Hasty Pudding

We made a version of hasty pudding in third grade, learning about the foods of the early colonialists. We also learned that hasty is relative: for impatient 3rd-graders, the few hours to prepare this dish seemed interminable. But a traditional English Christmas (or plum or figgy) pudding steams most of a day and can be stored (“matured”) for weeks. I’ve since learned that the Brits use pudding generically to mean dessert, while to Americans, pudding exclusively refers to a creamy custard. I’m speculating that this dish may be where the two references begin to part ways.

Preheat oven to 275° 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.

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 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 ½ cup of the hot cornmeal mixture to the eggs while whisking rapidly. Vigorously whisk the egg mixture into the remaining cornmeal mixture. Add butter, one piece at a time, stirring until melted.

Pour mixture into the prepared soufflé dish, and place dish on a baking pan on the center oven rack. Pour enough hot water into the baking pan to come two-thirds 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 2½ 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).