. . . let me explain :
the original name of this working-class (or actually for people not working at all) winter dessert from Quebec during the Great Depression and the Wall Street Crash of 1929 is 'POUDING-CHOMEUR' which can be left as is or literally translated into ‘poor man’s pudding’ or ‘pudding for the unemployed’ … and the original ingredients were flour, milk, eggs, butter, sugar and water.
Now when you start including walnuts as well as heavy cream and vanilla and maple syrup, it’s a ‘not-so-poor-after-all’ pudding cake and this is pretty much how you would make it today.
My reinterpretation and contribution to this traditional recipe is quite simple. I slightly modify the batter by using walnuts and breadcrumbs which make it tastier as well as firmer as the batter floats in its maple cream syrup. Most people today do use maple syrup, sometimes combined with water and/or heavy cream, but the whisky is extra !
Okay, it’s true that we’ve had our share of crises since then, economic and otherwise, but I can’t call this a ‘pouding-chomeur’ / ‘poor man’s pudding’ because the main ingredients are getting more and more expensive every day !
Now do you understand ?
Anyways, it’s a lovely and simple enough dessert, especially satisfying when served warm & gooey ... :)
p.s.: I gotta let you go now and work on my mama’s combination birthday (which is in a few days) and valentine’s day cake and we’ll see how that goes … :)
