Pudding Cakes

[Kerry Beal]

Every year I ask my mum to freeze me some rhubarb for when I get home in July, since I miss it otherwise. Kerry, do you think this would work with frozen rhubarb, or would it be too watery?

Frozen will be fine - cause after all we are going for sauce.

[Catherine Iino]

Quite a few years ago, when my daughters were young, we acquired a book called Papa's Secret Chocolate Dessert at some used book sale. (Chris--I see that it's still in the RI library system.) It is about a boy whose family runs a small restaurant critic is expected, papa gets a terrible toothache. Most of the preparations for the meal have been done, and the meal is a big success until--oh, no, the dessert is not right. Then the boy recalls that his father always poured a cup of coffee over the batter before it went into the oven, but because of the toothache, he had not been drinking coffee that morning and had left out that step. Voila! The boy saves the day.

The secret dessert was clearly a pudding cake. There's a brownie pudding cake on Epicurious that uses the same technique--pouring liquid over the batter. Amusing to find what I think of as a homey American dessert presented as a French specialty.

I'm really looking forward to trying the rhubarb version.

[djyee100]

The lemon pudding cakes I have made have nothing to do with a two-step process or with pudding mix. It's a one-batter mix that performs a magic trick in the oven, separating into two somewhat distinct layers...

Yes, that's my thought as I've been reading through this thread. The prototype for "pudding cake," or as the Shakers called it, "cake pudding," would be a pudding base with a small amount of flour. The recipes in this genre (that I've seen) contain 1/4 cup flour or less. The ingredients are all mixed together, and during baking the batter separates magically into a cakey top with sauce underneath.

The puddings with liquid poured on top are also another variation of pudding. They require substantially more flour. It may be that they are very close to the liquid-in-batter pudding cakes, although, given the amount of flour, I would expect them to be heavier in texture. I've never tried the liquid-over-the-top puddings myself.

Not to worry distinctions too much, though. All these desserts sound delicious.

[runwestierun]

Thanks, Kerry. I've got rhubarb in the freezer and company coming on Friday. I'll make it then.

[janeer]

My ancient copy of Joy of Cooking, dating from 1970s, calls this dessert "Sponge Custard." A short blurb about sponge custards from the cookbook, available on Googlebooks, pages 736-737. Scroll up.

http://books.google.com/books?id=C4_5MCUd6ucC&pg=PA737&lpg=PA737&dq=pineapple+sponge+custard&source=bl&ots=2cdWIBmyPR&sig=CyQ1_9X3YIsOb3v6riHFODzGu4k&hl=en&ei=Be5ETc25DZK8sAO4_YT6Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=pineapple%20sponge%20custard&f=false

I've also seen it named "lemon dainty." A old-time dessert, dating from at least the 1930s. See the note underneath the recipe title here:

http://acooksca.com/2009/12/30/lemon-dainty/

I've made this recipe for "Baked Lemon Pudding." It's a pudding cake, very good and citrusy. On Googlebooks, Page 346.

http://books.google.com/books?id=K97kvceIypUC&pg=PA346&lpg=PA346&dq=baked+lemon+pudding+bauer&source=bl&ots=_K4BJesDmB&sig=LUa-LAp7NNPDY08JuZXzOVi_eC8&hl=en&ei=nehETfKsEI66sQOx2MG_Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Any food historians out there who can enlighten us as to the history of this dessert, which is pushing one hundred years old?

ETA:

Shaker Your Plate, by Sister Frances A. Carr, gives a Shaker recipe for Lemon Cake Pudding, noting: "Cake mixture will be at top and sauce at bottom of pudding." That recipe was based on another recipe in an older Shaker cookbook by Mary Whitcher. Sister Carr did not give the name of the cookbook. However, Mary Whitcher did write a Shaker cookbook, Mary Whitcher's Shaker house-keeper, which was published in Boston, 1882.

That dessert is olllllddd.....

I feel a need to make a distinction here. A pudding cake is NOT the same as a

cake pie or I suspect is what "sponge custard" is--a true sponge cake and a custard layer, not a sauce. The layers separate--but no water is poured over.

My Pennsylvania Dutch grandmother made this in a pie crust often, and it was my mother's favorite pie.

[djyee100]

I feel a need to make a distinction here. A pudding cake is NOT the same as a

cake pie or I suspect is what "sponge custard" is--a true sponge cake and a custard layer, not a sauce...

