If you read DAY 4 of our dream vacation in Massachusetts, you know I was on a mission after we got home to find a recipe for Indian Pudding. Even though I vaguely remembered seeing a recipe or two for it, I had never eaten any of it. It was so good!
I had to look through a number of cookbooks before I found a recipe for it. It isn't a popular one, it seems. Then Janice and I went to an estate sale and I found a cookbook with a recipe in it. I couldn't believe it.
I made it earlier this week and my husband and I really liked it, but it wasn't quite the consistency of the one we enjoyed in the restaurant. I planned to try the second one (the one in the cookbook I bought at the estate sale) but the more I looked at the recipe, the more I felt like I wasn't too sure of it. It had some spices which Janice remembered from the one we ate at the restaurant, but it had twice the amount of molasses...a whole cup. That just seemed like too much.
So when I made it the second time to serve when a few friends came over to play canasta, I remade the first one but added some spices. They all liked it (except Friend Sharon) and my husband thought it was better than the first one I made. The spices were a nice addition and I might even recommend adding more. I still wonder what ingredient the restaurant used to give it the slightly different look. When I searched pictures of Indian Pudding, they all looked like mine. The texture is why Sharon didn't like it. She said she just doesn't like any food she calls "soggy bread". I couldn't help but laugh because I heard that description for the first time a week ago when I made Amish Old Fashioned Bread Pudding and my husband described it as "soggy bread". He doesn't like "soggy bread" either, but he did like this pudding.
The story I read online of its origination is when the first colonists from England came to America, they missed their "Hasty Pudding" because they didn't have flour. They did have corn (meal) from the Indians so they came up with a new version. They called it Indian Pudding because of getting the corn meal from the native Americans. Whether it is true or not, it does make a good story. Everyone agrees it is a New England original. The original recipe I used was contributed by Jean Taggart from Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada.
HALF-HOUR INDIAN PUDDING
3 cups milk
2/3 cup corn meal
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 cup cold milk
3 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a casserole dish. ( I used a shallow oval 1-1/2 quart size.)
Scald the 3 cups of milk. (Heat milk in a large saucepan stirring constantly over medium to medium low heat to 180 degrees F.)
Remove from heat and add mixture of corn meal, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and ginger AND the molasses. Stir well. Then add the cold milk. (I measured the ingredients before I started scalding the milk so they would be ready to add.)
Return to heat and cook until thick, stirring constantly.
Have beaten eggs and butter in another dish. Stirring constantly, add a tablespoon of the mixture to the eggs. Repeat several times.
Then add the egg mixture to the pan and stir to combine.
Then pour the mixture in the dish.
Bake for 30 minutes. (It may not be the best looking dessert, but don't let that make you not make it.)
Serve while still warm with whipped cream or ice cream.
I served it with a scoop of ice cream with a little caramel sauce drizzled over it (like the restaurant did). YUMMY!
I had to look through a number of cookbooks before I found a recipe for it. It isn't a popular one, it seems. Then Janice and I went to an estate sale and I found a cookbook with a recipe in it. I couldn't believe it.
I made it earlier this week and my husband and I really liked it, but it wasn't quite the consistency of the one we enjoyed in the restaurant. I planned to try the second one (the one in the cookbook I bought at the estate sale) but the more I looked at the recipe, the more I felt like I wasn't too sure of it. It had some spices which Janice remembered from the one we ate at the restaurant, but it had twice the amount of molasses...a whole cup. That just seemed like too much.
So when I made it the second time to serve when a few friends came over to play canasta, I remade the first one but added some spices. They all liked it (except Friend Sharon) and my husband thought it was better than the first one I made. The spices were a nice addition and I might even recommend adding more. I still wonder what ingredient the restaurant used to give it the slightly different look. When I searched pictures of Indian Pudding, they all looked like mine. The texture is why Sharon didn't like it. She said she just doesn't like any food she calls "soggy bread". I couldn't help but laugh because I heard that description for the first time a week ago when I made Amish Old Fashioned Bread Pudding and my husband described it as "soggy bread". He doesn't like "soggy bread" either, but he did like this pudding.
The story I read online of its origination is when the first colonists from England came to America, they missed their "Hasty Pudding" because they didn't have flour. They did have corn (meal) from the Indians so they came up with a new version. They called it Indian Pudding because of getting the corn meal from the native Americans. Whether it is true or not, it does make a good story. Everyone agrees it is a New England original. The original recipe I used was contributed by Jean Taggart from Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada.
HALF-HOUR INDIAN PUDDING
3 cups milk
2/3 cup corn meal
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 cup cold milk
3 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a casserole dish. ( I used a shallow oval 1-1/2 quart size.)
Then pour the mixture in the dish.
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