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Recipe: Maple Pudding Cake (Unemployed-Man’s Pudding or Pouding Chômeur

Like a maple cobbler, this Canadian pudding cake has a biscuit-like topping over a sweet saucy bottom layer. The Cook for Good version is quick and healthier than most.

Pouding Chômeur translates to "unemployed-man's pudding." Wikipedia says ingenious women factory workers in Quebec created it during the Great Depression using brown sugar and other thrifty ingredients. Modern versions use the relatively cheaper and darker grade-B maple syrup, plus lots of butter and heavy cream. That still sounds like Stockbrokers' Pudding to me!

I replaced the super-refined cake flour and several other ingredients with Good Baking Mix to save time and add whole-grain nutrition. I also replaced the cream with a little butter and most of the maple syrup with brown sugar and water. A few experimental batches let me find the sweet spot where you get the best taste with the least time and expense. A neighbor who tried a batch said, "Wow ... that was the best! Gone in no time!"

Active time: 12 minutes. Total time: 40 minutes. Serves 8.

Ingredients

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup, grade B or amber
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon apple-cider vinegar

1 egg
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 cup Good Baking Mix (192 grams)
1/3 cup sugar (66 grams)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium pot, bring brown sugar, maple syrup, 3/4 cup water, butter, and vinegar to a boil. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together egg and remaining water together until blended. Add remaining ingredients and stir just until all baking mix is damp. Stirring batter too much will make it tough.
3. Pour about 1/3 of the maple-syrup mixture into an 8-by-8-inch pan. Use a soup spoon to drop batter into the pan. Aim for about eight blobs, but don't worry about getting them exactly even. The batter will spread out while cooking.
   
4. Pour rest of maple-syrup mixture over batter so all the batter gets a little glaze of maple on top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until top is firm and golden-brown.
5. Serve warm. Best right out of the oven, but keeps covered at room temperature for a day or two. Extras are good at room temperature or reheated briefly in the microwave.

Tips and Notes

• This healthy, thrifty version is a tribute to the athletes in the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. If you are trying to impress your rich Québécois relatives, use the more luxurious version from Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal.
• The maple flavor makes it good for a brunch as well as for dessert. Make a double batch in 9-by-11-inch pan.