• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Secret Kitchen Society
  • Recipes
  • About
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About
  • Subscribe
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About
    • Subscribe
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×
    Home » Sweets

    Hasty Pudding

    Published: Nov 2, 2023 · Modified: Oct 10, 2024 by Nora · This post may contain affiliate links · 1 Comment

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Humble, yet heavenly to eat, this recipe for American style hasty pudding is perfect when you need a simple and comforting cold weather dessert. Essentially a rich cornmeal porridge laced with molasses and classic autumn spices, it makes the whole kitchen smell incredibly cozy. And after being topped with the requisite scoop of good vanilla ice cream, the alchemy is truly irresistible. My favorite finishing trick is to sprinkle a few flakes of sea salt (like Maldon) over the top before scooping on the ice cream....utterly sublime.

    Hasty pudding topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a white porcelain ramekin on a small white plate.
    Jump to:
    • Ingredients for Hasty Pudding
    • Instructions
    • Variations
    • Equipment
    • Storage
    • Top tip
    • 📖 Recipe

    Ingredients for Hasty Pudding

    Ingredients for hasty pudding.
    • whole milk
    • light brown sugar 
    • yellow cornmeal
    • molasses
    • ground cinnamon
    • ground ginger
    • unsalted butter 
    • pure vanilla extract
    • vanilla ice cream (for serving, but absolutely necessary!)

    See recipe card for quantities.

    Instructions

    White porcelain ramekins greased with butter and sitting on a metal baking sheet.

    Heat the oven to 325℉. Lightly grease the ramekins with butter, and place them on a baking sheet.

    Molasses being poured from a tablespoon into milk and cornmeal in a steel saucepan on the stove.

    Then combine the milk, brown sugar, cornmeal, molasses, cinnamon, and ginger in a heavy saucepan.

    Bubbling light brown mixture being whisked in a steel saucepan on the stove.

    Whisk over medium heat until the pudding mixture bubbles and thickens up, but remains pourable enough to be ladled into the ramekins, about 10 minutes.

    Melting butter and vanilla extract being whisked into light brown mixture in a steel saucepan.

    Then remove the saucepan from heat. Whisk in the butter and vanilla extract until thoroughly incorporated.

    Light brown pudding mixture being ladled into four white porcelain ramekins on a metal baking sheet.

    Next ladle the pudding mixture evenly into the ramekins.

    Hasty pudding cooking in four white porcelain ramekins on a metal baking sheet in the oven.

    Bake until the puddings are golden brown on top and the centers still appear a bit jiggly, but not liquid, when the pan is shaken.

    Hasty pudding topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a white porcelain ramekin on a small white plate.

    Allow the puddings to cool for 10 minutes. Then serve with a very generous scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

    Hint: This recipe can easily be scaled up to 8, 12, or as many ramekins as you can muster if you are looking to serve a large crowd.

    Variations

    Can't get enough of those warming spices redolent of fresh pumpkin pie, apple cider, and all of your coziest autumn dreams? The spice component in this pudding can of course be adjusted to suit your taste. Feel free to increase the amount of cinnamon and ginger...or to toss in some additional favorites like allspice, cloves, or freshly grated nutmeg.

    Equipment

    The best choice in baking vessels for these individual hasty puddings are ramekins made of porcelain, ceramic, or stoneware.

    Storage

    The puddings can be made a day or two in advance, and then gently reheated until warm.

    Top tip

    I recommend using regular (light or dark) unsulphured molasses here...not the blackstrap variety. Regular molasses comes from the first boiling of the sugar syrup, and it is far more delicate in flavor than blackstrap, which can be overpowering in dessert applications due to its rather bitter finish. (Save the blackstrap molasses for your meat recipes and BBQ.) Since some brands do not clearly indicate on the front of their labels what specific kind of molasses is actually in the bottle, it is always a good idea to check the ingredient list on the back.

    📖 Recipe

    Hasty pudding topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a white porcelain ramekin on a small white plate.
    Print Pin
    5 from 1 vote

    Hasty Pudding

    Humble, yet heavenly to eat, this recipe for American style hasty pudding is perfect when you need a simple and comforting cold weather dessert. Essentially a rich cornmeal porridge laced with molasses and classic autumn spices, it makes the whole kitchen smell incredibly cozy. And after being topped with the requisite scoop of good vanilla ice cream, the alchemy is truly irresistible. My favorite finishing trick is to sprinkle a few flakes of sea salt (like Maldon) over the top before scooping on the ice cream....utterly sublime.
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American, British
    Keyword classic, comfort food, easy
    Cook Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes
    Cooling Time 10 minutes minutes
    Total Time 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes
    Servings 4 servings

    Equipment

    • four ramekins (4 ounce capacity)

    Ingredients

    • 2½ cups whole milk
    • ⅓ cup light brown sugar packed
    • ⅓ cup yellow cornmeal fine or medium grind
    • 3 tablespoons molasses
    • ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
    • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
    • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (plus more for greasing the ramekins)
    • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • vanilla ice cream for serving, but absolutely necessary!

    Instructions

    • Heat the oven to 325℉. Lightly grease the ramekins with butter, and place them on a baking sheet.
    • Combine the milk, brown sugar, cornmeal, molasses, cinnamon, and ginger in a heavy saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until the pudding mixture bubbles and thickens up, but remains pourable enough to be ladled into the ramekins, about 10 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat.
    • Whisk in the butter and vanilla extract until thoroughly incorporated.
    • Ladle the pudding mixture evenly into the four ramekins.
    • Bake until the puddings are golden brown on top and the centers still appear a bit jiggly, but not liquid, when the pan is shaken.
    • Allow the puddings to cool for 10 minutes, and then serve with a very generous scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

    More Sweets

    • Strawberry pound cake on a small white plate.
      Strawberry Pound Cake
    • Thick slice of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting on a small white plate.
      Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
    • Slice of bread pudding sitting in a puddle of bourbon sauce on a white plate.
      Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce
    • Chocolate stout cake on a white platter.
      Chocolate Stout Cake

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Amy

      September 21, 2024 at 4:57 pm

      5 stars
      This dessert was a huge hit with my guests. So yummy and the individual servings made it easy to serve. Thanks!

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Avatar.

    Welcome to the secret kitchen society.

    You can call me Nora. Pleasure to be your guide as we explore a satisfying collection of recipes, kitchen tips, and secrets of the culinary variety.

    More about me →

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Accessibility Policy

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Services
    • Media Kit
    • FAQ

    Copyright © 2025 Grafted Pro on the Foodie Pro Theme

    Hasty pudding topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a white porcelain ramekin on a small white plate.