Any longtime homey dessert like this will generate various terminology. Ask 10 people for its name, and you'll get 11 answers. When I did a Google search, "sponge custard" brought up "lemon sponge custard" recipes similar to the lemon pudding cake in the OP. Also a chocolate sponge custard, which I've never tried, and sounds yummy. http://www.incredibleegg.org/recipes-and-more/recipes/chocolate-sponge-custards Sponge cakes with custard fillings are called just that, "sponge cake with custard." Sister Frances Carr named her dessert "lemon cake pudding," but the ingredients, method, and results describe a typical lemon pudding cake.

[Katie Meadow]

Okay, here is the recipe I use for Lemon Pudding Cake. I haven't made it in a long long time. If memory serves, it is rather fragile, and doesn't always come out exactly the same every time, but it's always yummy. I have a second recipe, probably from the same source, that uses only 1/4c flour. I don't believe I ever tried that. I think--but I'm not sure--that the recipe came from the SF Chron, and it has to be at least 25 years old.

1 1/2 c milk

4 T butter

3 eggs, separated

1 c sugar

1/2 c flour

1/3 c lemon juice

Grated zest of one lemon

pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 1 1/2 qt baking or souffle dish. Get out a slightly larger pan at least 2 inches deep that will hold the cake pan comfortably. Put milk and butter in a small saucepan and heat til butter melts. Remove, set aside. Whisk yolks til blended. Add sugar, flour, lemon juice, zest, salt and milk-butter mixture. Stir til thoroughly blended.

Beat egg whites til stiff but still moist. Fold into batter and turn into baking dish. Set into larger pan and pour enough hot water into larger pan to come half way up sides of cake pan. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, or until cakes springs back when touched in the center. Let cool. Don't refrigerate. Serve with softly whipped cream. Serves about 6. Or at my house, 3.

[plum tart]

My recipe is nearly the same as Katie's. Its frome Gourmet and is listed on Epicurious. Before that I made my mother's recipe which was very old and on a recipe card in her tiny handwriting. I wore out the recipe card.

In any event a true lemon pudding cake is made from scratch (no cake mixes or premade puddings) and the final result is a two layer dessert with a light moist cake on the top and a (lemony) custard on the bottom. It was my favourite dessert when I was a child and I have made it for years. It is a lovely light dessert.My daughter and her friend went on a pudding cake binge when they were teenagers. They made chocolate pudding cake and butterscotch pudding cake and many others. I still think that lemone pudding cake is best.

Here is the recipe from Gourmet/Epicurious. There is a picture of pudding cake on epicurious and it is perfect. It shows the cakey top and the runny bottom custard. Yumm. I am going to have to make it soon. It is delicious hot or cold.

Makes 6 servings

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Ingredients2 large lemons

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

3 large eggs, separated

1 1/3 cups whole milk

print a shopping list for this recipe

Preparation Preheat oven to 350°F.

Finely grate 1 tablespoon zest from lemons, then squeeze 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons juice.

Whisk together flour, salt, and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar in a large bowl. Whisk together yolks, milk, zest, and juice in a small bowl and add to flour mixture, whisking until just combined.

Beat whites in another large bowl with an electric mixer until they hold soft peaks. Beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat until whites hold stiff, glossy peaks. Whisk about one fourth of whites into batter to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly (batter will be thin).

Pour into a buttered 1 1/2-quart ceramic gratin or other shallow baking dish and bake in a hot water bath (see Tips, page 156) until puffed and golden, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

[Katie Meadow]

Interesting. The Epicurious recipe calls for no butter at all. Seems frightfully healthy, for a dessert.

[janeer]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but please note that there are two different items being discussed here. A pudding cake, which involves pouring a hot liquid over (usually water), and what I call a cake-pie, which uses separated eggs/beaten egg whites, no liquid poured over. Call them what you will, they are two different desserts.

[Catherine Iino]

Well, here's another approach altogether:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Maple-Pudding-Cake-233996

Sounds delicious to me

[plum tart]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but please note that there are two different items being discussed here. A pudding cake, which involves pouring a hot liquid over (usually water), and what I call a cake-pie, which uses separated eggs/beaten egg whites, no liquid poured over. Call them what you will, they are two different desserts.

Historically, the "pudding cake" recipes and nomenclature to which I am referring were made by home cooks in the US and Canada long before the invention of the cake mix or jello puddings. They have been around for a long time. I know my mother's recipe dates back to 1912. I have found the recipe and the name in many old cookbooks. I think these would predate those that you are referring to in the photograph.

