Holiday Plum Pudding with Crimson Sauce

Growing up Jewish in the midwest, and even living here in New York City, I had never before laid eyes upon plum pudding (much less tasted it) before I made this vintage version on Sunday.  I'm pleased to report it is delicious and was a big hit at our belated  family potato latke party.

The c. 1950s American recipe I used does not appear to be traditional, as most plum puddings are baked in a mold, then turned out from said mold, doused with alcohol and flambeed in the kitchen, or table side for a dramatic presentation. But I do think this version has the ability to be baked and presented that way.

I also was astonished to discover that plum pudding (also called Christmas pudding) contains no plums; the name refers to raisins, which is apparently what the British called plums when this dish was created in medieval England.  It is also more of a cake than a pudding, and also has no flour -- relying on bread cubes instead.



Chop some walnuts (the recipe called for "nuts" which often refers to walnuts in vintage recipes) and breaking from tradition, this recipe offered a choice of raisins or dates.  Not being a raisin fan, I used dates.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl before pouring into a buttered casserole dish.

My pudding runneth over during baking (and I've yet to summon the courage to face the floor of my oven, but soon!).  Place the dish on a cookie sheet or some foil before baking to prevent such tragedy in your own oven.

While the pudding is ruining your oven baking, start the crimson sauce, a bright combination of cranberries, honey, butter and fresh lemon juice.

Hot Chocolate Nog

Hot Chocolate Nog is the lovechild of eggnog and hot chocolate.  That's the best way to describe this very unusual and delicious drink.  This creamy hot chocolate beverage, enriched with heavy cream and egg yolk, has an added bonus -- the chocolate base can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator, at the ready to enjoy simply by adding hot milk.

Start by melting excellent quality unsweetened chocolate (Scharffen Berger, for example) with water.

Mix in the sugar and salt.  Cook for three minutes, then add the egg yolk.

Meantime, whip heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks and

fold the chocolate into the cream.

Now, here's where all you do-ahead folks will be happy.  Pour the nog base into a jar and place in the refrigerator until you want to use it.

When you're ready, place a couple of tablespoons of the chocolate mixture into a cup, and pour hot milk over it while blending.  You can always add in more of the chocolate to make it less milky and more chocolate-y.

Grate some fresh nutmeg over the top and voila -- Hot Chocolate Nog!

One caveat: Temper the egg yolk before adding it to the chocolate, lest you end up with scrambled egg yolk as I did (see below).  If that happens, simply strain it out, get another yolk, and temper it before adding.  (To temper, simply add a bit of the warm chocolate to the yolk to warm it up, preventing it from scrambling which happens when cold egg hits the hot chocolate.)

I followed the recipe exactly.

Banana Pudding

Many years ago, the DH and I ate at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House in Savannah, Georgia, an historic southern restaurant, where diners eat at large round tables, family style, during the one seating for lunch. The table was laden with platters of delicious fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, collards, rutabaga and too many other sides to count.  Dessert was banana pudding. I bought the cookbook, signed by Mrs. Wilkes herself, and was promptly disappointed -- the banana pudding used packaged vanilla pudding as the base.  (I am not a fan of boxed anything, especially pudding which is so easy to make from scratch.)

When banana pudding made its debut in about 1902, it featured real pudding -- packaged pudding wasn't on the grocery store shelves yet.  The boxed stuff was substituted for convenience, and some folks argue that true southern banana pudding uses prepackaged pudding mix.  Whatever.  There are few tastes as delightful as homemade custard. The c. 1950 vintage recipe I found features the real deal.

Banana pudding is simply custard poured over alternate layers of bananas and wafers, topped by meringue. The custard takes on the banana flavor and the wafers soften.  This is a dessert whose sum is way more than its parts.

 First order of business is to get a box of Nilla wafers and a bunch of bananas.

Next, make the pudding.

It's a little unclear how long to cook it -- "cook until thick like custard" simply wasn't descriptive enough and if I make it again, I'd cook it a bit longer.  One test is to see if the mixture "stays put" when you run your finger against the spoon.

Butter a casserole dish, and layer bananas and wafers alternately.  I had friends coming over for brunch, and was rushed, I neglected to photograph the layers beyond the bottom one.

Pour the pudding over the layers and then spoon the meringue on top.  Bake until the topping is golden brown.

