Caribbean: Jamaica: Jamaican Cornmeal Pudding

INGREDIENTS:

Ingredients

3 cups cornmeal

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg freshly grated

1 teaspoons salt

2 cups coconut milk

3 cups water

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup raisins

2 tablespoons rum optional

Topping Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

glace cherries garnish

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 10-inch springform pan.

 

Combine cornmeal with flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl.

 

In a small bowl, toss the raisins in the sugar so they will not sink to the bottom when baked.

 

In a saucepan, heat milk, water and vanilla extract. Add butter and then the sugar and the raisins.

 

Mix well and heat until sugar has dissolved and liquid is well heated, but not boiling.

 

Remove from heat and add rum. Mix well.

 

Add half of the warm liquid into the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the rest of the warm liquid a little at a time and mix well until you have a smooth batter. Make sure you mix the batter very well so that there are no lumps. After going through the work of making this delicious treat, you don’t want to spoil it by biting into a clump of raw cornmeal flour.

 

Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 15 minutes.

 

In a small bowl, combine all of the topping ingredients and mix well.

 

After 15 minutes, stir the batter to evenly distribute the raisins. Pour the topping over the cake and bake for another hour.

 

The topping will be gooey, however if you insert a knife to test it, underneath the topping should be firm.

 

With the gooey, gelatinous topping you can spread it using a butter knife, if you find it is not evenly distributed over the top of the cake after baking.

 

Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, slide a knife around the perimeter of the pan to release the gooey topping from the side of the pan. Release springform and remove.

 

Let it cool more for another 1/2 hour.

 

Garnish with glace cherries.

 

Serve warm or at room temperature