Ladies, a Plate

Puddings

By pudding I don't just mean a rich and heavy steamed pudding, although in some weathers such a creation may be just what you feel like, I mean anything sweet or fruity served at the end of a meal. Puddings, like all baking, are not about survival, or even good nutrition - I think puddings are really about love. After all, if a person takes the trouble to make you a delicious pudding, you can be pretty sure they love you.

My father often recalled a creamy rice pudding which his mother left to cook very slowly overnight in the coal range on the farm; it was his idea of heaven. And my theory is that people who have a horror of these sorts of simple puddings often associate them with boarding schools, where they were ruined by institutional cooks. I agree with my father - the perfect rice pudding is a treasure. As small children we enjoyed pudding most nights of the week - Lemon Delicious and Chocolate Fudge Pudding were particular favourites and junket less so, although I have learned to love it as an adult. Puddings may be a more occasional pleasure today, but the memory of our mother's answer to our regular question 'What's for pudding?' lives on. She always said with a smile: 'Wait and see . . .' And her puddings were invariably worth waiting for.