Have You Had Your Homemade Pudding Today - A History of Pudding

Pudding....when I say that word what do you think of? Guaranteed that 1 out of 2 of you thinks of those little plastic cups with the thick substance inside. You're thinking, isn't that what I'm supposed to think? No, you haven't had it like it should be until you have had the deliciousness of homemade pudding. My favorite is double hot chocolate pudding, but there are many other different varieties as well. Custard is even a pudding. So, in all fairness you can think of that when you think of pudding. Homemade pudding has been around for a very long time indeed. Apparently way, way back in the day the ancients discovered the tastiness of a liquid gone thick (unless it was milk laying out on the counter, never good for you). So, today we are going to discuss the history of that delicious homemade pudding that we love so well.

Pudding's history is very sorted, because there are so many different decadent foods that come under this category. As I was discussing earlier, custard has a very parallel history that is some what similar to the pudding we know and love. Now don't get disgusted here. In the Medieval times they had their own kinds of pudding, but they were almost purely based in meat. Yes, meat. If we get along to the 1600s in England we will notice that they are starting to do sweet based puddings as well, but still along with the meat puddings. They had special pudding bags to cook them in.

Now, custard is more of an egg based pudding than anything else. In fact, the Romans had their own version of them in both the savory and sweet varieties, but the custard we know and love today was actually more from the medieval times. They would eat it alone or use it for fillings in pies or tarts, or whatever sounded good to them at the time. Although you may not know this flan is actually a custard. That's right and it is probably the most widely eaten custards on the planet.

It was later in the 1800s when there wasn't much of a difference between the European custard and the American pudding. Boiled puddings were not needed so much in the 1840s in America since there was lots of food readily available. There wasn't much need for them another words. Then a man named Alfred Bird created a custard powder that Americans started using in place of eggs in recipes. It made it really easy and the eggs that weren't a-plenty seemed to be replaced with the powder. It was then at the end of the 1800s that pudding and custard was being pushed as nutritional with its emphasis on invalids and children.

Then in the 1930s the pudding mix came out and America rejoiced. Ever since then pudding has been a food of leisure. Either in boxes or pudding cups, you are getting a fast dessert that either only takes a little while to make or is instant. There is something to that, having something immediately, but sometimes if you can take the time and effort to make a home-made pudding from scratch, I think that you will be amazed at the difference. Remember that cooking and baking is an art and that in this age of instant gratification, sometimes it just tastes better with some effort.

"Double Hot Chocolate Pudding"*

Ingredients: ¼ cup of cornstarch, 1 and ½ tbs of margarine cut into small pieces, 1/8 a cup plus 2 tbs of sugar, 1/8 cup of Splenda, 7 oz of finely chopped bittersweet chocolate, 3 tbs of Dutch process cocoa powder, 1 and ¼ cup of non-fat milk, ¼ tsp of cinnamon, 1 and ¼ cup of heavy cream, 1 tbs of espresso powder, pinch of cayenne pepper, and a pinch of salt.

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In a saucepan whisk the cornstarch, sugar, Splenda, cocoa, cinnamon, espresso powder, salt, and cayenne. Combine the cream with the milk. Whisk 1 cup of the cream mixture into the dry ingredients until the cornstarch is dissolved. Whisk in the remaining cream mixture. Place the saucepan over medium heat.

Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens (about 5 minutes). Add the chocolate; cook, whisking, for 1 minute more. Remove from the heat; whisk in the margarine until melted. Transfer to a bowl. Place the plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Let stand until lukewarm (about 45 minutes). Transfer the pudding to serving bowls.

Enjoy the rich history.

* Base of recipe from Martha Stewart and then I molded it from there.