The Atlas · England's Largest Department

British Desserts & Sweets

59 of England's 151 ranked dishes are sweets, making pudding the deepest department of the English table. By our raters the best is Clotted Cream Ice Cream, the West Country's richest scoop, Nº 945 worldwide.

59 dishes ranked·39.1% of the cuisine·1,661 diner ratings·Top rank Nº 945

The English have a word the rest of the world borrows for dessert: pudding. And they mean it. Of England's 59 ranked sweets, roughly two in five of the whole cuisine, most are warm, homely and drowned in custard rather than iced or piped. The standout of that trolley is sticky toffee pudding, a date sponge under hot toffee sauce at Nº 1,439, the Lake District's gift to the pudding course.

Fame and rank pull in opposite directions here. The most-reviewed English sweet is not our top-rated one but the Christmas mince pie, with 153 ratings yet stranded at Nº 8,706, and the wobbling trifle sits just behind it on 134. By score the crown goes elsewhere: England's best is Clotted Cream Ice Cream at Nº 945, though no English sweet climbs near the global summit. The richest regional seam runs through Cornwall, clotted-cream country and home of the Cornish fairing. Read them below: the signature sweets, by region, or the complete list of all 59.

The Signature Sweets

Twelve signature sweets in rank order, four told in full, then eight more from the pudding trolley.

Clotted Cream Ice Cream, ice cream from England
Plate IIce Cream · Cornwall

1Nº 945 worldwide

Clotted Cream Ice Cream

Ice Cream · Cornwall

An extravagantly rich ice cream made with Cornish clotted cream, denser and more buttery than the ordinary kind. A West Country specialty now sold across Britain, it tastes like a scoop of the thick golden cream that tops a scone.

★ 4.0|11 ratings

Banoffee Pie, sweet pie from England

2Banoffee PieNº 1,380

Sweet Pie · Jevington

An English invention of banana and toffee, the name a mash-up of the two, layered with whipped cream over a crumbled-biscuit base. Rich, sweet, and no-bake, it dates only to the 1970s but has become a pub-dessert fixture.

★ 3.9|88 ratings

Sticky Toffee Pudding, dessert from England

3Sticky Toffee PuddingNº 1,439

Dessert · Cumbria

A dark, moist sponge studded with chopped dates and drowned in a hot toffee sauce, served with custard or vanilla ice cream. Claimed by the Lake District, it is the warm, sticky king of the British pudding trolley.

★ 3.9|135 ratings

Cornish Fairing, cookie from England

4Cornish FairingNº 1,722

Cookie · Cornwall

A crisp, domed ginger biscuit from Cornwall, spiced with ginger and cinnamon and cracked with a network of fine lines across the top. Once sold at country fairs, hence the name, it has been baked by the same Cornish firm since the 1880s.

★ 3.9|6 ratings

  1. Treacle Tart, tart from England5

    Treacle Tart

    Nº 2,106

    Tart · England★ 3.8

  2. Bedfordshire Clanger, sweet pastry from England6

    Bedfordshire Clanger

    Nº 2,160

    Sweet Pastry · Central Bedfordshire★ 3.8

  3. Eve's Pudding, pudding from England7

    Eve's Pudding

    Nº 2,243

    Pudding · England★ 3.8

  4. Grasmere Gingerbread, cookie from England8

    Grasmere Gingerbread

    Nº 2,388

    Cookie · Grasmere★ 3.8

  5. Devonshire Split, sweet bread from England9

    Devonshire Split

    Nº 3,049

    Sweet Bread · Devon★ 3.8

  6. Yorkshire Curd Tart, tart from England10

    Yorkshire Curd Tart

    Nº 3,063

    Tart · Yorkshire and the Humber★ 3.8

  7. Sussex Pond Pudding, dessert from England11

    Sussex Pond Pudding

    Nº 3,075

    Dessert · East Sussex★ 3.8

  8. I12

    Isle of Wight Doughnuts

    Nº 4,025

    Fried Dough · Isle of Wight★ 3.7

The Gazetteer

Where England's puddings are made

The counties of England with the deepest pudding traditions. Choose one to filter the complete ledger below.

