Perfect Puddings Trivia Quiz

Cherry pie involves lining a pie dish with short-crust pastry before filling it with some cooked cherries, then covering it with more short-crust pastry. The lid can be made from some criss-crossed strips of pastry to produce a lattice, or from a solid layer of pastry, in which case a few vent holes should be made to allow the steam to escape. Almost any other fruit can be used instead of the cherries; perhaps apple pie is one of the best-known.

Rice pudding is made by baking a mixture of pudding rice and sweetened milk in an oven-proof dish. As shown in the picture, some people like to add a dollop of jam to the top of a portion when serving it. Red jam, well stirred in, turns the rice pink, which often appeals to children. Other people stir dried fruit into the mixture before cooking it, or to sprinkle some cinnamon on top.

A baked apple is a large cooking apple cored, but not peeled. It is then cooked in the oven in a dish with a little water. A tasty addition involves a mixture of dried fruit and brown sugar stuffed into the hole left by the core before cooking the apple.

Treacle tart is made from a pastry case filled with treacle or golden syrup poured over a layer of breadcrumbs and baked in the oven. The top can be decorated with pastry trimmings. For a slightly different flavour, crushed cornflakes can replace the breadcrumbs.

Christmas pudding is a very rich fruit pudding made from flour, suet, breadcrumbs, diced apple, grated carrot, currants, raisins, sultanas, and anything else which the cook decides to include, mixed up with a small quantity of liquid such as fruit juice, milk, beer or brandy.

The mixture is placed into a pudding basin and steamed for several hours, so it should be almost black when it is done. Especially when it is served after dinner on Christmas Day, it might have had a coin hidden in it, the recipient of which is supposed to have good fortune for the coming year.

The pudding in the picture has been dowsed with brandy which has been set alight before serving.

Pineapple upside down cake is made by placing a layer of pineapple slices into the bottom of a shallow dish and pouring a sponge cake mixture on top. When it has been cooked, the cake is turned out of the dish and served with the pineapple layer on top.

It could have glace cherries placed in the holes of the pineapple slices, or other fruit added before cooking for added colour. The cake can be eaten hot or cold, and is sometimes accompanied by a sauce made from the pineapple juice.

Bread and butter pudding is made from sliced and buttered bread layered into an oven-proof dish with some mixed dried fruit. A mixture of egg and milk is poured on, then some nutmeg can be added on top before it is baked until the pudding is set and a golden brown colour.

Lemon meringue pie has a pastry case filled with a lemon-flavoured custard mixture topped with meringue. It is possible to use other fruit fillings in place of the lemon custard; I recommend trying it with a black cherry filling.

Eve's pudding is made by cooking a sponge cake mixture over a layer of stewed apple in an oven-proof dish. Although other fruit could be used in place of apples it wouldn't really be an Eve's pudding, since the name comes from the bible story in Genesis.

Jam roly poly involves rolling out a suet dough and spreading it with a layer of (usually red) jam, then rolling it up to make a sausage shape. The dough can then be baked or boiled, and served cut into slices.

Plum crumble is a dish of stewed plums with a crumble topping, which is made by rubbing fat into flower until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then stirring some sugar into it and baking it in the oven. Almost any fruit can be used for a crumble including apricots, pears, apples, gooseberries, rhubarb, or a combination of two or more fruits. Pears are particularly nice with chocolate chips mixed into the crumble topping before cooking.

Other variations include adding porridge oats to the crumble mixture.

Spotted dick is a traditional pudding made with a suet dough and dried fruit. The mixture can either be steamed in a pudding basin or boiled in a cloth in a pan of boiling water.