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Corn Pudding
To 1 pint of corn (if canned press it through a colander; if fresh, cut very fine from the ear) add 2 eggs, 1 tablespoonful of flour, butter (melted) the size of an egg, 1 pint of milk, salt and sugar so as to be neither salt nor sweet in excess, and a little pepper. Bake in a greased dish until the custard is set or the handle of a silver spoon will come out clean. Serve with broiled chops or steaks or with roast lamb.
A plain baked corn custard of the kind that appeared on American tables as a side dish rather than a dessert. The proportions are sound; only the oven and the vessel need translating.
- Butter the size of an eggThat is roughly 2 ounces, or 4 tablespoons. Melt it and let it cool a little before it goes in, or it will scramble the eggs.
- Oven temperatureThe recipe gives no oven temperature. A moderate oven, around 325 to 350F, suits a custard of this kind; the lower end is the safer choice if your dish is deep.
- Use a water bathThis is a custard with 1 pint of milk to only 2 eggs, so it sets softly and curdles easily. Standing the greased dish in a roasting pan of hot water keeps the edges from breaking before the centre firms.
- TimingNo time is given. In a 1 1/2-quart dish expect 45 to 60 minutes; the centre should still wobble slightly when the knife or spoon handle comes out clean, as it firms further on standing.
- The cornA pint of kernels is roughly 10 to 12 ounces, or about three or four ears. Cutting fresh corn fine releases the starchy milk that helps thicken the pudding. Frozen kernels work but should be thawed and drained.
- Canned cornPressing through a colander would have pulped the kernels and held back the tougher skins, as well as shedding packing liquid. Modern canned corn is tender; drain it well and pulse briefly rather than forcing it through a sieve.
- Salt and sugarThe instruction to season so it is "neither salt nor sweet in excess" is real guidance. Start with about 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar for the full quantity, and taste the raw mixture.
- YieldServes four to six as a side dish.
Corn puddings belong to a family of baked custards that early American cooks built around whatever the garden or the store cupboard offered, and sweet corn brings enough starch and natural sugar to thicken and flavour milk. The direction to serve it with chops, steak or roast lamb places it firmly as a savoury accompaniment, not the sugary casserole the name now suggests in much of the United States. The alternative for canned corn is a period detail: commercially canned corn was widely available by the later nineteenth century, though the kernels were often tougher and more uneven than fresh, hence the colander. Testing custard with the handle of a spoon rather than a knife blade appears in period household advice.