British Packaged Desserts

The British people love their sweets and their packaged desserts are some of the most unhealthy and yet tasty in the world. They tend to be packed with preservatives, coloring agents and loads of sugar!

There is a company called Aunty’s that sells packaged puddings including Sticky Toffee Pudding, Chocolate Fudge Pudding and Spotted Dick. However the sweetest of all has to be the Golden Syrup pudding which is like a cake made up out of pancake syrup.

Another stand-by is Bird’s Custard Powder. This stuff whips up into a creamy smooth pudding that is perfect for crème caramel. The only problem is that even though it  tastes like egg custards there are no eggs in it at all. Only chemicals.  Bird’s Strawberry Trifle is the same stuff, only tinted pink and artificially flavored.  Green’s egg custard mix is a similar product that is used for making creamy tarts, English trifle and crème brulee.

Blackcurrant is a favorite flavor of the English. Chivers are the British Jell-O brand and they sell solid blocks of jelly in black currant and also lime strawberry, lemon and raspberry flavors.

Canned rhubarb is also quite popular in Britain. It is served at British tea, as a pie filling and poured over pound cake. Another quite bizarre and very sweet dessert is Heinz Strawberry Jam Pudding which is a sponge pudding dripping with syrup and fruit.

Blancmange is also a popular dessert. This is like a thick jell – a mixture of gelatin and milk that is flavored with chocolate, vanilla, raspberry and strawberry flavors.  They are made in tins and flipped over from their molds and served to delight English children.

Battenbergs are also a classic English dessert that is often served with tea. These are square finger cakes that look like checkered flat squares when cut. They are made of yellow and brown colored sponge cakes and are a common tasty treat.  These are made by a company called Mr. Kipling who also makes “slices.”  Slices are wedges of pound cake that have a fruit jam or lemon custard filling.

The English also enjoy whiskey cakes or cakes made with beer like Guinness. A popular packaged dessert is O’Hara’s Irish Porter Stout Cake w which is generally served with Devon cream or whipped cream.

Many English desserts are quite fattening and this collection is no exception.  The high levels of sugar in these desserts are not good for your teeth either.