Pilgrim Puddings, Pilgrim Cake

Pilgrim Pudding
Beat together a cup of corn meal, a cup of maple syrup, a heaping tablespoon of butter, and a saltspoon of salt. Pour over a quart of boiling milk and let stand to cool a few minutes, then add a quart of rich milk and three beaten eggs. Pour into a three-quart greased pudding mold, cover, and bake all day, uncovering to brown the last few minutes. Serve with an old-fashioned cream sauce.
Sauce. One pint of milk, a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of butter, a half cup of sugar, two teaspoons of cornstarch, and the yolk of one egg. Blend, boil up to thicken, and serve hot.
Murphy, Charles. American Indian Corn (Maize) a Cheap, Wholesome, and Nutritious Food. Revised and edited...by Jeannette Norton. New York: Putnam's, 1917

Pilgrim Pudding
Peel and chop six tart apples, add six ounces of bread crumbs and six ounces of sugar, the grated peel of half a lemon, half teaspoon of salt, one glass of brandy, and a grating of nutmeg. Steam in a well buttered mold for three hours and serve with rich wine sauce.
Norton, Jeanette. Mrs. Norton's Cook-book...NY: Putnam's, 1917

Pilgrim Cake.
Rub two spoonfuls of butter into a quart of flour, and wet it to dough with cold water. Rake open a place in the hottest part of the hearth, roll out the dough into a cake an inch thick, flour it well both sides, and lay it on hot ashes. Cover it with hot ashes, and then with coals. When cooked, wipe off the ashes, and it will be very sweet and good.
The Kentucky corn cake, and common dough, can be baked the same way. This method was used by our pilgrim and pioneer forefathers.
Beecher, Catharine. Miss Beecher's Domestic Receipt Book. New York: Harper, 1850

©2007 Patricia Bixler Reber

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