Recipe from George Crowther
Adapted by Ligaya Mishan
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Rating
- 4(149)
- Notes
- Read community notes
A mass of cornmeal, milk and molasses, baked for hours, this dessert was born of the Puritans’ nostalgia for British hasty pudding and their adaptation to the ground-corn porridges of their Native American neighbors. (Early settlers called it Indian pudding.) Originally served as a first course, it grew sweeter (but not too sweet; Puritanism runs deep) and migrated to the end of supper.
For a proper historical re-enactment of the dish, you need meal stone-ground from Rhode Island whitecap flint corn, a hard, tough-to-crack corn, less sweet but more buttery than hybrid strains. One of the oldest incarnations of the plant, it was cultivated by the local Narragansett and saved from extinction by a few equally flinty Rhode Island farmers. This recipe comes from George Crowther, owner and chef of the Yankee diner Commons Lunch, which has stood on the town square of Little Compton, R.I., since 1966. —Ligaya Mishan
Featured in: The United States of Thanksgiving
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- Butter, for the baking dish
- 4cups/ 960 milliliters whole milk
- 1cup/130 grams fine-ground yellow cornmeal
- ½cup/ 120 milliliters molasses
- 4eggs
- ½cup/ 100 grams sugar
- ½cup/ 80 grams raisins
- 1teaspoon/ 5 milliliters vanilla extract
- ½teaspoon/ 1 gram ground ginger
- Whipped cream or ice cream, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
336 calories; 9 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 56 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 42 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 96 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 2-quart baking dish. In a large pot, warm milk over medium-high heat until hot but not boiling. Whisk in cornmeal and molasses and cook, whisking, 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low.
Step
2
Crack eggs into a medium bowl and lightly beat. Very slowly add ½ cup of the hot cornmeal mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly. Pour tempered egg mixture into the pot, whisking constantly to keep eggs from scrambling, and cook 3 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
Step
3
Stir in sugar, raisins, vanilla and ginger. Pour mixture into prepared pan, then place in a larger baking dish or roasting pan. Transfer to oven and carefully pour water into the larger dish until it comes about halfway up the sides of the smaller baking dish.
Step
4
Bake until pudding is set, but still jiggles slightly in the center, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve warm, topped with whipped cream or ice cream.
Ratings
4
out of 5
149
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Cooking Notes
CarolC
Sigh, this isnt authentic New England Indian pudding. No eggs, no spices, just milk, stone ground corn meal & molasses. Make a porridge on the stove, pour it into baking dish with high sides (a souffle dish works). Then bake for hours at 325F. Every hour pull the rack out, stir the very thick pudding & add more milk. The pudding becomes very creamy the longer you bake it & the more milk you cook down. Ive baked it up to 6 hrs. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream. YUMMM!!
Camille
Turned out great. This is my all-time favorite Indian Pudding recipe. Added a bit more molasses (3/4 of a cup). Which gave it the flavor that was rich. No cinnamon needed. I would suggest if you want more flavor increase the molasses and ginger. Make sure to use dark molasses.
Marjorie
It may be delicious, but, yours is a completely different recipe. New England Indian Pudding is flavored with molasses.
Charlotte
Made this pudding today - I followed the recipe but replaced the molasses with 3/4 of cup of dark brown sugar for 1 cup of molasses (so 0.375 cups of brown sugar for this recipe) and it worked out just fine. Taste and consistency are amazing, will definitely make this again!
Deborah
Add 1/2 tsp kosher salt.
maeve
Gray's Grist Mill is the only mill using RI-grown flinty corn, which can be ordered from them. The Commons Lunch burned some years ago but has been rebuilt and is still in George's family. The Commons is known for making the best Johnnycakes in the state -- although Eastern Rhode Islands might (wrongly) disagree.
Catherine
Incredible flavor! I added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. I baked it for about 45 minutes, and it turned out great! I also used almond milk instead of whole milk.
Christa
I wasn't exactly sure what I was aiming for: I THOUGHT it was set ar 45 minutes--it APPEARED set--but when I cut into it, it was soupy. Tastes terrific, however, but next time, I think I'll let it go the full hour. I'd definitely like to make this recipe again, however: I far prefer a simple, homespun, humble dessert such as this to any chocolate ganache or fancy dessert. Pure comfort food on a gray November day.
Lulu38
I like to make it with blue corn meal instead milk pineapple juice and a variation of dry fruits either bake or top stove stirring often til creamy you should add pineapple hot juice til creamy consistency dark brown sugar cinnamon ginger cloves.
Sally Higgins
Growing up on Cape Cod in the 70’s, every restaurant I worked in had Indian Pudding on the menu (no nuts and raisins). I loved it. I’ve made it a few times here in WA state where I live and my husband is horrified that anyone would want to eat it. Too bad for him!
Lucy
This was great. Instead of raisins, we used some prunes and candied oranges we had on hand. Also didn't have ginger, so used some cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Great flavor.
Christa
I wasn't exactly sure what I was aiming for: I THOUGHT it was set ar 45 minutes--it APPEARED set--but when I cut into it, it was soupy. Tastes terrific, however, but next time, I think I'll let it go the full hour. I'd definitely like to make this recipe again, however: I far prefer a simple, homespun, humble dessert such as this to any chocolate ganache or fancy dessert. Pure comfort food on a gray November day.
maeve
Gray's Grist Mill is the only mill using RI-grown flinty corn, which can be ordered from them. The Commons Lunch burned some years ago but has been rebuilt and is still in George's family. The Commons is known for making the best Johnnycakes in the state -- although Eastern Rhode Islands might (wrongly) disagree.
Catherine
Incredible flavor! I added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. I baked it for about 45 minutes, and it turned out great! I also used almond milk instead of whole milk.
CarolC
Sigh, this isnt authentic New England Indian pudding. No eggs, no spices, just milk, stone ground corn meal & molasses. Make a porridge on the stove, pour it into baking dish with high sides (a souffle dish works). Then bake for hours at 325F. Every hour pull the rack out, stir the very thick pudding & add more milk. The pudding becomes very creamy the longer you bake it & the more milk you cook down. Ive baked it up to 6 hrs. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream. YUMMM!!
Deborah
Add 1/2 tsp kosher salt.
Camille
Turned out great. This is my all-time favorite Indian Pudding recipe. Added a bit more molasses (3/4 of a cup). Which gave it the flavor that was rich. No cinnamon needed. I would suggest if you want more flavor increase the molasses and ginger. Make sure to use dark molasses.
KT B
Needs cinnamon.
Praveen
One of my favorite recipes in Cooking.
Charlotte
Made this pudding today - I followed the recipe but replaced the molasses with 3/4 of cup of dark brown sugar for 1 cup of molasses (so 0.375 cups of brown sugar for this recipe) and it worked out just fine. Taste and consistency are amazing, will definitely make this again!
Marjorie
It may be delicious, but, yours is a completely different recipe. New England Indian Pudding is flavored with molasses.
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