Food historians trace the history of bread pudding to the early 11th and 12th centuries, as frugal cooks looked for ways to use stale, leftover bread instead of letting it go to waste. In 13th century England, bread pudding was known as “poor man’s pudding,” as it was a popular dish with the lower classes. While bread pudding is still a way to use up leftover bread, it has gained a reputation as a comfort food and is a featured dessert item in trendy establishments, having shed its humble roots.
For the Bars: 1 cup each granulated sugar 1 cup light brown sugar 1 cup canola oil 1 can pumpkin purée (15 oz.) 4 eggs, room temperature 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract 2 cups all purpose flour 2 tsp each baking powder and ground cinnamon 1 tsp each table salt and baking soda 1?2 tsp ground ginger 1/2 tsp cloves 1/2 tsp and nutmeg For the white chocolate frosting: 4 oz. white bar chocolate, chopped 1 pkg cream cheese, softened 1 stick unsalted butter 1-1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Coat an 11 1/2×16 1/2-inch baking sheet with nonstick spray. For the bars, whisk together granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, pumpkin purée, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl.
2.Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg into pumpkin mixture. Whisk mixture into wet ingredients until combined. Spread batter onto prepared baking sheet. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer pan to a rack and cool completely before frosting.
3. For the frosting, melt white chocolate in a microwave on high, 1–2 minutes; stir until smooth.
4. Beat cream cheese and butter with a mixer on high speed until smooth. Add melted chocolate and beat to combine. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until smooth. Spread frosting over cooled bars, top with garnish, see left, and cut into bars.
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat an 11 1/2×16 1/2-inch baking sheet with nonstick spray.
For the bars, whisk together granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, pumpkin purée, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl.
Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg into pumpkin mixture. Whisk mixture into wet ingredients until combined. Spread batter onto prepared baking sheet. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer pan to a rack and cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting, melt white chocolate in a microwave on high, 1–2 minutes; stir until smooth.
Beat cream cheese and butter with a mixer on high speed until smooth. Add melted chocolate and beat to combine. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until smooth. Spread frosting over cooled bars, top with garnish, see left, and cut into bars.
The name Pound Cake comes from the fact that the original pound cakes contained one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. No leavens were used other than the air whipped into the batter. In the days when many people couldn’t read, this simple convention made it simple to remember recipes.
Banana pudding has a long history dating back to the 19 century, there isn’t much information available. What I did find is that bananas began to be marketed in the United States around the 19th century. Cooks were fascinated by this exotic fruit and began using them in existing recipes of cooked puddings and baked custards topped with meringue. A 1902 cookbook contains recipes for fried bananas, baked bananas, banana pudding, and banana cake in a section called Hawaiian recipes.
In 1901 Nabisco began marketing vanilla wafers. No one seems to know which cook was the first to line the pudding dish with vanilla wafers but it caught on quickly, especially after Nabisco began printing the recipe on their vanilla wafer package. Banana pudding is a dessert common in the Southern United States.
I personally do not care for the vanilla wafers so I use chessman cookies.
