Cherry Pudding & Hot Sauce
Submitted by Rdhd3883
Cherry pudding cake with a spoonable cinnamon batter studded with canned cherries and chopped nuts, served with a hot almond-cherry sauce poured over warm portions.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
40 minREADY
50 minThis cherry pudding is technically a cake-style pudding, the kind of dessert that lived in church cookbooks and grandmother’s recipe boxes long before social media existed. The batter bakes into a tender, cinnamon-scented cake studded with canned cherries, then a quick hot sauce made from the reserved cherry juice gets poured over each warm serving.
The by-hand instruction matters more than it sounds. Stirring with a spoon rather than a mixer keeps the cherries whole and prevents overdeveloped gluten. Mixed by mixer, this batter turns dense and rubbery; mixed by hand, it stays light and tender with intact cherry pockets.
The hot sauce is brilliant in its simplicity. Reserved cherry syrup, sugar, and flour cook together into a glossy spoonable sauce. Almond extract added off the heat ties everything together. Almond and cherry are botanical cousins (almonds are stone fruit pits, just like cherry pits) and the flavors echo each other so naturally it tastes almost amaretto-like.
Butter stirred into the sauce at the end adds richness and gloss. Don’t skip it.
Pro Tips
- Use tart canned cherries (red sour cherries in water), not maraschinos or sweet cherries in heavy syrup. The acidity balances the sweet cake.
- Don’t overbake. A toothpick should come out with moist crumbs, not clean. Overbaked pudding turns dry and won’t drink up the sauce.
- Serve immediately with the sauce hot. Cooled, the sauce thickens to a paste and the cake stays merely sweet rather than glorious.
Variations
Ingredients
Directions
Blend first 5 ingredients together by hand; do not use mixer.
Add eggs and cherries; mix until just blended.
Add nuts.
Pour into 9 x 12 inch pan.
Bake in 350℉ (180℃) F oven for about 40 minutes.
Hot Sauce: Add sugar and flour to reserved cherry juice; cook over medium heat until thickened.
Remove from stove; add small amount butter and almond flavoring.
Serve hot over pudding.
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