Grape-Nut Pudding is the kind of dish that chefs spend hours scanning Junior Leaugue cookbooks looking for — an old-fashioned regional dish that’s on the verge of being forgotton.

Though a transplanted Southerner, I remember my grandmother making this quintessentially New England dessert.  Regarding store-brought bread with contempt, my grandmother weekly baked her own.  On baking day, the previous week’s stale bread was invariably transformed into something usable.  Sometimes it might be stuffing, or breadcrumbs for a casserole.  My grandfather’s unabating sweet-tooth, however, meant leftover bread was usually turned into bread pudding.  If there wasn’t any leftover bread or it had been pressed into some other service, my grandfather’s taste for sweets persisted, and Grape-Nut pudding was a handy solution.

For the restaurant, I’ve put something of a twist on the preparation, baking it in dishes lined with amber caramel, as one would a flan.  This is an idea ripped from…. er, inspired by… Michel Richard’s excellent book Happy in the Kitchen, which I highly recommend.

Though I had to suppress my inner pâtissier for it, I think it’s worth noting that this custard is comparatively low-fat.  A cream and egg-yolk concoction might be more decadant, but I restricted myself to milk and whole eggs for two reasons.

The first is a matter of personal taste; I prefer my custards to have at least a little toothsome “snap” to them.   Except in very small portions, I find runny, barely-set, yolk-based custards to be overly unctous and ultimately off-putting.

The second reason that I’ve kept this custard comparatively light is my memory of how my grandfather enjoyed his pudding — drizzled with warm whole milk.  I ate it that way myself many times, and it was great.  As a chef, I’ve graced thousands of desserts with an obligitory rosette of whipped cream, and it was only when I started developing this recipe that I realized that my grandfather’s warm milk was really a less indulgent practice of the same gastronomic principle.  The idea that a little plain, warm milk could stand in for sweetened whipped cream spoke volumes to me about his world and times.  What struck me most about it is how dietarily sensible it was — a reminder that we Americans have not always been quite so overfed.  Though we currently indulge in quart-sized soft drinks and desserts decked-out in aerated shortening, my gradfather’s humble dessert enhancment bespeaks an era when a modest 6.5 ounce Coke was a treat, and when authentic ingredients were duely rarified.

A Plated Grape-Nut Pudding Flan ready to sell @ The Manor on Golden Pond

Three notes about the recipe that follows:

  • Please be very careful whenever working with carmel or other forms of melted sugar — melted to it’s liquid state sugar is hotter than boiling water, and can stick to the skin causing very serious burns.
  • Many folks will be maddened by the settling of the cereal to the bottom of the baking vessels — but don’t worry about it.  Grape Nut pudding isn’t traditionally supposed to be entirely homogenous.  Rather the cereal should form something like a crust settled to the bottom of the custard, and in this case, since the custard is inverted for service, the concentration of cereal serves to enhance the decourous and tasty carmelized top of the finished dish.
  • I originally developed this dessert when The Manor on Golden Pond introduced our craft-brewed beer program.  The malted barley used in brewing tastes just like Grape-Nuts, a fact that I wanted to play up in a suggested dessert pairing.  Try it with a rich, malty brew like Portsmouth, New Hampshire’s own Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale.

Grape-Nut Pudding Flan

Ingredients:

For the Pudding:

  • 8 oz. whole milk
  • 8 oz. ½ & ½
  • 5 ea whole eggs
  • 2 ea egg yolks
  • 5 oz sugar
  • 5.5 oz. grape-nuts cereal
  • ¼ t plain salt
  • 1 t vanilla x-tract

For the Carmel:

  • 4 oz. granulated sugar
  • 1 oz. water

Method:

  1. Prepare the pudding: combine milk, ½ & ½, sugar, grape-nuts, salt and vanilla in a medium, non-reactive pot and set over medium-low heat and bring to a simmer – cereal should soften and sugar must be dissolved.
  2. While the pudding comes to a simmer, prepare the cooking vessels:
    1. set 8 individual silicone molds in a 2 inch hotel pan
    2. prepare the caramel by combining sugar and water in a small, VERY CLEAN pot and heating until the sugar is golden brown
    3. carefully pour equal quantities of caramel into each mold
    4. heat approx. 2 ½ quarts water to a simmer — this will be the hot water need for the bain marie
  3. Combine the eggs and yolks and whisk together; slowly pour the warm milk/cereal mixture into the eggs and whisk to combine
  4. Portion 4 ounces of pudding mixture into each caramel-lined silicone cup, taking care the the cereal is evenly distributed (i.e. stir occasionally to redistribute the cereal that will sink to the bottom of the mixture: we don’t want some puddings to be packed with cereal and some to have none)
  5. Cover the hotel pan the cups rest in with aluminum foil… only seal the foil on three sides of the pan
  6. Transfer the pan containing the molds to a 325 degree still oven before filling the pan (bain marie) with approx. 2 ½ quarts of hot water – it should rise 2/3rds of the way up the outsides of the molds
  7. Seal the remaining side of aluminum foil and bake, covered, approx. 30-50 min. until 90% set – custard should jiggle slightly in the center when tapped
  8. Remove from oven and remove from bain marie
  9. Allow to cool before storing in a labeled, dated fish tub
  10. The flans should be prepared at least 1 day in advance, as 24 – 48 hours in contact with the carmel before unmolding will provide the most satisfying transfer of the carmel to the custard.  Stored tightly wrapped, the custards will remain fresh for 3-4 days.

Cinnamon-Blueberry Compote

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz. fresh blueberries (2 packages)
  • 2 each green apples, cored, peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ cinnamon stick
  • ½ oz. butter

Method:

  1. Combine in a small, non-reactive sauce pot: 4 oz (½ of the required 8 oz) fresh blueberries, the chopped green apple, 1 cup of sugar, ½ of a cinnamon stick and ½ an ounce of butter
  2. Place over low heat and simmer gently until reduced to a thick, jammy consistency
  3. Remove cinnamon stick and blend the mixture smooth
  4. Add remaining blueberries, plus the juice and zest of 1 lemon
  5. Return to heat and continue cooking until the additional berries are just softened
  6. Label, date and refrigerate