Dairy-Free Indian (Corn and Molasses) Pudding

Each year when the weather turns very cold, my husband starts hankering for Indian Pudding. (It should be called Native American pudding.) It’s a dessert made from corn meal, milk and molasses he remembers fondly from his childhood.

This recipe for Indian Pudding is gluten– and dairy-free, but my tester (see above) says it tastes exactly like the real thing. I’ve never tried the “real thing,” but I have tried my version of this classic dessert, and it tastes like a sweet, heavy, corn-y pudding. I serve it with dairy-free whipped cream, which lightens the strong molasses flavor. You can also serve it with dairy-free vanilla ice cream.

I adapted this recipe from the original served at Dirgin Park, a Boston institution. (That centuries-old restaurant in Boston’s Faneuil Hall closed in 2019.) I first visited Dirgin Park when I was in college. Back then, you sat at long communal tables and were served by indifferent waitresses who plunked huge white ceramic pitchers of water in front of you the moment you sat down. Dirgin Park served typical Boston fare: cod, chowder, baked beans, corn bread, Indian Pudding. The warm corn bread (not gluten-free) was delicious.

Dirgin Park steamed its Indian pudding in a stone crock for 7-8 hours. I don’t have the patience for that, so I steam mine in ramekins sitting in a quarter-inch of water, which cuts the cooking time down to about an hour.  I’ve had no complaints from the New Englander.

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Dairy-Free Indian (Corn and Molasses) Pudding

If you've eaten at Dirgin Park in Boston's Faneuil Hall, you may have tasted genuine Indian Pudding. If you can't eat gluten or dairy, this recipe might fool you into believing you're eating the original.

Ingredients

• 3 cups dairy-free milk (I use coconut milk from a carton)
• 1/4 cup dark molasses
• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
• 2 tablespoons melted dairy-free butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup organic yellow corn meal (non-organic corn is GMO)
• Dairy-free whipped cream or ice cream
• Dash of cinnamon for garnish

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

2

Grease eight 1/2 cup ramekins, and set aside.

3

In a medium saucepan over low heat, whisk 1 1/2 cups dairy-free milk together with molasses, coconut sugar, dairy-free butter, salt, baking powder, egg, and cornmeal.

4

Turn the heat up to high and stir until the mixture reaches a boil.

5

At the same time, heat 1 1/2 cups of dairy-free milk in a separate saucepan. Keep the milk at just below a simmer.

6

As soon as the cornmeal mixture boils, whisk in the heated 1/12 cups milk. Mix thoroughly.

7

Pour into greased ramekins.

8

Place the ramekins on a baking dish or rimmed baking sheet, and pour filtered water into the pan until the ramekins are sitting in about 1/4-inch of water.

9

Bake the ramekins on the baking sheet at 300 degrees F for 1 hour or until the center of each pudding is still a little wobbly.

10

Cool for 10 minutes, and serve warm with dairy-free whipped cream or diary-free ice cream topped with a spritz of cinnamon.

Notes

There's no way around using molasses in this pudding. Molasses contains some vitamins and minerals, so it's "healthier" than sugar. I use organic blackstrap molasses, which might be healthier than other types of molasses, but it's a byproduct of refined sugar, so I'm not sure it's "healthy" at all. But this recipe will not work without it.

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