Pouding Chômeur au Sirop d’Erable - Unemployment Man’s Maple Syrup Pudding

Love What UEAT
Mar 28
3 min read

#recipe #poudingchomeur #puddingchomeur #unemploymentpudding

#quebecdessert #poormanpudding #maplepuddingcake

It’s spring time in Québec and all the sugar shacks (cabanes à sucre) are opened to the public and are busy producing maple syrup. This makes it the perfect time to bake a traditional dish/dessert called, pouding chômeur (unemployment man’s or poor man’s pudding).

Pouding chômeur was created by Québec female workers during The Great Depression,

during the early 1930’s, when 30% of Canada’s labourers were unemployed. The French word unemployed is “chômage”, hence the word chômeur, meaning an unemployed worker.

Early versions of this dessert were made with extremely inexpensive ingredients, by using stale bread, topped with boiled water and brown sugar. This combination created a caramelized syrup.

Québec accounts for over 90% of Canada’s maple syrup output and 70% of the entire global supply, making our province of Québec the largest producer in the world of this delicious liquid gold !

Over the years, the stale bread has been replaced with a vanilla sponge cake, the water was replaced with heavy cream and the brown sugar with maple syrup. This transformation of ingredients has upscaled this “poor man’s” dessert and is served in many elite restaurants all over Quebec, Canada.

A classic Québécois dessert that has become decadent throughout the years !

Simply enjoyable to eat ! C’est tellement bon!

INGREDIENTS: Time: One hour

Baking dish size: 9”x9” (23.5cm x 23.5cm)

OR 8”x8” (20.5cm x 20.5cm)

Baking dish must have high sides

1 cup (250 ml) maple syrup

1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream

1 1/4 cup (approx 155 g) all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp (7.5 g) baking powder

1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract

2/3 cup (165 ml) milk

3/4 cup (150 g) sugar

6 tbsp (85 g) unsalted butter

2 eggs (room temp)

OPTIONAL: TOPPING SUGGESTIONS

Whipped cream

Crème fraîche

Vanilla or maple ice cream

DIRECTIONS: Oven temp: 375F (190 C)

Baking time: 35-40 minutes/ middle rack

1. Melt butter. Set aside to cool.

2. In a medium size saucepan, over low/medium heat, pour the maple syrup and heavy cream. Whisk well. Bring to a slight simmer (approx 5 minutes). Pour into a glass tempered measuring cup. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add sugar. Mix well.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and vanilla. Add into the dry ingredients. Mix well.

5. Pour in the cooled melted butter. Whisk together till a smooth thick batter.NOT TO WORRY IF YOU HAVE A FEW LUMPS. They will dissolve during the baking.

6. Pour the batter into your baking dish. Spread the batter out evenly.

7. Using the back of a spoon, (place your spoon in one of the corners of your baking dish), slowly pour the maple syrup mixture over the batter. Make sure to cover the entire cake batter.

8. Place in a preheated 375F (190 C) oven, middle rack, this will ensure for even heat to make the cake batter and the maple syrup mixture to invert. Bake for 35-40 minutes. If the cake batter and the maple syrup mixture do not

invert, unfortunately something went wrong with your formula.

9. Remove from the oven and check if cake is fully baked by inserting a toothpick only into the cake. Do not insert your toothpick all the way down to the bottom of the baking dish. It will get smeared with the syrup and you won’t be able to know if the cake is completely baked.