The Steamy Story of Puddings
by Kimberly Keagan
September 10, 2025
September 10, 2025
As a member of the Puddings & Pages Club, you’ve seen that I make an English steamed pudding every month, post the pictures (even if it’s a failure), and give you the recipe to try yourselves. But I’ve never given you the history behind the steamed pudding.
The steamed puddings that are popular now are typically of the sweet variety. The very first puddings, however, were never sweet. In medieval kitchens, a “pudding” referred to a mixture of minced meat, fat, grain, and spices, all tied up in an animal casing and boiled. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think this sounds very appetizing. 🤢
Over time, cooks traded the sausage skin for cloth bags, and eventually for ceramic basins and metal molds. By the Georgian and Victorian eras, puddings had become both savory (think steak and kidney pudding) and sweet (like Christmas plum pudding).
Why Steam Instead of Bake?
Steaming was practical in households that didn’t have reliable ovens. A pot of water on the hearth could cradle a pudding for hours, slowly transforming raw batter into a rich, spongy dessert. The method also preserved moisture, perfect for dense mixtures with dried fruit or suet.
Why do I like to make steamed puddings, despite being a lifelong amateur baker and possessing a very reliable oven? Because steamed puddings are yummy and very forgiving. I’ve never made a pudding that didn’t taste good. Granted, not all have turned out pretty, but they’re always delicious!
The steamed puddings that are popular now are typically of the sweet variety. The very first puddings, however, were never sweet. In medieval kitchens, a “pudding” referred to a mixture of minced meat, fat, grain, and spices, all tied up in an animal casing and boiled. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think this sounds very appetizing. 🤢
Over time, cooks traded the sausage skin for cloth bags, and eventually for ceramic basins and metal molds. By the Georgian and Victorian eras, puddings had become both savory (think steak and kidney pudding) and sweet (like Christmas plum pudding).
Why Steam Instead of Bake?
Steaming was practical in households that didn’t have reliable ovens. A pot of water on the hearth could cradle a pudding for hours, slowly transforming raw batter into a rich, spongy dessert. The method also preserved moisture, perfect for dense mixtures with dried fruit or suet.
Why do I like to make steamed puddings, despite being a lifelong amateur baker and possessing a very reliable oven? Because steamed puddings are yummy and very forgiving. I’ve never made a pudding that didn’t taste good. Granted, not all have turned out pretty, but they’re always delicious!
Sweet vs. Savory
- Savory Puddings: Often encased in suet pastry, filled with meats and gravies. Steak and kidney remains the most famous.
- Sweet Puddings: Ranged from treacle sponge to jam roly-poly (technically baked, but often lumped in with steamed classics), and of course the iconic Christmas pudding, studded with dried fruits and splashed with brandy.
What ties them together is the method: a slow, moist cook, either by boiling or steaming, that produces something unlike cake, pie, or custard—very much its own category.
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Christmas Pudding
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The Magic of Molds
To the Victorians, pudding presentation mattered. By the mid-1800s, fancy pudding molds had become status symbols. A plain round basin was serviceable, but molded puddings were a showpiece at the table. Today, you’ll also find molds to make individual puddings. Let’s look at the variety of molds to choose from both then and now…
- Ceramic basins: The everyday workhorse. White, sturdy, and still sold in kitchen shops today. For individual puddings, even ramekins will work!
- Tin molds: My favorite mold! It’s lighter and often decorated with fluted sides, stars, or elaborate ridges. There are plenty of individual tin molds available online.
- Copper molds: The height of Victorian elegance. Polished to a shine, they could transform a pudding into a centerpiece worthy of a banquet.
- Cloth “bags”: Still used for some traditional recipes (like Sussex pond pudding), producing a rustic, rounded shape with a skin-like exterior. I’ve never tried this method, but I will eventually.
My collection of pudding molds.
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Pudding cloth can be purchased on kiwicakes.com.nz
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Today, you don’t even need to purchase a special mold (although a copper one would look lovely hanging in a kitchen). A simple ceramic basin, a lidded metal mold, or even a heatproof glass bowl will do the trick. Tie on some parchment and foil, lower it into a pan of simmering water, and you’re recreating a tradition that has delighted families for centuries.