as the British usage). Ah, there is greater transatlantic accord in these fractured times than I had realised! Yes, that’s gravy to a Brit…although the use of instant granules is pretty widespread. Not in this house, mind. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/118 "2020-04-10T19:58:33Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > Ah, there is greater transatlantic accord in these fractured times than I had realised! Yes, that’s gravy to a Brit…although the use of instant granules is pretty widespread. Not in this house, mind. Yes, what’s gravy in the U.K. has always also been gravy in the U.S. There are just other kinds of gravy here, like white sausage gravy, redeye gravy. And of course the Italian-American dialectical usage of “gravy” for tomato sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/119 "2020-04-10T20:45:45Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Which raises another question – does “meat” in the UK (and specifically in that verse) just mean “animal flesh” like it does in the US, or does it have a broader meaning? In context it sounds like “pudding” means “dessert” and “meat” means “main dish” although that’s not how either of those words are used in US English. The old meaning of ‘meat’ was a meal, not specifically animal flesh. So “You can’t have pudding unless you eat your meat” could be translated as “You can’t eat dessert unless you eat your dinner.” > **[Definition of MEAT](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meat)** > > food; especially : solid food as distinguished from drink; the edible part of something as distinguished from its covering (such as a husk or shell); animal tissue considered especially as food:… See the full definition ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/120 "2020-04-10T21:14:10Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > How likely is American pudding to be on a menu, incidentally? Such a thing does exist here - you could get it in single-serving pots alongside the yoghurts in a supermarket - but as something to be served from a kitchen…no chance. As others have noted, banana pudding is considered something of a low-brow, demotic dessert. You wouldn’t find in on the menu at a high-end bistro, but you’d expect it in a barbecue restaurant, fish camp, or soul food restaurant. You’d expect to see peach cobbler and apple pie _a la mode_ on the dessert menu, as well. Banana pudding is a staple of Southern folk cuisine. Done well, it’s delicious. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Yup. The texture is disgusting. Which is why I do not understand the [bubble te](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_tea)a phenomenon. Ewww. Texture matters. > > Although, perversely, I love lumpy mashed potatoes and oatmeal. I’m an odd duckling. QFFT. Tapioca and bubble tea are just nasty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365.md?page=7)