Have a look at blancmange recipes (pronounced as in French, “blah monje”) and see what you think.

Here’s an example:

Blancmange recipe

Do you mean a crème caramel? If so, just add less sugar. This one is really good. If you want the good mouth feel, you need cream.

https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/french/creme-caramel

I wasn't thinking about the time and that I'm at the end of the continent and that the other side of the world would see this first and that "pudding" is such an American thing, whereas the word pudding means several very different things in England.

Colleen, that recipe looks interesting, and it's obviously similar to pudding, but more sophisticated. It also looks firmer, but that might be an illusion. American pudding is just milky goop. I don't know what makes it "English" as it says on the recipe. My familiarity with blancmange stops at knowing it was popular hundreds of years ago at "white suppers" where all the food was white (i.e., nigh on impossible at the time) and that it used to be made in a fancy mold like Jell-o. I think it often had real gelatin in it (neat's foot or whatever). That's nothing like your linked recipe, of course, which is thickened with starch the way a lot of American pudding is. The cinnamon/lemon sounds interesting. I'll try it for its own sake, but am still looking for actual low sugar pudding.

IC, the crème caramel is also pudding adjacent, but it's flan (a standard dessert around here), which is full on baked custard, and firm and eggy, rather than milky goop. The picture looks appealing.

Thank-you, both. I've tried a Google search. There are so many different recipes for pudding, and I don't even have a good one to start with (it's been many years and I don't know what recipe I might have used). I'm hoping someone will have one that's just right without me having to make five to find a good one. :)

I'm thinking you want old-fashioned cornstarch pudding. The original has a nice silky texture and is not as sweet as current recipes for pudding. This is the vintage recipe: Argo Cornstarch Vanilla Pudding Recipe

Yes, you probably want cornstarch pudding. 'corn flour' in the UK. (corn flour US is fine/powdered corn meal)

I used to make this one for my FIL. Easy from scratch but he insisted on this one.

Any "pudding" recipe can be adjusted to fit your parameters.....just add less sugar and use milk instead of cream.
There are boiled custards, baked custard, flan, corn starch thickened puddings and flour thickened puddings, bavarian creme etc....
All can be adjusted by using milk and less sugar.

Nancy: I remember this one, watching grams make it ... especially remember vanilla at the end ...

Nancyofnc, That looks exactly like what I've been looking for, and it looks well tested. Thanks so much.

Linda, you're right, but I didn't have a good pudding recipe to start from and couldn't figure out what was a good recipe from reading a bunch of different ones. Nancy's link looks similar to my vague memories of making pudding, including the tempered egg yolks, but not enough egg to be a full on custard. Bonus that I don't have to guess about the sugar, since it's already quite a bit less than most of the recipes I've read. There's a little more cornstarch than most, but unlike if it were flour, I don't think it's enough to go grainy. It's certainly worth a try.

Close your eyes and imagine a four cup square Ziploc container with white goop in it. I didn't take a picture. ;)

I finally remembered to do a follow-up. When I first made the Argo pudding recipe (with some small brand organic cornstarch I had in my baking staples), the response was, "eh". I left it and heard nothing more, until the usual cook said, 'She really liked the pudding you made. Can I have the recipe?" Um. Sure. I found the website on my iPad then and there. I also remembered to say I'd scanted the sugar (because I had almost enough in the canister to make as written and figure since she didn't want too sweet, an eighth of an inch less in the measuring scoop would be fine) and salt (because old recipes usually have too much). I also thought, personally, that it tasted starchy, being the recipe was for selling starch, and thought 5 TBSP (or maybe even 4) would be better than 6, at least to try. Today, I finally asked. It's fine but declared too sweet. My response was, "Use less sugar!". :)

Thanks again, Nancyofnc! It was the right kind of pudding and easily tweaked.

The Birds custard is what is use for my trifle at Christmas. I used to make it from scratch, but the Birds is really good, and a time saver.

Is Bird's available in the US?

Actually, I’m not sure. But it should be.

I have a home in Canada and Bird's is in every pantry next to the PGtips. As common as salt/pepper. Maybe not in every cupboard now but is, for most, a good childhood memory. An English product by Mr Bird 150 yrs(ish) ago. His wife or daughter had an egg allergy.

Amazon has it and some markets like Wegman's.

Some desserts, I've heard, are not the same without it.