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    Home » Recipes » Desserts

    Canary Pudding

    Published: Jun 1, 2018 · Modified: Jan 3, 2023 by Libby Hakim · 4 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Canary Pudding is a traditional English steamed pudding. This bright and sweet dessert is comforting and so easy to make. If you don't have a pudding bowl you can use a small pyrex bowl. And if you don't have a steamer, there's a way around that too!

    Winter is definitely more bearable with little comforts like open fires, hot chocolate, and... puddings.

    Those packet self-saucing puddings from the supermarket are quite tempting. However, when I steamed up this Canary Pudding from scratch I was impressed by the difference. I patted myself on the back and said, "Now THIS is a pudding!"

    It's not quite as easy as a packet pudding, but a homemade steamed pudding is certainly worth the effort and this Canary Pudding recipe is quite easy to follow.

    Jump to:
    • Do you have all the ingredients?
    • Do you need a steamer?
    • Do you need a pudding bowl?
    • Nana Ling's Canary Pudding recipe
    • More pudding recipes
    • Canary Pudding

    Canary Pudding: a little history

    The original recipe is dated May 1940, and my research shows that canary puddings reached the height of their popularity in Australia in the earlier 1900's.

    The earliest reference I can find to this recipe in Australian newspapers is during the Victorian era. I wonder if Queen Victoria was one to indulge in a little Canary Pudding?

    In earlier times, though, puddings weren't really considered an indulgence. Puddings were seen in a different, more nutritional, light.

    pudding advice

    The Mail (Adelaide), 3 April 1915

    pudding history

    The Armidale Express, 25 August 1947  

    Do you have all the ingredients?

    The entire ingredient list and quantities can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

    You should have most of the ingredients on hand.

    The only thing I didn't have was the lemon essence, which I found among the other cooking essences at the supermarket.

    Oh, and the creme fraiche for the sauce was another thing I had to add to the shopping list.

    Do you need a steamer?

    This is a steamed pudding, so a saucepan steamer, as pictured below in the recipe card, makes things easy. 

    However, you can also simply use a large saucepan or boiler with a small heatproof container placed in the bottom (on which you sit the pudding, with the water level sitting just below your pudding).

    Do you need a pudding bowl?

    I made this recipe just when the cold weather hit Sydney.

    I could not get my hands on a pudding bowl – shopkeepers either looked at me blankly or told me they'd just sold out.

    Instead, I used a small pyrex bowl. This worked perfectly well.

    By coincidence, a couple of days later not one but two lovely pudding bowls found their way to me.

    My dear neighbour, Joyce, sadly passed away a couple of months ago at the the age of 97 years. She was a wonderful neighbour and a superb cook.

    Whenever I'd do something nice for her, she'd always outdo me. I took some fresh cherries over to her a few years ago and later that day she delivered layered cherry jelly for my kids to enjoy.

    So, when her daughter asked me if I'd like to look through some of Joyce's kitchen things, I was keen to take a peak. At the very top of the pile of things to be thrown out were two lovely pudding bowls. Thank you, Joyce!

    Here's a picture to give you an idea of the (minimal) difference between a pudding bowl and mixing bowl (the mixing bowl is in the middle of my two newly-acquired pudding bowls):

    pudding bowls

    Nana Ling's Canary Pudding recipe

    Here's a copy of the original recipe from Nana Ling, dated 24 May 1940.

    Keep scrolling for the tested and tweaked version in the recipe card below this original recipe.

    Nana Ling's Canary Pudding

    More pudding recipes

    • sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce
      Sticky Date Pudding
    • bread and butter pudding served with ice cream.
      Nan Mac's Bread and Butter Pudding
    • chocolate self saucing pudding served with strawberries and cream.
      Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding
    • lemon delicious
      Lemon Delicious

    Made this recipe and love it? Please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. (And it really makes my day to hear how Nana Ling's recipes are being made, shared and loved all around the world! - Libby x)

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    Canary Pudding

    Libby Hakim
    Canary Pudding is a traditional English steamed pudding. A bright and sweet dessert that's comforting and easy to make.
    4.67 from 6 votes
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    Prep Time 30 minutes mins
    Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
    Total Time 2 hours hrs
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Australian, British
    Servings 6 people
    Calories 221 kcal

    Equipment

    • 1 small pudding bowl (or pyrex bowl)

    Ingredients
      

    Pudding

    • 60 grams butter
    • 60 grams caster sugar
    • 1 egg
    • 60 ml milk
    • 1 lemon (grated rind only)
    • ¼ teaspoon lemon essence
    • 115 grams plain flour
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • pinch salt

    Sauce

    • ⅓ cup creme fraiche
    • ⅓ cup custard

    Instructions
     

    Pudding

    • Beat butter and sugar to a cream.
    • Beat egg and add to mixture.
      beat eggs
    • Add milk and lemon essence and mix well.
      adding milk
    • Add lemon rind, salt and sifted flour and baking powder. Mix well.
    • Grease a small pudding bowl or pyrex bowl.
      canary pudding in bowl 2
    • Cover with greased paper and tie down.
    • Steam for one and a half hours.
      steaming canary pudding
    • Once cooked, use a knife to carefully free the pudding from the edges of the bowl before turning out onto a plate.
      cooked canary pudding

    Sauce

    • Whisk creme fraiche and custard together.
    • Pour over pudding and top with a slice of lemon.
      Canary Pudding recipe

    Notes

    How to steam a pudding
    If you don't have a steamer, put a small heatproof dish in the bottom of a saucepan.
    Fill with water to just below the top of the small dish and bring to the boil.
    Sit pudding bowl on top of small dish, turn down to a simmer and cover.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 221kcalCarbohydrates: 30gProtein: 4gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 58mgSodium: 100mgPotassium: 135mgFiber: 1gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 334IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 62mgIron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?If you love it, let me know!

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      Chocolate Blancmange
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      Marshmallow Recipe
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    Comments

    1. Linda C. Klein

      May 27, 2022 at 3:32 pm

      Thank you for including your Nana's handwritten recipe. I am from the United States, and Nana's measurements in ounces are more familiar to me than grams or ml. Although pudding basins are very hard to find in the US, I was lucky enough to find a 900 ml Mason Cash pudding basin (imported from the UK) at a store in Traverse City, Michigan. In the past, I used a Pyrex bowl. Made a cranberry orange steamed pudding for Christmas, and it was a big hit. Looking forward to trying this recipe.

      Linda K.

      Reply
      • Libby Hakim

        May 27, 2022 at 8:44 pm

        You're welcome, Linda 🙂 I love Mason Cash, it's one of my favourite kitchen brands - the pudding basin is lovely, I'm sure. I also have a pounds/grams conversion calculator on the website: https://www.cookingwithnanaling.com/pounds-to-grams-conversion/ Happy cooking and hope you love the Canary Pudding. Libby

        Reply
    2. Jan

      September 29, 2021 at 9:31 pm

      Hello Libby,
      We ate Canary Pudding a lot when things were lean on the farm - always with golden syrup. We each had a wedge with a small spoonful of golden syrup poured on top. Served with hot boiled custard. (Golden syrup tin sat on edge of hob so it would run easily off the spoon).
      Cheers, Jan

      Reply
      • Libby Hakim

        September 30, 2021 at 8:20 pm

        You're making me hungry, Jan! Hot boiled custard is always a winner 🙂 Thanks for adding your memories of this recipe. Libby x

        Reply
    4.67 from 6 votes (6 ratings without comment)

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    Hi, I'm Libby, a recipe collector and writer. I love everything about home cooking and share modern classics and recipes that have been passed down for generations – I hope you find a few that bring back treasured memories.

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