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Technically, the name of this dessert is “Lemon Cake Top Pudding.” But I’m supposed to want to call it Super Puddin’ after I try it.

serving-puddin

I guess “Pile of Lemon Goop” wasn’t going to sell enough fruit.

Super Puddin’ – Mid-Century Recipe Guest Test Sunday
Author: Sunkist (1952)
Ingredients
  • 3 tbsp. butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tsp. grated lemon rind
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 3 tbsp. flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds
Instructions
  1. Cream butter, add sugar gradually, and cream together until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks and beat well. Add flour, lemon juice, rind, salt and mix well. Stir in milk. Blend in 1/4 cup almonds. Beat egg whites until stiff, fold into mixture.
  2. Pour into loaf baking dish, 9 x 5 inches. Set in pan of hot water and bake in slow oven (325°F.) 40 minutes. Turn thermostat to 350° and bake until brown, about 10 minutes.
  3. Sprinkle with remaining almonds and serve either warm or chilled. Makes 8 servings.
3.2.1275

recipe-puddin

So Buzz and I have always had this theory about the term puddin’.

fluffy

It’s acceptable to call somebody puddin’ if you’re doing it affectionately. Kids, animals, significant others, any of these could be conceivably called puddin’ as an affectionate nickname.

lemony

This is a rather regional phenomenon, of course. My New England vocabulary doesn’t have it, but I’ve heard it occasionally when I lived in Indiana and South Carolina. Even there it isn’t an extremely common nickname, though.

folding

On the other hand, pudding is pretty much never acceptable under any circumstances. It just doesn’t sound complimentary, or even vaguely kind. That little g makes a big difference.

lumpy

Looking at this lumpy lemony goop, I had a suspicion that we were moving a bit more towards pudding than puddin’ with this one.

But I’ve been wrong before. So I cheerfully baked and served and called Buzz downstairs for a tasting (asking him to wear his most lemony shirt).

tasting-smell

“Why does it smell like fried chicken?”

What?” I have to admit, that’s the last thing I expected him to say. But I sniffed the plate, and sure enough… fried chicken. “OK, I have no idea. Eat it anyway.”

tasting-spoon

He still didn’t want to eat it. But he’s brave.

tasting-huh

“It doesn’t taste like fried chicken. Just pudding with a squishy top.”

Verdict: Tasty, slightly odd, lemon pudding.

Tasting Notes:

The pudding layer of this was very runny, suggesting that it needed to cook for a while longer (or at a higher temperature). Despite that, the flavor is bright and sweet. I can only assume the fried chicken smell was due to the toasted almonds, which were a bit on the burnt side of toasted. Interesting!

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