Scoop out the dessert into serving bowls.  You might garnish with a Nilla wafer.

Production notes: This recipe uses a very small amount of wafers -- feel free to increase that.

The remains of the day.

Orange Pourover Cake

Even if you're still full from Thanksgiving, life -- and baking -- must go on.  And there's no better recipe to continue with  than this delightfully easy and delicious Orange Pourover Cake -- the perfect bridge between the pies of Thanksgiving and the cookies of Christmas.  Plus, who couldn't use a little citrus about now (especially a friend of mine who was recently diagnosed with scurvy -- and no, he lives in 21st-century New York City and not aboard a 19th-century clipper ship.)

What's so good about the cake is the combination of walnuts, chopped dates and the orange glaze, making the cake not only delicious, but kind of festive too.

Mix the batter up and then

spoon it into a greased and floured tube pan. Don't worry if the batter seems scant; it will rise during baking.

Remove from the oven, and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning it out.  I had to bang the top a bit lot to release it.

While the cake cools, begin the orange glaze.

Next, take a long skewer and pierce the cake all over, then pour the glaze atop the cake.  Keep it on a rack with some foil or newspaper underneath to catch the drips.

Production notes:  I substituted unsalted butter for the shortening and baked it at 375 F (as my newfangled digital oven does not have a 370 F option) and had to cook the glaze longer than ten minutes for it to reduce to 1 1/3 cups.

Seven Traditional-with-a-Twist Thanksgiving Desserts

Many years ago, while visiting a friend, we got to talking about the upcoming Christmas holiday. When I asked if she was planning a big holiday feast, she said not really, that she didn't think holidays "are just about the meal."  It was at that moment that I realized I had the opposite opinion -- all holidays are just about the meal, and really, little else. Raising our family in a Jewish-Catholic home, we celebrate all the holidays -- Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, Passover, etc. without ever setting foot into a church or temple.  What distinguishes one holiday from another is the food.

Almost everyone would agree that Thanksgiving IS about the food.  And it's all about tradition, but let's face it, tradition can get a bit monotonous.  So today, I bring you a compendium of traditional-with-a-twist Thanksgiving recipes, almost all of them from handwritten recipe cards from the collections of early to mid-20th century American households.  (Just click on the titles to access the recipes.)

Apple Dumplings
A novel, but still traditional, apple pie alternative.

Pumpkin Pie Squares
For when you want the taste of pumpkin pie, but don't want to fuss with a crust.  This recipe also serves about 20 (as opposed to eight, like a pie).

Pumpkin Pie with Cream
A light and custard-y take on pumpkin pie.

Southern Spoon Corn Bread
A truly delicious side dish for your Thanksgiving table.

Grandmother's Famous Cranberry Bread
A lovely hostess gift and wonderful repository for any leftover fresh (or frozen) cranberries.

Creole Praline Pecan Bars
The most delicious alternative to pecan pie.  Not from a hand-written recipe, but it is old. And southern.

Perfect Pecan Pie
The best traditional pecan pie recipe out there. Modern, but delicious.

Southern Spoon Corn Bread

Despite the title of this vintage recipe card, I doubt this is a true southern spoon corn bread. But I have no doubt that it would be a delicious addition to anyone's Thanksgiving table this year.  True spoon bread is to be eaten with a spoon and is more of a souffle than a bread (at least according to the trusty internet).

This corn bread may look like typical corn bread, but it is very, very moist -- not typical at all of traditional corn bread. And despite the fact that it contains no corn, something about its texture fools the palate into thinking otherwise.  It also tastes fairly sweet, surprising since only a small amount of sugar is called for.

So if you want to add something new to your Thanksgiving meal this year (and who doesn't?), let's get started. This couldn't be easier to make.  Add boiling water to cornmeal and let it sit until cool.

Next, add the buttermilk, egg yolks, melted butter and the dry ingredients.

Blend together and then fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

Pour into a pan.  This is where it gets tricky.  The recipe cards says to use a pan where the batter is less than two inches deep.  Having had my cup batter runneth over recently, I opted for a 9 x 12 pan. My guess is using a smaller pan would result in the corn bread having a more pudding-like texture (and probably require a spoon to eat).

Production notes: I used melted butter for the fat, and supermarket buttermilk for the sour milk. I misread the recipe and used three eggs instead of two, which may have accounted for the extra moistness.