PUDDINGS

Or desserts, for our US friends.

Resistance Is Futile

Modern life would have you believe that sugar is the new enemy. Butter, eggs, flour. All suspect. All best avoided.

Which can only lead to one conclusion.

Puddings are the devil’s work.

We did briefly consider dealing with this properly. Our head pastry chef Carla, or “Queen of Puddings” as we now officially call her, could have been subjected to some kind of medieval test. A river. A chair. You get the idea.

But there was a problem.

Her puddings are just too good.

The kind that bring back childhood memories with one bite. Sticky toffee pudding, a British institution, a warm, date-rich sponge soaked in a deep toffee sauce. Custard tarts with delicate pastry and silky baked filling. Maple bacon donuts that sit somewhere between sweet and savory in a way that should not work, but absolutely does.

If she is a witch, we are entirely under her spell.

Sticky toffee pudding on a golden table, next to a cherry negroni cocktail

MEET CARLA

Carla’s love of baking started early, growing up alongside her mum in a bakery making traditional Portuguese pastries.

When she moved to London, she had to learn English quickly. On her first day in a professional kitchen, she was asked for a cucumber and had absolutely no idea what that was. She stood in the fridge staring at vegetables until someone came in asking where it was, slightly less calmly.

That was how she learned. One ingredient at a time.

Over the years she worked in some of the best kitchens around, learning from great chefs and refining her craft. But the biggest influence has always been her mum. Simple things, done properly, with care and consistency.

When she first joined Hawksmoor, her friends thought she was mad. A steakhouse was not exactly known for great desserts. They imagined bought-in cheesecakes and forgettable sundaes.

They were wrong.

Carla has spent years building something better. Proper puddings, made from scratch, that are every bit as considered as the steaks.

EAT PUDDING, SAVE THE WORLD

We did eventually come up with a solution to the moral dilemma.

If you are going to do something slightly self-destructive, you might as well balance it out.

So every time someone orders a dessert, we donate a portion to support Action Against Hunger and their work around the world.

Which makes the message quite simple.

Eat pudding. Save the world.