Pudding or Dessert?

[TheShellBeach]

.........or even "Sweet" or "Afters"? What do you call it?
And what do you have, if anything?

Pudding is a type of dessert. It's a category issue. I'd only refer to it as "sweet" in writing on a menu; one of many courses. Tend to agree with pp that in casual terms a pudding is served hot / a dessert is served cold but I'm rarely casual about dessert!

Growing up in the 70’s we called it pudding. I now call it dessert.

Favourites are rice pudding, apple crumble and custard, sultana dumplings with ice cream, chocolate fudge pudding with ice cream, cheesecake.

I think some in the middle classes are hung up on U words because they think it makes them sound like Old Money. Ironically, the U words have replaced the non-U as aspirational and try-hard, which is surely terribly non-U.

Absolutely. I think that’s a relatively recent ish occurrence.

Lunch - 1 o clock (or 12 for some). Lower classes are more likely to call this ‘dinner’
Afternoon tea - 4pm
High tea - 5 or 6pm. Some people call this ‘tea’. Or supper.
Dinner - 6-8pm. Some people call this tea or supper.

Afters.

Afters at home and dessert at a restaurant

Calling dessert "pudding" is like calling breakfast "cereal".

Agree!

We used to have Elevensies as children. Either a slice of homemade cake or a Mr Kipling French fancy, rarely had this at 1100, it confused my friends when we got the call for elevensies at 1000. I do remember the viennetta ad along with the Vesta curries ad - convinced my mum to buy some - so many elements.

Calling pudding “dessert” is like calling breakfast “a sumptuous repast”.

Dessert. Pudding describes a type of dessert.

Same. Also from a northern working class background and my parents also used "dessert". 😂

Growing up in 60s London suburb it was afters and sometimes a sweet.

Pudding for me now 😋

I want elevenses now.
And cake.

Only if your frame of reference is something from a packet rather than a mousse or souffle

Or even a properly prepared homely English pudding. These can be utterly delicious

Dessert in Australia, a pudding is a type of dessert!

I remember in one of the Miss Marple books there's a comment about someone's cook not being able to make a plain boiled pudding.

Typical that it would fall to the cook to provide this, of course, in Miss Marple World.

Always "pudding", never "dessert" whatever you are eating.

I was was told as a child that common people say "dessert", because they think it sounds "posh".

@TheShellBeach , if you employed a cook, you'd expect him or her to be able to make a boiled pudding. I don't understand what your point is.

According to several sources, the English speaking countries where ‘dessert’ is the preferred term include Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the US. Wikipedia says that ‘pudding’ is preferred in Britain and ‘some Commonwealth countries’.

It's pudding in our house.

I would never eat mousse or soufflé for breakfast, no. For pudding, absolutely.

Afters. Pudding is too specific and dessert is to airy fairy.

I'd only call it 'pudding' if it was indeed a pudding. I'm astonished to learn that this leaves some people with the impression that I think I'm posh!! 😆

(I'm not English though, if that's relevant)