What are the 3 types of pudding?

Pudding is a type of food that can be either a dessert or a savory dish. There are various types of pudding that differ in texture and ingredients, but they generally fall into 3 main categories: custard puddings, baked puddings, and boiled or steamed puddings.

Custard Puddings

Custard puddings are a type of pudding made with eggs, milk or cream, and flavorings like sugar, vanilla, chocolate or fruit. They have a silky smooth texture from the eggs and cream or milk. Custard puddings are thickened with the eggs rather than flour or cornstarch. Some of the most popular custard puddings include:

• Crème brûlée – A rich custard base topped with a hard caramelized sugar crust.
• Crème caramel – Also known as flan, this custard is baked in a caramel-coated mold.
• Pots de crème – Small ramekins filled with creamy, dense custard.
• Pastry cream – A thick custard used as a filling for tarts, eclairs, and other pastries.
• Rice pudding – Made with rice, milk, eggs, sugar and spices like cinnamon.
• Trifle – Layers of sponge cake soaked in sherry or fruit juice with custard, fruit, jelly and whipped cream.

The egg and dairy base makes custard puddings rich and creamy with a silky smooth texture. They can be chilled and served cold, or warm when freshly baked. Custard puddings are considered an elegant and sophisticated dessert.

Making Custard Puddings

Custard puddings use a simple formula of milk or cream, eggs, sugar, and flavorings. They key steps include:

1. Heat the dairy in a saucepan until steaming but not boiling.
2. Whisk eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Slowly pour the hot dairy into the egg mixture while whisking constantly. This tempers the eggs so they don’t curdle.
4. Return the custard mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or spatula until thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon.
5. Strain the custard into a clean bowl or ramekins.
6. Chill custards in the fridge until set, about 2 hours or overnight.
7. Can be served cold, baked in a water bath, or topped with caramelized sugar and browned with a kitchen torch.

Baked Puddings

Baked puddings are puddings that are baked in the oven after the ingredients are combined. They have a soft, cake-like texture from baking that is different than custard puddings. Baked puddings are thickened with eggs and often include bread, rice or cereal to help absorb excess moisture. Common baked puddings include:

• Bread pudding – Made with stale bread, milk, eggs, spices and dried fruit.
• Rice pudding – White rice is cooked in milk then oven-baked with eggs, sugar, raisins and cinnamon.
• Tapioca pudding – Small tapioca pearls cooked with milk, eggs and sugar then baked.
• Cornmeal pudding – A traditional Southern dessert made with cornmeal, milk, eggs, butter and sugar.
• Cake puddings – Sponge cake or ladyfingers layered with custard or sweetened cream and baked.

Baked puddings have a comforting, old-fashioned appeal. The eggs give them structure so they cut neatly and hold their shape. Baking concentrates the flavors and develops a delicious lightly browned crust on top.

Preparing Baked Puddings

Baked puddings tend to use a basic method:

1. Combine bread, rice, cereal or other starch with dairy, eggs, sugar and spices.
2. Pour the pudding batter into a greased baking dish.
3. Bake in a water bath or bain marie to prevent overcooking and stir half way through baking.
4. Puddings are finished when the center is just set and no longer liquid.
5. Let cool slightly before serving warm or chilled.

The oven’s gentle heat gives baked puddings their unique texture. Baking concentrates flavors for a wonderful old fashioned treat.

Boiled or Steamed Puddings

Boiled or steamed puddings are made from a thick, moist batter that is boiled, steamed or simmered on the stovetop inside a pudding mold or basin. They have a soft, spongy texture. These puddings are popular in British and Irish cuisine. Some classic examples include:

• Christmas pudding – A rich fruited pudding boiled or steamed for the holidays.
• Sticky toffee pudding – A steamed date pudding with sticky toffee sauce.
• Spotted dick – A steamed suet pudding with dried fruit and a spotty appearance.
• Figgy pudding – Dating back to medieval times, this pudding contains figs, brandy and molasses.
• Summer pudding – A chilled pudding made by lining a dish with bread and filling it with fruit.

The moist heat from steaming or boiling allows these pudding batters to cook through while keeping their soft, cake-like texture. The pudding bowls or molds give them their distinctive round shape.

Preparing Boiled/Steamed Puddings

While the batter ingredients vary, the basic process for boiled/steamed puddings is:

1. Prepare a thick batter from flour, baking powder, eggs, butter, milk, sugar and spices.
2. Grease a heatproof pudding basin mold very well.
3. Pour the batter into the greased mold, cover securely with foil or lid.
4. Set the filled mold in a pot with gently simmering water. The water should come 2/3 up the sides of the mold.
5. Steam the pudding for 2-4 hours until cooked through, replenishing boiling water as needed.
6. Remove from water bath, let rest 5 minutes then unmold onto a plate.

This gentle steaming method allows the puddings to cook through fully while keeping a soft, even texture. The molds give them their iconic shape.

Conclusion

There are 3 main types of pudding – custard, baked and boiled/steamed. Custard puddings use eggs to thicken dairy into a silky smooth treat. Baked puddings use gentle oven heat to concentrate flavors and textures. Boiled or steamed puddings are made from a moist batter cooked in a covered mold. Each method produces classic pudding favorites with unique textures and shapes. While puddings vary around the world, they fall into these basic categories based on how they are prepared and thickened during cooking.