Just naming this recipe-Noodle Pudding doesn’t seem right to me. In my heart, they will always be Grandma Jeannie’s Noodle Pudding. Grandma died when I was six years old and I never saw her make this treat; but Annie Mae, the wonderful woman who worked for my family for 60 years, made Noodle Pudding every year for Break Fast. She told me they were Grandma’s recipe and that made them special. At some point, over 35 years ago, when Break Fast moved to my house, Annie Mae started making the noodle puddings in my kitchen. I used to stand next to her and watch her boil the noodles and mix them up with cottage cheese and sour cream etc.-tasting as she went along. Annie Mae liked to bake the puddings in tin foil muffin pans that she bought near her apartment uptown. Several years ago, shortly before she died, Annie Mae made her last noodle puddings with me. I bought large 12 portion non-stick muffin pans to make the prep easier for her. She wasn’t happy using them; and insisted on using her foil pans first. I kept a few leftover puddings in my freezer for the longest time. Eating that last one, that had been touched by Annie Mae brought tears to my eyes.
2015 was the first time I made the noodle puddings by myself-without Annie Mae by my side. You know what! They weren’t very good. I guess I wasn’t ready-or maybe I hadn’t done enough tasting as I went along. The next year, I made them again. I remembered Annie Mae added a lot of salt to the water before she put the noodles in. I channeled her hand pouring in the salt and it worked. They were delicious-just the right balance of salt, sugar, cottage cheese and cinnamon. The baton had been passed. Annie Mae never used a written recipe. She cooked from her heart and head. I have worked out her recipes so that my children and grandchildren can access their forebears a little bit through food memory. In some cases, that is all we have.
When my Mother stopped eating dairy products, Annie Mae came up with the idea of adding apples instead of cheese to the mix. Try my Noodle Pudding with Apples and Arils!
Note: You can definitely make these puddings with butter. I find them too rich that way; so I use margarine.
Prep time: 30 minutes
Noodle Pudding
By Published: October 5, 2014
Yield:
- 30 individual puddings
Ingredients
- 24 ounces extra broad egg noodles par boiled in salted water and drained
- 6 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cinnamon plus more for sprinkling on the top
- 12 tablespoons margarine/butter softened
- 16 ounces small curd cottage cheese
- 4 ounces sour cream
- baking spray
Equipment
- 1 large pot
- 1 colander
- 1 large mixing bowl
- non-stick muffin pans
- cooling racks
Directions
- Preheat oven to: 350° F. Spray muffin tins and set aside.
- While noodles are boiling, beat eggs in mixing bowl with sugar and cinnamon. When noodles are al dente, drain them in a colander. Add drained noodles and margarine to the egg mixture. Stir well. Add cottage cheese and sour cream. Stir again. Taste! Add more sugar, salt and cinnamon if necessary.
- Fill greased muffin tins to the top and sprinkle them with cinnamon. Bake 30 minutes or until the tops have slightly crisped and browned. Despite having sprayed non stick pans, I run a spatula around the outside of the puddings to assure that they come out easily. You can either invert pan and release muffins onto cooling rack or lift them out carefully with spatula. I'm happier lifting them out to be sure no noodle is left behind. Serve noodle puddings warm with sour cream on the side.
- To freeze: Cool puddings completely and freeze them in single layers separated by waxed paper and wrapped tightly in foil. Defrost completely before reheating in 350° F. oven for about 10-15 minutes.
