flipIndian Pudding (Cornmeal-Molasses Pudding)
Indian Pudding (Cornmeal-Molasses Pudding)
Why this dish? An emblematic dessert of New England evenings, this slow, fragrant pudding closed the family meals that Leavitt shared in Cambridge and Lancaster, Massachusetts.
A cream of cornmeal baked for hours with milk, molasses, and mild spices. Creamy, dark, halfway between a flan and gingerbread, served warm with a spoonful of cream.
Indian pudding demands that you give it time, like all good things in this world. I would mix the cornmeal in hot milk, add the molasses, cinnamon, and ginger, then leave it in the oven for many hours until it took on that beautiful burnt-amber color. It was served warm, topped with a little cold cream that melted on top. It was, I believe, the sweetest reward of a long week of labor.
- •Yellow cornmeal — half a cup (base)
- •Milk — one quart (liquid)
- •Molasses — half a cup (signature sweetener)
- •Ground cinnamon and ginger — a pinch each (spices)
- •Butter and salt — a knob, a pinch (binding)
Indian Pudding (Cornmeal-Molasses Pudding)
A cream of cornmeal baked for hours with milk, molasses, and mild spices. Creamy, dark, halfway between a flan and gingerbread, served warm with a spoonful of cream.
Why this dish? An emblematic dessert of New England evenings, this slow, fragrant pudding closed the family meals that Leavitt shared in Cambridge and Lancaster, Massachusetts.
Indian pudding demands that you give it time, like all good things in this world. I would mix the cornmeal in hot milk, add the molasses, cinnamon, and ginger, then leave it in the oven for many hours until it took on that beautiful burnt-amber color. It was served warm, topped with a little cold cream that melted on top. It was, I believe, the sweetest reward of a long week of labor.
Ingredients (period version)
- Yellow cornmeal — half a cup (base)
- Milk — one quart (liquid)
- Molasses — half a cup (signature sweetener)
- Ground cinnamon and ginger — a pinch each (spices)
- Butter and salt — a knob, a pinch (binding)
Ingredients
- Fine yellow cornmeal (polenta) — 70 g (base)
- Whole milk — 1 liter (liquid)
- Molasses — 120 ml (signature sweetener)
- Cinnamon — 1/2 tsp (spice)
- Ground ginger — 1/4 tsp (spice)
- Butter — 20 g (binding)
- Salt — 1 pinch (seasoning)
- Egg — 1 (binding)
Method
- Heat 750 ml of milk, sprinkle in the cornmeal, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring, until thickened.
- Off the heat, stir in the molasses, butter, spices, salt, and beaten egg.
- Pour into a buttered baking dish, then gently pour the remaining cold milk (250 ml) on top without stirring — this gives it a creamy texture.
- Bake at 150 °C for 2 to 2.5 hours, until the pudding is set and golden.
- Serve warm with a spoonful of cold cream or vanilla ice cream.
How it was made : Lacking wheat flour, which was abundant but expensive, settlers used local cornmeal, which they called "Indian meal" — hence the pudding's name. It baked for hours in the residual heat of the bread oven after the weekly baking.
The contemporary twist : Serve in warm shot glasses topped with a quenelle of vanilla ice cream that melts slowly: the hot-cold contrast elevates the molasses.
Sources : Fannie Farmer, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, 1896 · Amelia Simmons, American Cookery, 1796
Henrietta Leavitt · Charactorium