Placed dishes only · top 6 regions

  7. Another 25 ranked dishes are logged simply as pan-British, with no single regional home.

The Complete Ledger

All 59 English desserts & sweets in the world ranking, every entry.

59 entries
  1. 945 Clotted Cream Ice Cream Ice Cream Cornwall ★ 4.0
  2. 1,380 Banoffee Pie Sweet Pie Jevington ★ 3.9
  3. 1,439 Sticky Toffee Pudding Dessert Cumbria ★ 3.9
  4. 1,722 Cornish Fairing Cookie Cornwall ★ 3.9
  5. 2,106 Treacle Tart Tart England ★ 3.8
  6. 2,160 Bedfordshire Clanger Sweet Pastry Central Bedfordshire ★ 3.8
  7. 2,243 Eve's Pudding Pudding England ★ 3.8
  8. 2,388 Grasmere Gingerbread Cookie Grasmere ★ 3.8
  9. 3,049 Devonshire Split Sweet Bread Devon ★ 3.8
  10. 3,063 Yorkshire Curd Tart Tart Yorkshire and the Humber ★ 3.8
  11. 3,075 Sussex Pond Pudding Dessert East Sussex ★ 3.8
  12. 4,025 I Isle of Wight Doughnuts Fried Dough Isle of Wight ★ 3.7
  13. 4,454 Shrewsbury Cakes Cookie Shrewsbury ★ 3.7
  14. 4,534 Gypsy Tart Tart Kent ★ 3.7
  15. 5,158 Cornish Saffron Buns Sweet Bread Cornwall ★ 3.6
  16. 5,255 Goosnargh Cake Cookie Goosnargh ★ 3.6
  17. 5,490 London Cheesecake Sweet Pastry England ★ 3.6
  18. 5,594 Eton Mess Dessert Eton ★ 3.6
  19. 5,622 Cornish Hevva Cake Cake Cornwall ★ 3.6
  20. 5,643 Bakewell Flapjack Dessert England ★ 3.6
  21. 5,724 Victoria Sponge Cake England ★ 3.6
  22. 5,832 Manchester Tart Tart Manchester ★ 3.6
  23. 5,840 Lemonade Scones Dessert England ★ 3.6
  24. 6,040 Saffron Cake Dessert Cornwall ★ 3.6
  25. 6,047 Banbury Cake Sweet Pastry Banbury ★ 3.6
  26. 6,056 Cherries Jubilee Flambéed Dessert London ★ 3.6
  27. 6,241 Lemon Drizzle Cake Cake England ★ 3.5
  28. 6,275 Bakewell Pudding Tart Bakewell ★ 3.5
  29. 6,283 Fat Rascal Cake York ★ 3.5
  30. 6,515 Bakewell Tart Tart Bakewell ★ 3.5
  31. 6,575 Knickerbocker Glory Frozen Dessert Sherston ★ 3.5
  32. 6,585 Parkin Cake Yorkshire and the Humber ★ 3.5
  33. 6,762 Syllabub Dessert England ★ 3.5
  34. 7,053 Simnel Cake Cake England ★ 3.5
  35. 7,088 Fruit Scone Dessert England ★ 3.5
  36. 7,093 Lardy Cake Sweet Bread Wiltshire ★ 3.4
  37. 7,117 Cherry Bakewell Tart Bakewell ★ 3.4
  38. 7,308 Bath Bun Sweet Bread Bath ★ 3.4
  39. 7,708 Fruit Fool Dessert England ★ 3.3
  40. 7,800 Jam Roly-Poly Dessert England ★ 3.3
  41. 7,812 Chelsea Bun Sweet Bread London ★ 3.3
  42. 8,067 Steamed Pudding Dessert England ★ 3.2
  43. 8,275 Summer Pudding Dessert England ★ 3.1
  44. 8,376 Rock Cakes Cookie England ★ 3.1
  45. 8,425 Eccles Cake Sweet Pastry Eccles ★ 3.0
  46. 8,440 Brandy Snaps Dessert England ★ 3.0
  47. 8,458 Madeira Cake Cake England ★ 3.0
  48. 8,581 Peach Melba Dessert London ★ 2.9
  49. 8,611 Hot Cross Buns Sweet Bread England ★ 2.8
  50. 8,666 Bread and Butter Pudding Dessert England ★ 2.7
  51. 8,697 Battenberg Cake Cake England ★ 2.6
  52. 8,706 Mince Pie Sweet Pie England ★ 2.6
  53. 8,708 Trifle Dessert England ★ 2.6
  54. 8,802 Christmas Pudding Pudding England ★ 2.1
  55. 9,445 Dorset Knob Rusk Dorset ★ 0.0
  56. 9,448 Queen of Puddings Pudding England ★ 0.0
  57. 10,069 L Langley Wakes Cakes Cookie Derbyshire ★ 0.0
  58. 10,135 T Tutti Frutti ice cream Ice Cream England ★ 0.0
  59. 10,566 C Colston Bun Sweet Bread Bristol ★ 0.0

