Pouding Chomeur, also known as Maple Syrup Buttermilk Pudding

Looks innocuous right? Wrong. It induces comas.

One of the many wonderful things about spring in Canada is the fresh maple syrup that is readily available. I’m addicted to it. My grandmother, equally prone to addiction it seems, used to serve bowls of it for dessert accompanied by white bread and butter. This maple pudding is a slight variation on the straight-up-bowl-of-syrup theme. 

It’s also known as pouding chômeur, (literally unemployment pudding or poor man's pudding), which is somewhat ironic given that buying maple syrup these days is akin to purchasing liquid gold. Notwithstanding the cost of the ingredients, having received the recipe from my sister who found it in the Ottawa Citizen, I could hardly wait to get the pudding into the oven and then into my mouth. My husband told me it was the best dessert I’d ever made. He ate about two pounds of it prior to falling into a deep comatose-like sleep.

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/3 cups of dark amber maple syrup

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 3 tablespoons of unsalted, room temperature, butter

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons of baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• a pinch of mace (unbelievably, I had some available)

• 1 large egg plus another egg yolk

• 1/3 cup buttermilk (or use plain yogurt cut with water)

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 2/3 cup sugar

Methods: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter an 8 inch square glass or ceramic baking dish. In a medium saucepan, boil the maple syrup over a medium heat until it is reduced to 1 cup. This takes about 6 minutes. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of butter then place the butter-syrup mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, mace and baking powder. In a second small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: the whole egg and additional egg yolk, the buttermilk and vanilla. In a large bowl, mix the remaining stick of butter with the sugar until creamed. At a low speed mix in the dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with the liquid ingredients until the batter is smooth. Evenly dollop heaping tablespoons of the batter on top of the maple syrup. Bake the pudding for 35 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and an inserted toothpick comes out cleanly. Let it cool before eating or risk 3rd degree burns.