Creme Anglaise is a custard that is thinner than what we in the U.S. would call pudding. Creme Anglaise is used as a sauce for dessert rather than eaten alone.
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Thatâs what custard usually means in England. (Or was, when I was last there). Then thereâs baked custard (preferably a baked custard tart) which is eaten as a dessert. With fresh nutmeg grated on top. Thank goodness itâs nearly lunchtime - this topic is making me hungry. 
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Here custard and pudding are mostly differentiated by whether or not eggs are an ingredient. Custard isnât always pourable.
So complicated! So although we are two countries divided by a common language it looks as though food comes a close second. Iâd never heard of pudding in that context.
Traditionally in the UK a pudding was a steamed pudding, such as treacle pud. But then, maybe this is a northern thing, all desserts are referred to as âpuddingâ. As in âMum, whatâs for pudding?â which means any dessert - ice cream, apple pie, fruit cocktail, anything.
Blancmange was a cheap thing that no-one ever really ate apart from many years ago as a pudding (dessert!) after horrible school dinners.
And as far as I know custard, whether a sauce or set in a tart, always has eggs. In thr UK, that is. Confusing!
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So where does flan fit in this scenario?
I once wanted to make it and was kind of appalled at how many eggs and how much sugar it takes!
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I believe that flan is from Spanish speaking countries. This recipe has three eggs and two egg yolks, but it serves six. I have a Cuban friend who canât boil water, but he makes delicious flan and perfect rice, neither of which is easy. His husband (who is a good cook) and I have decided that these dishes must be genetically encoded in Cubans. My friendâs mother is horrified by anyone who doesnât bake their flan in a water bath.
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Just to confuse you more @jaquo
We now have custard - a thick sauce thatâs made with milk and used with traditional sponge puddings, crumbles and steward apple and other fruit.
Then you have creme anglaise which is made with cream but is a thinner sauce normally served with fancy tarts and cakes.
This is getting to be like duvets and electric kettles! 
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Imagine my confusion, young American girl that i was, when I went to meet my future in-laws in Leeds, and they served Yorkshire pudding⌠next to the meat. O.o
(Yorkshire pudding is completely savory, for those unfamiliar with it. Itâs also delicious, and eventually I need to learn how to make it)
A brilliant place - I lived there for many years
My old mum used to say that itâs impossible to make proper Yorkshire puddings if youâre not in Yorkshire. She came to the States many times and the puddings she made here were never quite as good as âthe real thingâ. The water is all wrong, she used to explain. That, and the fact that American flour is also completely wrong, according to the best Yorkshire pudding maker in the world. (In Yorkshire everyoneâs mum makes the very best puds).
But traditionally, and at our house anyway, the Yorkshire puddings were always served before the meal as an appetiser. The logic was that youâd fill yourself up with the cheap puds and eat less of the more expensive meat (the leftovers of which could be used in countless dishes in the forthcoming week.
We also used to have them for dessert with Tate and Lyle Golden Syrup
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The water and flour are so different. The sugar, too.
I think the golden syrup my husband likes has a lion on it.
When we go to Leeds we pack a suitcase of cheerios for our diabetic friend who wonât eat Nestles, and we fill it up with Strawberry raspberry tea and Scottish Porridge Oats (the kind with the guy in a kilt doing the shot put.) No other brand will do, even if they say Scottish Porridge Oats on them. My husband can tell the difference. Who knew oats could be so complicated?
⌠maybe he can taste the kilt.
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Thatâs the one. Essential for pancakes (proper English ones not American ones) on Pancake Day. Thereâs some sort of story about the lion on the tin - something about sweetness coming out of something or other - Iâll have to look it up.
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Actually itâs a bit gross!
The tin bears a picture of the rotting carcass of a lion with a swarm of bees and the slogan âOut of the strong came forth sweetnessâ. This is a reference to the Biblical story in chapter 14 of the Book of Judges in which Samson was travelling to the land of the Philistines in search of a wife. During the journey he killed a lion, and when he passed the same spot on his return he noticed that a swarm of bees had formed a comb of honey in the carcass.
I have washed out the tins sometimes and used them to hold pencils on my desk.
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My pancake recipe has become decidedly mid-Atlantic. 
Itâs more like a fluffy crepe than a traditional thick American pancake.
Maple or golden syrup, but we donât do lemon juice and sugar. sniff ⌠thatâs just wrong. 
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Lyleâs Golden Syrup is one of my baking and candy making secret weapons. Whenever a recipe calls for light corn syrup, I substitute golden syrup. Itâs more expensive, but so worth it.
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Our family recipe for Yorkshire pudding has only, eggs, milk, salt and flour. You need to let the batter rest for 20 min or so, pan, oil and oven need to be very hot.
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Yes. But my mum used to add water too. The puddings didnât rise as well and were a bit claggy if the only liquid was milk. Iâm inclined to say that she used 50% milk and 50% water but Iâm not sure.
Just before pouring the mixture into the Yorkshire pudding tins, sheâd add a drop or two of hot fat (never oil) to the mixture and quickly blend it in.
Thatâs why the batter has to rest, itâs something to do with gluten.
THatâs right, it expands in the liquid,
Gluten always needs to relax. And, it is also about hydration, but that is.a different forum.
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