Now, when the English say ‘pudding,’ they mean any sort of dessert — unless they are discussing Yorkshire Pudding or Blood Pudding. When Americans say ‘pudding,’ we narrow it down to a milk-based dessert to eat with a spoon — such as tapioca or a blanc mange. Here is a real New England recipe from Haydn Pearson, who grew up in Greenfield, NH, just the next town over from Bennington.

First, Rhubarb Pudding as part of a lovely breakfast. Secondly, Rhubarb Pudding as served for dessert. This pudding is a good way to use the ‘mush’/solids from when you prepared Crushed Rhubarb.

Rhubarb Pudding Breakfast:  Haydn Pearson has a wonderful dessert called “Blanche’s Super Rhubarb Pudding” in his iconic Country Flavor Cook Book. This is a scaled-down version that is fit for breakfast: slightly tangy, lightly sweet. Plant Based  Gluten Free – if using GF flour

6 Tbsp cooked, mashed rhubarb OR mush from Crushed Rhubarb 1 two-oz egg + 1 egg white 1½ Tbsp sugar 2 Tbsp flour OR 2 Tbsp white whole wheat flour 2 Tbsp milk ½ tsp baking powder   per person: 1 slice Canadian Bacon [= ½ oz back bacon]  several slices of strawberry

Cut up 1 cup rhubarb and stew it in a little water. Drain thoroughly and mash. OR, use the mush from Crushed Rhubarb. Measure the 6 Tbsp you need and save the remainder for another use. [Add to a smoothie; serve with yogurt] Whisk the egg and white, then add all the other ingredients [but not the bacon!] Spoon into a baking dish which has been sprayed with non-stick spray. HINT: I did all this the night before. A real time-saver. Bake at 350 F until the batter is firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. While the pudding bakes, cook the bacon and prepare the optional beverages. Delicious. FYI, here are the food values for the breakfast: 142 calories 3 g fat 2 g fiber 10.6 g protein 24 g carbs 155 mg Calcium

Blanche’s Super Rhubarb Pudding:  Blanche was Mrs. Pearson and her husband was delighted with this dessert. You will be too.

Serves 6 in a casserole, 6-8 in ramekins
½ cup sugar 2 Tbsp butter	Cream together.
1 cup milk	Add to creamed mixture.
1 cup flour [white whole wheat is a very good choice] +++2 tsp baking powder +++½ tsp salt	Sift these together, then stir into creamed mixture to make a batter.
1 quart rhubarb, sliced in ½” pieces ++¾ cups sugar ++¼ cup water OR use 3 cups Rhubarb Mush	Cook together over medium heat about 7 minutes. Stir. Pour into a buttered oven-proof dish or into 6 buttered ramekins.
	Pour batter over the sauce.
	Bake 20 minutes at 350F.

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, started in 2013 to benefit the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund.

If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH 03442.

The next blog installment will be posted on August 1, 2023. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.