What is the difference between 'Desert' and 'Pudding'?
By mercuryman3a
@mercuryman3a (2477)
India
September 27, 2008 6:42am CST
Is desert sweeter than pudding? Does desert have more fruits than pudding, Is desert comprised of cakes? I rally do not know. Can anyone educate me on the difference? To me anything sweet taken after a meal is a pudding.When does the desert come in?
2 people like this
3 responses
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
27 Sep 08
As a food course 'Dessert' (note the double S!) is identical to 'Pudding'. In the US, the most common term is 'dessert', in the UK, the word 'pudding' is often used, more often in certain areas and amongst certain classes than in others. Another term for the same thing is 'Sweet'. They all refer to a course which is usually served towards the end of a meal and after the main course or entrée.
Pudding as a dish can mean a great many different things from a sweet (as in Christmas Pudding or Summer Pudding) to a savoury (as in Steak and Kidney Pudding or Yorkshire Pudding). It usually refers to a dish which is made in a deep bowl and inverted and turned out for serving. This means that it is a fairly solid thing that will hold its shape. Yorkshire Pudding is something of an exception to this.
2 people like this
@mercuryman3a (2477)
• India
27 Sep 08
Thnaks a lot for giving the detailed description. However I think there is a difference beyond teh regional usage. Youfind boods which describe "Dessert and Pudding Recipes" If they are one and the same thing then why the "Dessert and Pudding"? I have read sentences like "If bread pudding is on the desert menu......" The two can't possibly be the same.
2 people like this
@mercuryman3a (2477)
• India
27 Sep 08
i have also read that "A pudding is a dessert course of a meal." Implying that a pudding is eatten during the dessert course of a meal. Does it mean that dessert is not a noun and is only a course in a meal?
2 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
27 Sep 08
Dessert is a noun. It is the name for a course in a meal. It is never used to refer to a type of food (as 'pudding' is).
Wikipedia puts it like this: "The word dessert is most commonly used for this course in U.S., Canada, Australia, and Ireland, while sweet, pudding or afters would be more typical terms in the UK and some other Commonwealth countries, including India. According to Debrett's, pudding is the proper term, dessert is only to be used if the course consists of fruit, and sweet is colloquial. This, of course, reflects the upper-class/upper-middle-class usage. More commonly, the words simply form a class shibboleth; pudding being the upper-class and upper-middle-class word to use for sweet food served after the main course, sweet, afters and dessert being considered non-U. However, dessert is considered slightly better than the other two."
Debrett's is a publishing house devoted to documenting the British upper class. The common name for the course varies considerable in different areas of Britain and also by class. My mother (whose father owned a grocery store - "He was a businessman, dear, not a common tradesman!") always hated the words 'sweet' and 'afters' ("Common people say that!"). It was always 'pudding' in our house, even when us children complained that it rarely was actually 'pudding' (apple pie and custard is a pie not a pudding!)
On British restaurant menus, you will find 'Sweet' used in many places but, increasingly, one sees 'Dessert' as the restaurant aspires to a better class of menu. I think one almost never sees the word 'Pudding' to describe the course.
I found that, in the US, 'Dessert' seemed to be the universal term and I got strange, uncomprehending looks when I called it 'Pudding'.
@BRATINELLO (1)
• Philippines
22 Jan 10
Pudding is also a type of dessert, sweets is based on sugar while pudding is pastry based could flour, milk, butter etc.
@JoyfulOne (6232)
• United States
27 Sep 08
A dessert is anything that is sweet and eaten (generally) after the main course of a meal; pudding is only one type of a dessert. Desserts can come in many forms: dessert can be cake, doughnuts, pie, cookies, pudding etc. A dessert doesn't always have fruit in it, as in many cakes.
I think most cookbooks list puddings separately because there are so many different kinds. In U.S. puddings are usually just made with milk; in other lands there may be meat in it, and made a whole different way. My cookbooks almost all have a separate chapter just for puddings, it is usually listed with milk and dairy recipes...but it is also often a dessert. Some cookbooks put it in with dessert recipes because that's when a lot of people eat it (after their main meal.)
Pudding a noun? Most certainly it is. If you look in the dictionary it is listed as a noun. The first listing for pudding says it is a sweet dessert that has been boiled, steamed, or baked. A mixture with a soft puddinglike consistency. The second definition for pudding is: a sausagelike preparation made with minced meat and boiled.
