Tuesday, March 22, 2011

dark elixir



(mə-lăs'ĭz) 
n., pl., molasses.
A thick syrup produced in refining raw sugar and ranging from light to dark brown in color.

I love any recipe containing rich, dark molasses. Some time back, I was quite surprised when one of my European blog friends had never heard of such a thing.  I didn't realize it was such an American commodity.  This week, I stumbled upon a recipe for Indian Pudding.  Of course, the name alone made my Cherokee DNA tingle, but it also contains a double treat:  molasses and cornmeal.  This might be considered a fall or winter dish, since it is delightfully earthy, rich and spicy. Since they are my favorite months of the year, I celebrated in my usual quirky way, by making it on the first day of spring. It was delicious. And still cool enough in Central Ohio to enjoy it while wearing woolly socks.







Indian Pudding

1 cup yellow cornmeal
4 cups milk, heated, but not boiling
2 eggs, beaten
3 ounces of finely minced suet (Okay? Fresh out; used butter. Isn't this what birds eat?)
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup molasses
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg (this is always fun)
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F, butter an eight inch baking dish (I used a 9 inch round stoneware). Gradually add the cornmeal to the milk and stir; mix until thickened. Cool slightly, fold in the eggs. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into baking dish and bake for 2 hours.  Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

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46 comments:

  1. I love a pudding... that makes my English dna tingle! :) Thanks for sharing the recipe and that drool-worthy photograph.

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  2. This sounds wonderful and just right as autumn is starting to show her colours here. I grew up on a dairy farm and molasses was fed to the cows (I wonder why now!) and us kids (six of us) used to help ourselves from the tap on the drum.

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  3. It looks remarkably like an English Steemed Treacle Sponge Pudding, and equally as delicious !
    ~Jo

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  4. molasses is of the Gods as far as Im concerend I make brown bread, shew fly pie anything I can get with this dark elixar in it, and now thanx to you I have yet another recipe to enjoy this delight...thank you :)

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  5. Sorghum, homemade biscuits fresh from the oven and unsalted butter .... doesn't get better for me.

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  6. As a former denizen of New England, I love Indian Pudding. And the best in the world is served at Durgin-Park, a restaurant in Faneuil Hall, in operation there since 1742 and as Durgin-Park since 1827. The secret to their Indian Pudding is that they bake it at low heat for 7 hours. I've eaten a lot of that wonderful stuff!

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  7. And so we once again come to that quintessential American debate: do you mean molasses or sorghum syrup?

    Molasses is, indeed, produced in refining raw sugar, and, among other things, it is used to make rum. I believe treacle to be basically the same thing. In the old days, the cane juice was cooked until it started to crystalize, then poured into molds. What dripped out the bottom of the cone-shaped mold was molasses.

    But what I grew up calling molasses was in fact syrup extracted from the sorghum plant, as Helen mentions, not sugar cane. So if you are out and about in Burke County, NC, for example, and see a roadside stand selling molasses, what you will be buying is sorghum syrup, not a product derived from sugar cane.

    Hey, it's all good to me, and I have a serious craving from some Indian Pudding, but it is a bit confusing at times.

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  8. yum - 0

    oh...i LOVE molasses...looks wonderful

    kary
    xxx

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  9. LOL! I just say your "suet" comment.

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  10. I'm a molasses fan too -- this looks yummy. Will have to give it a try!

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  11. looks good - passed it on to a friend. thanks!

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  12. Looks good enough to eat--Pssstt: I actually drooled all over my monitor!

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  13. Roy, the Durgin Park seven hour variety sounds wonderful. This is the first time I've made it, so I'm anxious to experiment!

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  14. Dr. Linthead, I just buy the stuff in the glass jars at the grocery store labeled "molasses". I'll keep that in mind next time I'm out and about in Burke County, NC!

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  15. Rum: "an alcoholic liquor distilled from sugar-cane residues or molasses."

    Gotta remember the options here, Willow.

