Author: Dawn Mikesell

What is plum pudding anyway? It’s somewhat of a misnomer because it doesn’t actually have plums in it and it isn’t the spoonable custardy pudding we know in the modern U.S. So let’s travel back in time to 17th century England. The word “plum” just meant any dried fruit and the word “pudding” referred to a dessert. So in modern American English, I suppose we’d call it “dried fruit dessert”. But that doesn’t sound as appetizing as plum pudding, does it? Back then, puddings were desserts that were tied up in a cloth and boiled in a pot of water. This type of dessert was more common among the lower class because many of them didn’t have ovens, so this made for a nice dessert that only required a fire and a pot for cooking. It wasn’t until the 1830s that plum pudding as we know it today came around. It was then that it also took on the name Christmas Pudding.

Good old fruitcake. Or bad old fruitcake. As we all know, fruitcake is one of those things that you either like or you hate, as Allison stated in her fruitcake bread post. I’m one of those who loves fruitcake. At least, I love THIS fruitcake. My mom and I make it every year near the end of November. She lets hers sit to “ripen” for a few weeks, while my loaves are lucky if they see the next day. Haha!

Lemon Buttermilk Pie is an old fashioned dessert from the South. It’s basically a custard pie, but in the place of cream we use buttermilk,

Maple Buttermilk Custard Pie is a creamy smooth that is sweet, but also has a little bit of twang from the buttermilk. This pie will make a perfectly festive addition to your Thanksgiving pie table.

Chess Pie is another pie born out of desperation. It’s simple in ingredients, but so so good. It’s very sweet, so a little goes a long way. Made mostly of milk, sugar, and eggs, but with the addition of cornmeal it’s another variation on a custard pie. It’s been a staple of southern kitchens for a couple hundred years and us westerners have been missing out.

Okay, I have to admit I knew this maple oatmeal pie would be good. I just didn’t know HOW good. It’s so much like pecan pie, just with oats instead of pecans. I LOVE pecan pie, but I actually love this one more.

Sugar pie, honey bunch…I can’t help myself. Haha! I couldn’t help myself starting this post out like that. Kudos to you if you get my little joke there. But seriously, this pie is AMAZING! I want to describe it as a cross between a creme brulee and panna cotta. Maybe we could even call it a snickerdoodle pie. I love how sharp the cut edges are. It makes for a very elegant presentation. And I’m all about food presentation.