Desserts
Dr. Boylston’s Honeycomb Pudding
Boylston Street is one of Boston’s main thoroughfares, the final leg of the Boston Marathon and home to the Boston Public Library. Its name pays honor to Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, who braved the threat of mob violence in 1721 in order to get Bostonians inoculated against smallpox. In doing so, he introduced the lifesaving technique […]
By Amy Traverso|Jan 17 2013|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanYield:
Ingredients
Instructions
I found a version of this in my mother’s handwritten recipes that was attributed to my great grandmother (who died in 1927) and in my grandmother’s cousin’s recipes with a note saying it was her most prized recipe. In searching the Internet for its true origin, I’ve learned that it appeared in the Fannie Farmer cookbooks as far back as 1918. One article talked a lot about the fact that the original version may have been made with sulphured molasses because when she makes it now the honeycombs do not appear as they did years ago. I did try our family’s version and didn’t really see the honeycombs. I do plan to try this one in hopes they will appear. (My great grandmother’s version also had Flora Dora sauce, rather than the lemon sauce.)
I’ve not been treated to a really “true-to-fannie-farmer” honeycomb pudding since my grandmother baked it in a “tube pan” many years ago. The slices from that tubular dessert were truly honeycombed. The slices happily absorbed whatever sauce you chose to serve with them. Served warm with freshly-whipped cream is a sure winner. College pals always looked forward to my grandmother’s “unique” dessert
I made this with 2 tsp of citric acid (powder) to compensate for the lessened acidity of the unsulphured molasses. (The old recipe was based on sulphured molasses, which was more acidic.) The citric acid causes the baking soda to fully foam, and created some air pockets / honeycombs, although the weight of the mixture did pop most of those bubbles. I didn’t have All Spice, so I substituted nutmeg. The pudding came out great and is delicious.
Next time, I may try separating the egg whites and sugar and creating an Italian meringue as a base, then mixing the other ingredients into that. That should give it more sustained loft.