John Wentworth’s Favorite Food

Fans of Her Dear & Loving Husband know that when James Wentworth married Elizabeth Jones in December 1691, one of the foods James’ father John insisted on was Indian Pudding. As John tells Elizabeth, “You cannot end a meal without Indian Pudding.”

What Is Indian Pudding?

If you’re not familiar with the term, you may know it better as Hasty Pudding, a simple dish from England of wheat flour boiled with milk or water until it had a custard-like texture.

According to “From the Kitchen” by Jan Longone, “We do know that the techniques used in making Indian or Hasty Puddings are age-old; gruels, pottages, porridges, frumenties, and puddings were made from the earliest times.”

In the American colonies, where European settlers learned about corn from Native Americans, cornmeal substituted for the flour. Early settlers called cornmeal “Indian flour.” Thus, Indian Pudding was born. Longone continues, “We also know that specific pudding recipes very similar to those for Indian Pudding appear in Early English cookbooks, but these use wheat flour, rye flour…in place of the corn meal. Further, there are records that various Indian tribes and civilizations in the New World were making some form of corn meal gruel or pudding, of times sweetened with honey or native berries.”

John Winthrop, Jr., son of the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, wrote to the Royal Society in London in 1662 to say this about Indian Pudding:

…this is to be boyled or Stued with a gentle fire, till it be tender, of a fitt consistence, as of Rice so boyled, into which Milke, or butter be put either with Sugar or without it, it is a food very pleasant…but it must be observed that it be very well boyled, the longer the better, some will let it be stuing the whole day: after it is Cold it groweth thicker, and it commonly Eaten by mixing a good Quantity of Milke amongst it…

In 1672, John Josselyn said this about Indian Pudding:

It is light of digestion, and the English make a kind of Loblolly of it to eat with Milk, which they call Sampe; they beat it in a Morter, and shift the flower out of it; the remainder they call Hominey, which they put into a Pot of two or three Gallons, with Water, and boyl it upon a gently Fire till it be like a Hasty Puden; thye put of this into Milk and so eat it.

Since the Wentworths are wealthy (John is a successful merchant), they season their Indian Pudding with any spices they wish. Those less financially fortunate would have eaten the cornmeal boiled in water or milk without any adornments.

Making Indian Pudding

While I’m busy working on And Shadows Will Fall, I wanted to try some of the dishes the Wentworths would have eaten in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the late 17th century. I remembered John Wentworth’s fondness for Indian Pudding and decided to try my hand at this old but much-beloved recipe.

As always, I use modern appliances and ingredients. For me, the point isn’t to cook the way they used to cook. I don’t see myself standing over an open hearth moving burning coals around with a shovel while pushing my heavy skirts back so they don’t catch fire. For me, the point is to taste the flavors from the past, and this was a chance for me to try John Wentworth’s favorite dish.

How To Make Indian Pudding

I looked at several Indian Pudding recipes, and each was a little different. Some used different spices, some used cream instead of milk, and there were other changes as well. I chose this recipe from The Old Farmer’s Almanac for the basis for my Indian Pudding.

Ingredients

4 cups whole milk

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 stick of butter, softened

2 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

Making the Indian Pudding was surprisingly easy.

1. Butter a 2-quart casserole dish
2. Bring milk to a simmer. I used a heavy pot and kept the stove on a low flame until the milk started to simmer and bubbles formed along the edges. Keep stirring and be careful not to let the milk burn. Burned milk will not allow for the tastiest Indian Pudding.
3. Add the cornmeal to the milk and keep whisking until the cornmeal is smooth.
4. Add the molasses and keep stirring until it is completely incorporated.
5. Remove from the heat and add brown sugar, butter, eggs, salt, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk until smooth. On a personal note, whenever I see amounts for spices like cinnamon or nutmeg, I usually add more. I guess my tastebuds like stronger spices, but the amounts listed in other people’s recipes are usually not enough for me. That’s why I love baking. I can do it the way I like. If you prefer less of a strong spice flavor, stick to the amounts listed.
6. Pour the mixture into the buttered casserole dish and bake in a preheated 300 degree Fahrenheit oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours depending on how hot your oven cooks. My oven cooks pretty hot so it was done in two hours.

When the pudding has browned on top and has a custard or pudding-like texture, it’s done.

I have to say I really liked the Indian Pudding. It tastes like autumn, and it has all the wonderful flavors I gravitate toward this time of year: cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. I saw recipes that added pumpkin, and if you’re a fan of cooking with pumpkin as I am, then I think that would be a great addition to this recipe.

It tastes the way you would expect it to taste: corn custard sweetened with molasses with the spices making the custard even better. I love baking with molasses, but if you’re not a fan you will probably not like Indian Pudding. The butter causes the bottom to caramelize, which is always an added bonus.

I could see myself making this again. In fact, it would make a great Thanksgiving side dish or dessert. This is a sweet and not a savory, so it would do better as a dessert in my opinion.

Now that I have tasted my own Indian Pudding, I can say along with John Wentworth, “You cannot end a meal without Indian Pudding.”

Enjoy!

References

Boeckmann, Catherine. “Indian Pudding.” The Old Farmer’s Almanac. https://www.almanac.com/recipe/indian-pudding. Accessed 9 October 2023.

Josselyn, John. New England Rarities Discovered. London, 1672.

Longone, Jan. “From the Kitchen.” The American Magazine and Historical Chronicle, Volume 2, No. 1, Spring-Summer, 1986.

What’s Cooking America. “Indian Pudding–Hasty Pudding Recipe and History.” https://whatscookingamerica.net/history/hastypudding_indianpudding.htm. Accessed 8 October 2023.

Winthrop, Jr., John. “Letter To the Royal Society in London.” New England Quarterly, Volume X, No. 1, p. 121-133, 1937.