Old Fashioned Date Pudding

Don’t let the name fool you—almost everyone loves this quick and easy dessert, which comes out looking (and tasting) more like nut bread than pudding. Even people who think they don’t like dates will ask for more.

In the early 1900s, this type of dessert was called a pudding, or at least that’s what it was called by my grandmother. A Nebraska farm wife trying to raise a family of four girls during and after the Great Depression.

It’s the only recipe I ever got from her. Every time I make it, I remember my mother and her mother, two hard-working women who loved making this “exotic” dessert.

Recipe

• 2 cups dates, cut into bite-size pieces
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 and 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-by-8 cake pan and set aside. Place dates, butter, and baking soda in mixing bowl. Add boiling water and stir until butter is melted. Add sugar and egg and stir until mixed. Stir in flour and nuts. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm with whipped cream.

Pamela Miller keeps an extensive file of old family recipes.

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