Retro desserts are all the rage these days. With the rise of old time favorites like cupcakes, red velvet cake and lemon meringue pie, it seems the demand for desserts that bring us back to a simpler time is higher than ever. But when we think of retro what comes to mind are the 1950s, 60s and 70s — today I did a retro dessert that goes all the way back to the earliest American colonial settlers, an Indian Pudding from the Northeast section on page 128.
I had never heard of Indian pudding until I saw it in Martha’s book and I was intrigued. It’s the kind of dessert that looks plain when compared to today’s fancy cupcakes and elaborate pastries, but once you taste it I bet you’ll be hooked — I know I am!
Indian pudding is a sweet corn and molasses spoon bread that’s easy to make and cooks low and slow. It needs just a handful of ingredients that can be found in almost every home bakers pantry. The result is sweet, but not cloyingly so, with the warm, rustic spices of ginger and cinnamon. I think this would be perfect for a Thanksgiving dinner, as it would fit perfectly side by side with a homemade pumpkin pie. It can be topped with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream or just eaten plain – it’s that delicious! I used whipped cream and topped it with just a sprinkling of freshly grated nutmeg.
I hope that the retro craze finds room for Americans to re-embrace Indian pudding, because even if it doesn’t take us back to our own childhoods, it brings us back to our early American roots in both a soothing and delectable way!
