Trains LIVE — Illinois Central Fruit Upside-down Pudding
Trains LIVE — 12-7-2022 — “The experienced Illinois Central traveler knew to pass up ice cream and other more common desserts if this treat was on the menu,” says James Porterfield in his book Dining by Rail. This is Trains LIVE — Illinois Central Fruit Upside-down Pudding.
We are cooking on this episode of Trains LIVE. Our culinary adventure takes us aboard the dining car of Illinois Central’s Panama Limited. Fruit Upside-down Pudding was developed for the dining car service of the IC’s flagship train and became such a popular dessert that it was eventually served on the railroad’s other named trains.
The recipe
So that you can follow along and then make your own Fruit Upside-down Pudding here’s the recipe:
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¼ cup butter, melted plus a solid butter pat
- ¾ cup granular sugar
- 1 egg, well beaten
- ¾ cup milk
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup brown sugar, light or dark
- ¾ cup fruit cocktail, drained
- ¼ cup maraschino cherries, chopped
- ½ pint whipping cream, whipped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom of an 8-inch by 8-inch baking pan. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the butter. Distribute the maraschino cherries evenly over the brown sugar. Cover this evenly with fruit cocktail and set aside. In a mixing bowl, sift flower, baking powder, and salt together. Add melted butter, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and chopped walnuts. Beat until smooth. Pout batter over fruit cocktail. Bake until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and immediately turn upside-down on a serving board or platter. Allow pan to remain over the pudding for a few minutes so the brown-sugar mixture will run down over the pudding. Cut into portions and serve with a generous dollop of whipped cream.
Bryson Sleppy, Model Railroader associate editor, joins Bob to help cook and eat dessert.
Come along for Trains Live — Illinois Central Fruit Upside-down Pudding.
Trains Live >>>>>>>>>
Trains LIVE is a regular video segment, recorded live and unscripted from Kalmbach Media. The series began in July 2022.
Trains LIVE features Bob Lettenberger, Trains associate editor, Kalmbach Media staff, and guests talking about railroads and trains in a casual, behind the scenes format. On Trains LIVE we will ask the questions you would like to ask and take you into places not normally open to the public. Trains LIVE also takes you on the road to museums, trackside locations and other railroad-related venues. It is unscripted and presented every other Wednesday at 2 p.m. Central time.
If you have questions or comments, please log-in and leave a comment in the area at the bottom of the page. We will attempt to answer questions during future episodes. All aboard! It’s time for Trains LIVE!
