Weekend Cooking...Indian Pudding

Come the colder weather and the shorter days and my mind turns to all the things that my mother used to make....come the colder weather and shorter days. 
One rather unusual one was Indian Pudding. I say unusual because it is not something you are going to see on many menus, even in this Thanksgiving season. Maybe in a few New England restaurants, but that is about all, so I am not sure where my mother first got the recipe. And of course, she never wrote her recipe down, so I look around the Internet, took a few ideas here, a few there and tried to recreate it as best I could.
My brother has been begging for me to make this, so we will see how he thinks it turned out.


Cornmeal and lovely dark molasses and a fragrant mix of spices...well, no matter how it tastes, it sure smells good. "This warm and filling dessert is made with ingredients that would be familiar to any early settler: cornmeal and molasses. It is a wonderful choice for a Sunday supper in the heart of winter."

Indian Pudding 

Makes 8 servings

• 4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cups molasses 
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon each of ground ginger and cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Butter a souffle dish or pudding mold. Bring a kettle of water to a boil to make a hot water bath for steaming the pudding.

1. Bring the milk just to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the cornmeal gradually, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened, about 5–10 minutes.
2. Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the molasses and brown sugar. Let cool for a few minutes, then pour a small amount into the eggs to temper them, stirring well, then pour the entire egg mixture into the cornmeal. Lastly, add the spices and combine thoroughly.
3. Pour this batter into the prepared, buttered dish and set it in a larger baking dish. Place the assembly on a rack in a preheated oven. Add enough boiling water to come up to the level of the pudding.
4. Bake for about two hours or until the pudding is firmly set. Allow the pudding to rest for 30 min. Serve while still warm.
   
   Maybe not the most attractive looking dish but it is warm and cozy and really nice with ice cream!
   

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This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

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