A friend talked wistfully about Grape-Nuts (notice the hyphen?) Pudding, made via a recipe on the Post cereal box. I haven't had Grape-Nuts in the house for a while so I'll get some and make a batch of pudding for his birthday.
I can't think where I've seen this custard-like dessert on a menu. Diners sometimes have it but it is rare to come across and is mostly a New England comfort food. Grape-Nuts, developed in 1897 by C. W. Post, then marketed as a kind of health food, isn't always on today's cereal shelves and may be headed the way of Maypo -- "I want my Maypo!"and Maltex.
Here is a Grape-Nuts Pudding recipe from an old Yankee magazine:
Ingredients:
- 1 quart milk, scalded
- 1 cup Grape-Nuts cereal
- 4 large eggs
- scant 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (approx.)
- Whole nutmeg
- Water
Instructions:
Heat oven to 350°. In a medium-size bowl, pour scalded milk over Grape-Nuts and let sit 5 minutes. In a second medium-size bowl, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add egg mixture to milk and Grape-Nuts and stir well. Pour into a buttered 2-quart casserole dish. Generously grate nutmeg over the top. Place the casserole into a deep roasting pan. Place in the oven and pour water into the roasting pan, enough to reach halfway up the side of the casserole. Bake 45 to 60 minutes, until almost set in the center (very slight jiggle).The Post cereal company has a website https://www.postfoods.com with lore about Grape-Nuts. The copy is straight from the 1950s:
In 1933, Post Grape-Nuts sponsored Sir Admiral Byrd’s expedition to Antarctica, where the first two-way radio transmission occurred. At the time, maps of the expedition even appeared on Grape-Nuts boxes. This was a huge milestone in the scientific community, and Grape-Nuts helped make it possible!
- During World War II operations before 1944, Grape-Nuts was part of the Jungle rations that helped fuel US and Allied forces on extended missions to Panama and other tropical parts of the world. (To Panama? WHAT are they talking about?)
- In 1953, New Zealand explorer Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay took Grape-Nuts with them for efficient, nutritious energy as they trekked to the top of Mount Everest, becoming the first climbers in history to reach the summit. It is the ultimate example of man’s persistence in the face of the seemingly impossible feat, and Grape-Nuts was there for every high-altitude step along the way.
-
What's in this cereal that has no grapes and no nuts? (Thank you, Kurt Vonnegut) Mainly wheat and barley with some yeast, salt and malt. Straight from the box, Grape-nuts is bizarrely crunchy, so unchewable, in fact, I let it soak in milk a few minutes before I go near it.
Should the above be enticing, you will be so delighted when I tell you there is Grape-Nuts ice cream.
+ + +
No comments:
Post a Comment