I've never considered myself a pudding person, as I'm not generally a fan of very soft or mushy foods. Bread pudding is wonderful, but pudding puddings always remind me of baby food or having my wisdom teeth. Recently, though, I've seen some very classy puddings pop up in the food blogosphere. Nothing gooey about them, they look sophisticated and absolutely delightful. Check some out:

Creamy and Cold Banana Pudding from Bakerella

Effortless Banana Pudding from Su Good Sweets

Steamed Lemon Pudding via Oh Joy

Real Butterscotch Pudding from Jumbo Empanadas

Banana Pudding Smackdown (reviews) from Mac & Cheese

Steamed Blueberry Puddings from Morsels and Musings

Banana Pudding Ice Cream from Joy the Baker

Rich Risotto Rice Pudding from Sticky, Chewy, Messy Gooey, via Hostess with the Mostess

A search for the best chocolate pudding leads the author through dozens of cookbooks, calls to pastry chefs, and a multitude of cooking experiments. The pictures nearly led me to the grocery store at midnight to satisfy my suddenly awakened craving for bittersweet chocolate pot de crème. Included recipes look insanely delicious.

Tuscan vintners get in a battle over labeling laws, grape origins, and possible wine contamination - is a brunello di Montalcino by any other name as pleasing?

An Iraqi restaurant in midtown Manhattan is a gathering spot for Iraqi ex-pats, Iraqi-Americans, and journalists home from the Baghdad beat.

The Minimalist does tacos Yucatán-style, with poblano peppers, potatoes and corn.

After losing a lawsuit, Pinkberry is forced to reveal what's in its frozen yogurt, and the truth is less than "all natural."

Eric Asimov discusses German Rieslings.

Florence Fabricant explains the grains behind Whole Foods new multigrain sushi.

• The classic food mag gets a makeover. Here's a letter from Editor-in-Chief Barbara Fairchild explaining the new look.
• The magazine picks the best dishes of the year, including the Indulgence of the Year, the Cuisine of the Year, the Ingredient of the Year, and the Dish of the Year.
• A slideshow on how to throw the best cocktail party this holiday season.
• Radicchio is not your average green.
• The top 20 recipes of 2007.
• They also pick the best puddings.
• If you haven't seen it, check out the Bon Appetit blog.
• More recipes: Baked Apple, Raisin, and Brown Sugar Dumplings, Fried Egg and Sausage Ciabatta Breakfast Pizzas, and lots of holidays desserts.

In Kim Severson's mind, her grandmother's "red sauce" recipe, a marinara sauce that stuck with her family through all of her many childhood moves, originated in her grandmother's Italian hometown, where there would undoubtedly be a "single iconic red sauce." After traveling to Italy and tracking down her nearest relatives in that town, she discovered that there was no such sauce because there was no one way to make sauce taste "right" - there was just good sauce.

Frozen yogurt is one of the hottest cold foods around, thanks to a growing interest in yogurt products from consumers and the desire for tasty, lower fat snacks. While some consumer still like the flavor and texture of low fat ice cream, more are drawn to the hint of tartness found in good-quality fro yo. Competition among shop owners is tough, especially for those looking to enter in to the higher end part of the market that Pinkberry (rapidly expanding in LA and NY despite lots of recent criticism) has a large chunk of.

A tribute to the artist/foodie/chef Gordon Matta-Clark will open tomorrow at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Lamb stew is hearty, but surprisingly bright and sweet, thanks to the addition of apricots, which are complemented by olives and buttered almonds.

Frank Bruni dines at Momofuku Ssam Bar and gives it two stars.

Mark Bittman, the minimalist, makes Babbo's Maple Crema, Vanilla Pudding and Indian Cornmeal Pudding.

Chocolate pudding cake is an intensely satisfying, yet simple, dessert. As it bakes, it separates into two layers - a tender chocolate sponge-type cake and a very rich chocolate sauce/ pudding base - so the cake needs no accompaniment unless you want to throw a scoop of vanilla ice cream into the bowl, too.

The second best thing about this cake (the flavor is the first, of course) is that it is incredibly easy to make because it is mixed in the pan that you bake it in. This means that cleanup is minimal and that you can have a delicious, from-scratch dessert on even a very busy weeknight. Not that you shouldn't have it at other times, as well. Any excuse is a good one for chocolate pudding cake.

I love making pudding cakes. I find them to be both easy and satisfying, especially on a cold evening where the dessert can really warm you up. A basic recipe for one will have egg whites folded into a flavored batter, much like a souffle. Unlike a souffle, however, pudding cakes are baked in a water bath that keeps the bottom portion from puffing up as it cooks, leaving a thick pudding at the base of your baking dish. The top portion of the cake, uninhibited by the insulation of the water bath, bakes into a light, moist sponge cake that provides a perfect contrast for the pudding below.

I baked this batch in individual ramekins, which makes them look a little more elegant than a pudding cake baked in one large dish and scooped out for serving. As an extra touch, I also used Meyer lemons in place of regular lemons. They add a lot of lemon flavor without any of the sharpness that is usually associated with lemons and lemon juice.