[BadRabbit]

Ina Garten has what she calls a brownie pudding that I've made before. The top and sides are very brownie-like while the middle is much like pudding.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/brownie-pudding-recipe/index.html

[djyee100]

That's a very interesting recipe, Bad Rabbit. It has liquid in the batter, slightly more flour than I would expect for pudding cake (1/2 cup), and no whipped egg whites. So I would expect the texture to be heavier and more brownie-like. It's yet another variation on this old dessert.

[janeer]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but please note that there are two different items being discussed here. A pudding cake, which involves pouring a hot liquid over (usually water), and what I call a cake-pie, which uses separated eggs/beaten egg whites, no liquid poured over. Call them what you will, they are two different desserts.

Historically, the "pudding cake" recipes and nomenclature to which I am referring were made by home cooks in the US and Canada long before the invention of the cake mix or jello puddings. They have been around for a long time. I know my mother's recipe dates back to 1912. I have found the recipe and the name in many old cookbooks. I think these would predate those that you are referring to in the photograph.

Of course. They have been around forever before the mixes. The point was to show that they are popular in Europe too.

[Katie Meadow]

So all this talk of pudding cake inspired me and I made a Lemon Pudding Cake the other night. I sort of combined my recipe with Plum Tart's recipe. I used about 2 T butter, and I cut back the flour in my recipe somewhat, although not quite to 1/4 c. I also liked the idea of holding out 1/4c sugar and beating it into the egg white, which gives the whites a different quality altogether--a bit more substance but still light. Whatever you want to call it, it was delicious; soupy pudding on the bottom, light and spongy on the top, like a sauce and a cake all in one.

So what would you call David Ross's Apple Gateau (recently in making/baking thread)? The intro to the recipe says that it is more of a pudding cake than a gateau. Instead of water, halfway through the baking melted butter (a lot of melted butter) gets poured over, which I thought was very strange, but it turned out great. This dessert does not separate into a pudding and a cake, but the apples do organize themselves into a layer, and the consistency of the cakey part is, well, puddingy. No separating the whites and yolks for that one.

[djyee100]

I was at a local restaurant and noticed a new dessert on the menu. The waiter told me it had been put on the menu that day. It was named "Lemon Sponge Tart." Guess what it was. Yep, lemon pudding cake (a la Katie Meadows and plum tart), baked in a deep, individual tart shell (the kind made from a pastry ring), topped with a slice of candied lemon, and accompanied by a scoop of crema gelato. I was delighted to see this old-fashioned dessert get the glam treatment--a modern-day makeover. It was enjoyable eating, too.

[janeer]

So what would you call David Ross's Apple Gateau (recently in making/baking thread)? The intro to the recipe says that it is more of a pudding cake than a gateau. Instead of water, halfway through the baking melted butter (a lot of melted butter) gets poured over, which I thought was very strange, but it turned out great. This dessert does not separate into a pudding and a cake, but the apples do organize themselves into a layer, and the consistency of the cakey part is, well, puddingy. No separating the whites and yolks for that one.

I hadn't noticed that about David's recipe, which I have set aside to try (based on the photo alone), but your description here reminded me of my favorite buckle recipe, a sort of reverse process--dump a lot of ingredients into melted butter. A one-pan wonder.

[plum tart]

The late Richard Sax, author of Classic Home Desserts

quite often sourced heirloom recipes for the desserts he included in his cookbook. He includes a recipe for Lemon Pudding Cake provided by Ginger Walsh of Nashville but he also provides a recipe for the same dated 1882-1893 from Mrs.Henry W. Darling of Schenectady, New York. Called a Sponge Pudding I would like to reproduce this charming recipe here so that egulleteers can have a sense of how the dish was made way over 100 years ago.

Put in a kettle of water on the stove, or in a rice cooker, 1 pint of milk, add 2 ounces of flour made smooth with cold milk, 2ounces sugar (and) 2ounces butter. Let it cook 5 minutes stirring the while. Take from the stove and let cool. (Add) the yolks of 6 eggs and stir in when partly cold. Lastly add the whites beaten nice, flavor to taste, set in pan of water and bake one hour. Serve with hard or wine sauce.

I think it is wonderful that this recipe has survived and flourished and that chefs and cooks continue to transform in as tarts and so forth as described by djee.