Questions, Answered

English desserts & sweets, frequently asked, answered from 1,661 ratings.

What is the best English dessert?
By our diners' ratings it's clotted cream ice cream, the Cornish scoop churned from thick golden cream, at Nº 945 worldwide. Behind it come the banana-and-toffee banoffee pie, the Lake District's sticky toffee pudding, and the crisp ginger Cornish fairing.
What are English desserts known for?
Puddings, above all: warm, homely sponges and steamed suet puddings served with custard, not the piped patisserie of France. Of England's 59 ranked sweets the bench runs deep in tarts and puddings, from treacle tart to sticky toffee pudding, more comfort than showpiece.
What is the most famous English dessert?
By number of ratings it's the Christmas mince pie, the spiced-fruit tartlet, with 153 reviews, just ahead of trifle on 134 and Victoria sponge on 111. Yet fame doesn't track quality here: mince pie ranks only Nº 8,706, far below our top-rated clotted cream ice cream.
What is sticky toffee pudding?
A dark, moist date sponge soaked in hot toffee sauce and served with custard or vanilla ice cream, claimed by the Lake District. At Nº 1,439 it is our highest-rated true English pudding, the sticky centrepiece of the British pudding trolley.
Which region of England has the best desserts?
Among sweets with a named home, Cornwall leads with five, its clotted-cream ice cream and Cornish fairing, ahead of London and the Derbyshire town of Bakewell on three apiece. Many English sweets are logged simply as nationwide, with no single county claiming them.
Where else should I look for great desserts?
Especially the pastry nations: worldwide the department runs to 2,151 sweets from 154 countries, topped not by England but by Algeria's almond makroud at Nº 8. Across the Channel, Italy fields 305 ranked desserts and France 114. See Desserts & Sweets worldwide.

This Department, Elsewhere

Desserts & sweets from England's neighbours, ranked the same way.

SwedishDesserts & Sweets30NorwegianDesserts & Sweets27DanishDesserts & Sweets21BritishDesserts & Sweets20FinnishDesserts & Sweets14BritishDesserts & Sweets7LatvianDesserts & Sweets4BritishDesserts & Sweets3IrishDesserts & Sweets3LithuanianDesserts & Sweets3GuernseyDesserts & Sweets3BritishDesserts & Sweets2IcelandicDesserts & Sweets2EstonianDesserts & Sweets2Isle of ManDesserts & Sweets1JerseyDesserts & Sweets1Northern EuropeDesserts & Sweets1
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