I just got off the phone with my sister. Looks like we're doing something different for Christmas this year. Instead of the usual turkey and stuffing and veggies, we're going with a mix: a ham, lasagna, casseroles, green bean salad, antipasto. Oh, and desserts. Lots and lots of desserts, including a half dozen different pies, brownies, cookies, candy, and other things. Whatever progress I made exercising the past few weeks is going to vanish, quickly.

But desserts don't have to be bad for you. This Food & Wine slideshow has pics and recipes for 32 different desserts you can make for the holidays and not feel guilty (well, not completely guilty anyway), including a Melon Sorbet, a warm Citrus Gratin with Toasted Almonds, Dark Chocolate Bark with Walnuts and Black Cherries, and Banana Souffles. Not all of the desserts are low fat, but the ones that aren't still have a lot of good things in them.

The site also has some ideas for healthy holiday meals from cookbook author Melissa Clark.

I always have rice leftover after getting Chinese takeout, no matter how little food I ordered or how many people are there to share it. It's almost as though the people on the phone have a sixth sense about how much rice will be consumed. Of course, I'm not really complaining because I really like rice and it's better to have a little extra than not enough. And rice pudding can always be made with the leftovers.

Back to school time is rolling ever closer, and if you have kids, you might be starting to think about what to put in their lunchboxes. Individually packaged servings of desserts and other foods are very convenient and are more popular than ever. Some kids, as one writer found out, even prefer the packaged stuff to homemade - at least in the case of chocolate pudding. So individual puddings were put to the test by a group of seventh graders to see which products would be good lunch box choices.

The winners were Hershey's, Swiss Miss and Handi-Snack, in that order. All three were judged to be smooth, sweet and chocolaty, with Swiss Miss and Handi-Snack garnering compliments for using the perfect amount of sugar and having a fudgy taste. Hershey's, the winner, was praised for tasting "like melted chocolate" and seemed to get bonus points for being packaged in a tube, like the popular Go-Gurts.

The main difference in store bought pudding versus homemade, aside from the packaging, is that store bought doesn't develop a "skin". Avoid a skin on homemade by placing plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding until it is cool. And you can even make your own tubes of pudding by following the instructions here. And if you want your kids to eat the homemade pudding instead of having to buy packaged, have them help you make it. They'll be so excited that they won't care about "skin" or packaging.

Il Buddino are single-serving sized molds that are shaped like little Buddhas. The small, flexible molds hold 125mL each and come in sets of four with one of each of the colors shown above. To use them, simply suspend the mold upside down in a glass of any kind (not included) and fill with pudding, gelatin, mousse or ice cream and freeze or refrigerate before serving. Turn the pudding out onto a plate, squeezing the mold slightly to release it, once it has thoroughly chilled. The molds are microwave and dishwasher safe, but not oven safe, so you won't be able to bake any Buddha cakes with these, but they will make a fantastic presentation the next time you're entertaining. Order here.

[via Moco Loco]

It seems that Giant Food Stores loves to sponsor events that get principals dirty. First, they sponsored an event at a York, Pennsylvania elementary school where the principal became a human burger and now they have a principal dunking her head in a vat of chocolate pudding. To help raise money for the school's Life Skills class, Kristin Herb, the principal of Carlisle High School, went bobbing for objects that were hidden in a huge container of pudding in front of a cheering crowd of students. Though she requested the flavor, after pulling out a plastic action figure, a baby's teething ring, a rubber ball, a squid and a toy dog bone, she probably won't be eating any voluntarily for quite some time.

[Image The Sentinel]

My entry for the St. Georges Day English pudding event I mentioned earlier. Can you guess what it is? No not going to tell until tomorrow. No not a word except that it tastes delicious, has lashings of cream topping and contains...

 

[Photo Andrew Barrow]

Bread pudding is more in the category of "comfort food" than something elegant, but that doesn't stop this serving of lemon-scented Bread-Pudding French Toast from looking both stunning and absolutely mouth-watering. Ivonne, the blogger who writes Cream Puffs in Venice prepared this as part of an relaxing Sunday brunch. It was made even more relaxing by the fact that the custardy casserole is prepared the night before and simply popped into the oven in the morning. She used fresh lemon zest to give the bread pudding a light, springy taste - the perfect pick-me-up for a gorgeous April morning. Of course, if you serve it with whipped cream instead of maple syrup, it can easily become a delightful dessert. Want the recipe? Look no further than her post.

Bisquick is buttermilk baking mix, a blend of shortening, powdered buttermilk, flour and leaving agents, which has a long shelf-life when kept in a cool, dry place. It is popular for everything from pancakes to dumplings, but when you usually make homemade versions of those things, a box of Bisquick can last you a long time.

I searched through Allrecipes.com to find a way to use it up and came across a semi-homemade recipe that was ideal for springtime pantry cleaning: bisquick cookies. The recipe also calls for boxed pudding mix – mostly sugar and cornstarch – to be used. Fortunately, I had a box of pudding mix remaining after I disposed of the packages that looked as though they were bought in the 1980’s. The only thing you really need to make these cookies that can’t be found in your pantry is an egg. And if you keep your eggs there, I strongly recommend using some fresh ones.