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  16. Tess -- Lovely desert recipe! -- barbara

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  17. Molasses is unheard of here in France. Sounds like one of those wonderful Suet pud's of my English childhood!

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  18. Putting this in my recipe box until Winter... WHICH IS ONLY 3 MONTHS AWAY HERE... Woo Hoo! I love Winter and everything comfort food. Thanks for sharing. I don't have enough molasses recipe's

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  19. I LOVE molasses! I have never had Indian Pudding; that looks delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Your pictures are always great, btw.

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  20. what an intriguing recipe Tess... can't wait to try this one... and what wonderful photography too... simply divine x

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  21. Oh, I'd brew a pot of the finest Earl Grey if you'd share a little bit of that gooey goodness! ;-)

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  22. Sounds good. I'll try it. You are a mazing! You are the "cat in the hat!"

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  23. Thank you for such an interesting recipe. In Australia we have treacle, golden syrup.
    Both sweet.
    Our molasses here tastes dreadful. so i will use treacle. I am very interested in American recipes, looking forward to others you may have tried.
    Kind regards Verity

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  24. "princess g" nailed it up top. my english dna hears the word pudding and does a few handsprings a couple of cartwheels and despite my advanced age - a backflip. yummy pics and yummy words tess kincaid!!! steven

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  25. will have to try this as i love all ingredients, molasses, corn meal and ice cream. oh, that was just the topping.

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  26. I do wonder what the recipe for shew fly pie is.

    and i too have eaten in Durgin Park. Isnt short cake one of their specalites too?

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  27. Correction: "saw" your suet comment (yes, one does put out suet cakes for birdies). I'm pretty sure what you buy at the grocery store is sugar cane molasses (and there is nothing wrong with that, esp. for cooking). I think it has to say sorghum syrup on the label if it is not from sugar cane. And I'm pretty sure you would love rambling around the back roads of the southern Appalachian foothills, even though things have changed quite a bit since I left there.

    Also, I second Rob-bear's comment!

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  28. Hi! Willow...
    Thanks, for sharing the Indian pudding recipe. Like previous commenter mentioned the photographs are beautiful and mouth-watering too!
    DeeDee ;-)

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  29. Rob and Dr. L, let's break out a bottle, shall we?

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  30. ~In fact, a little rum drizzled on top of the ice cream would be an added treat!

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  31. Oh, yes, Tess. Splendid thought!

    While we Bear's tend to prefer Mead, rum would ideal in this situation. Do you have some we could share?

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  32. Yes! I'm pulling out the shot glasses, as we speak. It's not too early, is it?

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  33. I had to share this. It looks so sinfully delicious.

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  34. Oh yum. Will be trying this very soon.

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  35. Looking forward to trying your recipe. Isn't it great to have a product that is actually an American original? BTW, love your creative hat in your previous post! You go, girl.

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  36. I love molasses, and I have a great gingersnaps recipe that uses it, so I always have it on hand. Gingerbread smells so delicious coming out of the oven, and I confess, I've been known to pour it directly on pancakes or waffles with sliced bananas. To die for. God, you're making me hungry, woman!

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  37. Looks delicious but I don't think we have cornmeal here in the UK.

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  38. How about that. I like molasses and corn meal. I like to pour it on corn meal muffins. I also like corn meal sliced and fried. And I also added a recipe of my on on my blog today on

    Abraham Lincoln's Blog

    Grease Sandwiches.

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  39. When I was a child we often had bread with butter and a bowl of molasses for dipping as our breakfast.
    I lived in Montreal, but my mother was Irish Canadian, father, Scottish Canadian.
    I'm curious to know more about this now .
    It's slightly bitter, and sweet and a good source of iron I was told.

    off to google.

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  40. Indian pudding is always a delicacy, Tess.. but we don't make it every now and then either! :D Special occasions, and of course, my Indian DNA tingles for it too ;)

    I've used an old Magpie image (Mag10) for a poem I wrote today. Do drop by and tell me if I've accredited it right..

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)