Is it Pudding or is it Cake?

Looking down below at my first attempt at Woodford pudding, it’s reasonable to wonder: isn’t this pudding actually some kind of cake? And indeed this pudding is very cake-like. Which is to say it’s floury and crumbly, characteristics we Americans are unaccustomed to seeing in our puddings. For us, a pudding is a custard-type concoction. But assuming you start adding a little flour to that custard, at what point does it become cake? It’s a difficult question to answer. Sort of like asking, as one subtracts flour from a brownie recipe to make it ever-more decadent and gooey, at what point does it become fudge? It all depends on your point of view. I think to really answer this question we need to take a closer look at what pudding really is and where it comes from. It’s a darn big topic, but one I’ll do my best to tackle over the course of the next couple of days.