recipe time

[OT from cottage renovations]

just got a call from my brother, looking for the family recipe for Indian Pudding, which turns out to be the same one that appeared for many years in the Joy of Cooking (not the current dumbed down version).  it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without this traditional dessert -- when done right it looks a lot like industrial sludge but don't let appearances deceive. 

Irma's notions of spicing were pretty scanty, personally I tend to go for quite a bit more ginger and cinnamon. 

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Indian Pudding

This dish is sometimes made with apples.  In that case, add 2 cups thinly sliced apples and use in all 2 cups milk. 

Preheat oven to 325°.

Boil, in the top of a double boiler over direct heat:

4 cups (whole) milk

Stir in:

1/3 cup corn meal

Place these ingredients over boiling water.  Cook them for about 15 minutes.  Stir into them and cook for about 5 minutes:

¾ cup dark molasses

Remove from heat.
Stir in:

¼ cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
3 tablespoons sugar
(1 well beaten egg)
(½ cup raisins)
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Pour the batter into a well greased baking dish.  To have a soft centre, pour over the top:

(1 cup milk)

Bake from 1½ to 2 hours.  Serve hot, with hard sauce or cream.  It is a barbarous New England custom to serve it with vanilla ice cream. 

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variants:

• in her later years my mother started to use Golden Syrup rather than molasses though the latter is my preference. 
• for an interesting flavour, substitute maple syrup for a small amount of the molasses. 
• I don't regard the raisins as optional and favour golden raisins over others.  on the other hand I've never tried the apples variant. 
• one can also get away with a dash of nutmeg to good effect. 

[edit: for process images see this entry]