Indian Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream. November 13 is National Indian Pudding Day. |
www.osv.org |
So I've been thinking about things I could bake at these lower temperatures and Indian Pudding came to mind. I first tasted Indian Pudding when I was about 10 years old at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Next to Colonial Williamsburg, Old Sturbridge Village is my most favorite place to visit. It's an outdoor living history museum of a country village around 1790 to 1830 and its done just right. You should visit some time. The restaurant is also one of my favorites.
Indian Pudding is made with cornmeal (called Indian meal in Colonial times), milk, molasses and sweet spices like cinnamon and cloves. It is not a Native American dish but a colonial American dish. It's made by boiling the cornmeal in the milk and then adding the molasses and sweet spices. It is sort of like pumpkin pie only thicker and creamier and heartier in flavor. It's culinary cousins is Hasty Pudding which is simply corn meal boiled in milk until it thickens - kind of like polenta. Both of these dishes made use of colonial American staples - corn and molasses. I've researched several recipes and I think this one from www.whatscookingamerica.net is the most authentic:
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
4 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 275 degrees
F. Lightly grease a 6- or 8-cup soufflé or baking dish with butter (you can use margarine, but DON’T use non-stick
sprays).
In a medium-sized saucepan over
medium-low heat, scald the milk. That is heat it until little bubbles form around the edges of the milk but don't let it boil.
While the milk is heating, pour
the cream into a medium to large bowl, add the cornmeal, sugar, molasses, salt,
cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Add this cream/corn meal/spice mixture to
the scalded milk. Cook, whisking constantly, over medium-low heat until the
pudding has thickened to the consistency of syrup (about 5 minutes). Remove from
heat.
In a bowl, beat eggs with a whisk. Temper the
eggs by adding 1/2 cup of the hot cornmeal mixture to the eggs while whisking
rapidly. Vigorously whisk the egg mixture into the remaining cornmeal mixture.
This helps bring the eggs up to temperature so they will accept the hot mixture with out scrambling. Add butter, one piece at a time, stirring until melted.
Pour mixture into the prepared
soufflé dish, and place dish on a shallow baking pan on the center oven rack.
Pour enough HOT water into the shallow baking dish to come 2/3 of the way up the
outsides of the soufflé or baking dish.
Bake until pudding is set, a
tester inserted close to (but not in) the center comes out clean, usually about
2 to 2 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and remove from the water bath and let cool
slightly.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream
or whipped cream or heavy cream.
Makes 8 to 16 servings (depending on
your sweet tooth).
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