The best British puddings
The top 3 according to 9 votes from people: Trifle · Bread and butter pudding · Treacle tart. (Updated Dec 13, 2025.)
Proper British puddings, the hot and cold desserts served with custard or cream in pubs and at Sunday lunch, chosen from what keeps coming up in pudding guides and recipe roundups.
Top 15
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1
Trifle
Layers of sponge soaked in sherry, fruit or jelly, custard and whipped cream.
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2
Bread and butter pudding
Buttered bread baked in custard with raisins and nutmeg.
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3
Treacle tart
Golden syrup and breadcrumb tart, Harry Potter's favourite.
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4
Christmas pudding
Dark steamed pudding of dried fruit, suet and brandy, set alight on Christmas Day.
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5
Rhubarb crumble
The tart spring version of the crumble, with forced Yorkshire rhubarb.
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6
Victoria sponge
Two sponges sandwiching jam and cream, named after Queen Victoria.
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7
Sticky toffee pudding
Date sponge drenched in toffee sauce with custard or ice cream; popularised at Sharrow Bay in the Lake District in the 1970s.
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8
Apple crumble
Stewed apples under a buttery crumble topping, with custard.
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9
Spotted dick
Steamed suet pudding with currants, served with custard.
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10
Bakewell tart
Shortcrust tart with jam and frangipane, topped with flaked almonds or icing and a cherry.
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11
Jam roly-poly
Rolled suet pudding spread with jam, the school dinner classic.
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12
Banoffee pie
Biscuit base, toffee, banana and cream, invented at The Hungry Monk in Sussex in 1971.
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13
Sticky steamed syrup sponge
Light steamed sponge capped with golden syrup.
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14
Summer pudding
Bread-lined bowl filled with summer berries, turned out cold.
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15
Eccles cakes
Flaky pastry filled with currants, from Eccles near Manchester.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 15… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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16
Eton mess
Strawberries, broken meringue and cream, served at Eton's cricket match against Harrow.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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Comments (1)
Sticky toffee pudding with custard is the greatest dessert in the world and I won't hear otherwise