American Comfort Food–The Pudding
Cake
by Nancy Baggett
All kinds of homey fruit desserts–from traditional American
cobblers to shortcakes and betties–are prepared this time
of year. No doubt, it’s because they are an easy, delicious
way to take great advantage of our bountiful summer fruits and
berries.
One less well-known dessert that makes equally good use of the
season’s bounty is the fruit pudding cake. As the name suggests,
this dish combines a simple fruit mixture and a cake batter to
create a tempting cross between a pudding and a cake. It is American
comfort food at its most comforting!
Although the pudding cake seems as old-fashioned as cobblers
and shortcakes, it’s actually 
more
modern. American homemakers started creating cobblers and shortcakes
in the 1800s. They were invented after baking soda and then baking
powder appeared on the market and made it possible to create airy
doughs without adding yeast. Using these two breakthrough leavening
ingredients, cooks also gradually began to produce a whole new
assortment of lighter American “layer-style” cakes
and, later, coffee cakes to supplement the tasty but dense pound
cakes and whipped egg sponge cakes already in their repertoire.
However, it appears that nobody came up with pudding cakes until
the twentieth century. The first ones may have actually evolved
from a popular late nineteenth century lemon souffle pudding that
“magically” separated into two layers (one cake-like
and one saucy) as it baked. (Recipes for “magic” or
“amazing” lemon puddings were published in a number
of early and mid-twentieth century cookbooks and are still seen
once in a while today.) Both lemon flavored and chocolate flavored
pudding cakes became especially popular in the 1940s and 50s.
Occasionally, fruit and berry pudding cakes, like the following
one, were readied as well.
At first glance, the pudding cake looks a bit like a cobbler,
but the consistency and taste of the two are quite different.
While cobblers are prepared with either a biscuit dough or pastry
crust, pudding cakes feature a cake batter that is sweeter and
has a finer texture. The batter also absorbs more of the fruit
juices so the cake and sauce together form a single puffy-soft
layer of moist, flavorful pudding. Yum!
Easy Peach-Raspberry Pudding Cake
This is one of those recipes that you think isn’t going
to work out, but then, somehow, it does! The directions call for
spooning an abundance of very fluid peach-raspberry sauce over
an easy batter; the two are not stirred together. It seems certain
that all that sauce on top is going to make the cake layer soggy
or keep it from rising, but this doesn’t happen. Instead,
the cake puffs and partly intermingles with the sauce to form
a wonderfully succulent blend. Garnished with a scoop of vanilla
ice cream or dollop of whipped cream and enlivened by the vibrant
color and lush flavor of seasonal peaches and raspberries, this
homespun dessert is good eating indeed.
Sauce
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup orange juice
3 2/3 cups pitted, coarsely sliced fresh peaches (or frozen, thawed
) unsweetened peach slices
2 cups fresh red raspberries or frozen, (thawed) unsweetened red
raspberries
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Batter
1 2/3 cups all-purpose white flour
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
3/4 cup whole or low-fat milk
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream, for serving
(optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 9- by
13-inch baking dish, or coat with nonstick spray.
For the sauce: In a large, heavy, non-reactive saucepan
stir together the sugar and cornstarch until well blended. Gently
stir in the orange juice, peaches, and red raspberries. Bring
to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring, and cook just until
the fruits release their juice and mixture turns clear. Remove
from the heat. Stir in the lemon juice.
For the batter: Thoroughly stir together the flour,
sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.
In a 2-quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Remove
from heat; stir in the milk. Then, using a fork or whisk, beat
the egg and vanilla into the saucepan until well blended. Add
the milk mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until just until
dry ingredients are evenly moistened and smoothly incorporated;
don't over-mix. Turn out the batter into the prepared dish, spreading
evenly to the edges. Spoon the peach-raspberry sauce evenly over
the batter top; do not stir.
Bake in the middle third of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or
until the top is puffed and browned at the edges, and a toothpick
inserted into the center of the cake layer comes out clean. Transfer
the dish to a wire rack; let stand until cooled to warm. Spoon
the pudding cake into bowls or plates. Serve with scoops of vanilla
ice cream or with whipped cream, if desired.
Store, covered and refrigerated, for up to 3 days. Let come to
room temperature or warm up just slightly before serving.
Makes 7 or 8 servings.
