Crusty but tender and buttery cornmeal cake over juicy tart cranberries in maple syrup is not quite pudding and not quite cake. Vanilla ice cream is the perfect topper, but the pudding can be eaten on it's own. Reheat any leftovers in the microwave.
Ingredients:
For the Filling:
2 1/2 cups (10 ounces) fresh or frozen (thawed) cranberries
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon maple syrup (Grade B or Grade A dark amber is fine.)
1/4 cup water
For the Topping:
2/3 cups (3 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (1.5 ounces) fine or medium-grind cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk
8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Equipment:
2-quart baking casserole, about two-inches deep or a 10-inch glass or ceramic pie plate
Electric mixer
Directions:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 °. Butter the baking dish or pie plate.
To Make The Filling:
Combine the cranberries, maple syrup and water in a medium saucepan, bring to a simmer and cook for three minutes.
Transfer 1/2 cup of the cranberries with some juice to a small bowl and set aside. Pour the remaining berries and juice into the baking dish and set in the oven to heat for five minutes while you make the topping.
To Make The Topping:
Whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
Whisk the egg, milk, butter and vanilla in another medium bowl. Add the flour mixture and whisk just until blended. Remove the baking dish from the oven and scrape the batter over the berries (without necessarily covering them all completely.) Spoon the reserved berries and juice randomly over the batter.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the cornmeal topping is golden brown, feels crusty, and springs back when you press it with your fingers. Cool the pudding for five minutes or so before serving plain or with vanilla ice cream, if desired.
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NOTES:
* I question calling this a "pudding" as is more like fruit on the bottom, cake on top concoction.
* I had a terrible time finding plain, simple cornmeal. I went to Harris Teeter, Giant, Whole Foods, and they all had these weird mixtures that had other things in them. Finally, in a Shopper's I found a canister of a fine grain corn meal.
* I used fresh cranberries. 'Tis the season.
* I used Grade B maple syrup. Again, another thing not that easy to find. Grade A? No problem. I found the Grade B at Whole Foods.
*I used a 2-quart Italian casserole (that I bought at Sur La Table) that looks like the one in the photograph. I don't know why those cranberries appear so large. Mine did not, but overall it looked like the photograph in the end.
*It took me the full 20 minutes to cook. I did set the timer for 15 minutes, but it needed those extra five.
* My big problem with this recipe. It was way too tart. Really inedible, and I took great care to match the exact ingredients and measurements and baking times. I went back twice to re-read the recipe to make sure it didn't call for any sugar. The maple syrup in no way cut the tartness of the berries and it definitely was a mouth pucker.
*One reason I am posting this recipe is that the topping was lovely and light. I think if you added additional sugar to the berry filling, it might help, but I'm wondering if the amount of sugar would be so overwhelming you wouldn't want to consume such volume.
* I am thinking it might be better with blueberries or raspberries. I don't think strawberries would taste particularly good with the cornmeal.
One reason I am posting this is that my online friend, Meg Fielding Fairfax, recently made grapefruit curd that didn't quite make the grade, so I thought, "I may as well post the "fail" since I took such trouble with it. Later, I can go back and try to figure how to make it better...or find a better recipe.
