As a preacher’s kid (we were called PKs), I grew up eating quite a variety of foods made by church members. Several years before my father died, he and my mother decided to put together some of the recipes they’d gathered over the years. He typed them up on an old Underwood typewriter and Mother (Jane) made some rough sketches to go with it. The picture above is the cover of one of their efforts. The cover is spotted with grease and the edges are well worn, as you can see.
Usually there were no names for the dishes people brought to potluck suppers, so our family started calling them by the name of the person who made it, or sometimes for the town where we ate it.
Such is the case for this recipe. I never knew it by any name other than “Altamont Pudding.” When I asked my grandmother where that name originated, she said it was a dish one particular woman always brought to share when my grandfather was a pastor at Altamont, Illinois. It came down through my mother, and on down to me simply as “Altamont Pudding.” I may have even given it to my oldest daughter when she got married.
I’m using my mother’s words with almost no editing. Just before she wrote out the recipe, she had been talking about a meal of clam fritters with a cucumber salad.
Altamont Pudding
Makes a gooey good hot dessert with this meal (see note above), or it’s a happy thought to take to a sick neighbor, or to serve at church dinners, made in larger quantities.
Part I. Melt in a big square pan 2 tablespoons butter, 1 c. brown sugar, 3 c. boiling water, 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Part II. Make a batter of ½ c. white sugar, 1 teaspoon allspice, ½ c. milk, 1 c. flour, 3 level teaspoons double acting baking powder and ½ c raisins.
Pour the batter of Part II into the Part I and bake 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes or until done, or until batter rises to top and cooks through.
When served, spoon it upside down into sauce dishes; it has its own “dip” on the bottom. Make a double recipe to keep for in-between meal eating. Jane’s old standby for instant company.
Hello, Lucy. You introduced yourself to us after you purchased some herbs/vegetable starts from us at the Palo Alto market last spring. Somehow, I got your link onto my google page so I read your blog whenever there is a new one. I have meant to comment on each of them but this recipe and the tradition behind it just begged for a response. So good of you to keep these recipes going and introducing them to new people in a new way. Your blog is always interesting. Thank You! Pamela
Thanks so much, Pamela! You have no idea how much your comment means to me. Sometimes I worry that old family recipes will get lost along the road of life, so I’m trying to gather and share the ones I still have. Isn’t it true that as we get older, unless we pass on information about our families, that information gets lost so easily?
I’m sure I’ll be back to Palo Alo someday soon.
Aloha,
Lucy