Does Britain have a sweet tooth?

Watch Claire introducing the final week of the course, and listen to people talking about the sweet things they enjoy.

Do you have a sweet tooth?

If you have a ‘sweet tooth’ it means you enjoy sweet things – and a lot of people in the UK do. As you saw in the video, people often eat something sweet after a meal. It could be something small, like a biscuit or it could be something cooked or prepared.

Dessert – or pudding?

In the video you heard several different words to talk about sweet things. A sweet dish, served after a meal, has different names. In restaurants, you’ll see ‘dessert’, and you might be asked ‘Would you like to see the dessert menu?’ However, when eating at home, people might say ‘pudding’, ‘sweet’ or ‘afters’.

To make things even more confusing, ‘pudding’ has several meanings. It can be sweet (like sticky toffee pudding or rice pudding) or savoury (like Yorkshire pudding or even black pudding).

Britain’s favourite desserts

Take a look at the top 10 most popular desserts in the UK – results of research done by Breville in 2019. There’s also a map of the UK showing the most popular desserts in each region – according to the research.

Over to you

• Have you tried any British desserts – what did you think?
• What is the most popular dessert in your country? Do people have a sweet tooth?