This is Tammy Proctor. Welcome to another episode of Eating the Past as we continue our
deep dive into the category of comfort foods. One of those comforting dishes from my childhood that I start think
about making in the mid-summer is Corn Pudding.
My mom made it pretty frequently for summer potlucks or church socials, and late in her life I have a vivid
memory of making it with her in little apartment kitchen. There was a social scheduled later in the day at the
activity room in her complex, so we prepared it together and watched as it disappeared immediately – lots of people
asked for the recipe!
So what is it? I don’t know the origins, but I think my mom’s version came from a cookbook in the 1950s. The
recipe is a funny mix of fresh corn and highly processed corn, and when it is made correctly, it is just divine.
I’ll talk you through the recipe so that you can run out and make while the corn on the cob is fresh and available.
You can make it in a smaller dish, but my experience is that if you go small, you’ll be sorry – it is the kind of dish
that is made for seconds. It also reheats pretty well. So I use a 9x13 glass baking dish and I grease the inside with
butter. Preheat the oven to about 400 degrees.
To prepare, you’ll need a bowl for dry and a bowl for wet ingredients. For the dry ingredients, some people add
sugar and make this a sweet pudding, but I tend to minimize sugar for corn taste. So 2T sugar, ¼ c cornstarch, 1 ½
t baking powder, 1 t salt, ground pepper to taste, and ½ t onion powder. Put in a pinch of nutmeg. I often use one
of the fresh herbs from my garden – thyme or marjoram both work well, but you can leave those out if you want
You can also add finely chopped jalapeno if you like that flavor. For the wet ingredients, mix 5 eggs, 1 cup heavy
cream or half&half. The rest of the ingredients include the corn cut off of 4 ears, 2 cans of cream corn, and about
¼-1/3 c melted butter, cooled.
The main thing is to whisk the eggs and dairy really thoroughly until they are kind of frothy. Then slowly add the
dry ingredients. Once that is all mixed up, stir in the melted butter, the corn (both fresh and canned), and pour
immediately into your dish. Bake in the oven for about an hour (check it before that). Make sure you don’t
overcook it – when you pull it out it should be set up but a little bit jiggly. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes before
serving.
When you serve it, it goes well with a backyard barbecue – so maybe a fruit salad, grilled vegetables or meats,
burgers – you get the idea. I like it as a leftover for breakfast with eggs and toast, so you might consider that as
well. In any case, give this a try – if you like the taste of corn, I think you’ll enjoy this dish.
