It was a great shame to see our great classic puds being done double disservice – once in Tim Dowling’s cooking and then in his writing (Steam, stodge – and so much suet: I made 10 endangered British puddings. Are any actually worth saving?, 23 September).

I am the head chef at a private members’ club in London, and I can assure you that these “endangered” British puddings absolutely thrive in such establishments. I suspect that is not only down to our clientele, but also because we cook them properly. I’m afraid the photos accompanying the article show that the author made rather a poor attempt at recreating these wonderful British classics, and so I’m not surprised that he gives them such bad reviews.

A jam roly-poly, with homemade jam (plum or damson at this time of year is excellent), well made and properly cooked, and served with custard and perhaps some stewed fruit, is an absolute delight.
Simon Conyers
Head chef, Buck’s Club

I am now 82 and grew up eating puddings (with custard) every day, either at home or as a part of school dinners. They were good for filling empty bellies and adding that bit of sweetness that we all seemed to crave after the war, but they were not exciting. I am happy enough to do without them now, with one exception, which is the glorious Sussex pond pudding, much maligned by Tim Dowling.

The combination of seasonal fruit (not necessarily apple), light suet pastry and the delicious lemon-flavoured syrup is absolutely mouth-watering. And you don’t have to wait three and a half hours for it. Hasn’t he heard of a pressure cooker?
Margaret Kiloh
Battle, East Sussex

I must protest. Tim Dowling may be a brave and amusing experimenter, but he should never have cooked Sussex pond pudding with apple in it. The filling should be a lemon cut into quarters, brown sugar and butter, which, after the long steaming, results in a luscious lemon marmalade, contrasting with the crisp suet casing. It was my late husband’s favourite pudding, served with plenty of cream, of course.
Valerie Pedlar
Southport, Merseyside

Tim Dowling missed a trick with bread-and-butter pudding that elevates it to a 5 on his taste scale: instead of bread, use sandwiches made with butter and marmalade as the base material, or even croissants, split and stuck together with butter and marmalade and then sliced.
Matthew Lowy
Drayton, Oxfordshire