Gramma's Snow Pudding with Sunshine Sauce

Today's post is brought to you by the lovely Jennifer Moltoni...

Jennifer Moltoni  (nee Dickson) and her son, Spencer.

"So, the story of this dessert is that anyone and everyone who ever visited my grandmother got to have snow pudding with sunshine sauce at some point during their visit, and somehow, it was a dessert that nobody else seemed to have eaten anywhere else but at Grandma's house.  That said, there is a very good chance that this recipe is from a major cookbook of some sort, but I'm not sure. 

The funny thing was, at her funeral last summer, when each of her children got up to speak about her, this dessert was mentioned every time.  I was too upset to speak at the funeral, but I did compose two haikus for the program about this pudding. 

'Grandma’s snow pudding with sunshine sauce:

White cheerful yellow

We eat lemon clouds and sky.

Perfect end of meal.

Jen’s Snow pudding with sunshine sauce:

Grainy gelatin

Have I chilled it long enough?

No double boiler.'

My grandmother had Alzheimer's for the last 10 years of her life, and during this time, we were all basically snow pudding-less.  A few years ago, when I discovered how much my son liked lemon desserts, I was compelled to ask around the family to see if anyone was still in possession of the recipe. My Aunt Joan dug out my grandmother's old recipe box, found the recipe, transcribed it, and sent it along. I thought that the recipe might have been lost forever, and so, it was pretty exciting to receive those index cards in the mail.  Since I initiated the search, I have continued to circulate the recipe to cousins and relations and several family members have attempted the recipe themselves, with varying degrees of success.

I have never made this recipe successfully, but when it is done well, it's really quite tasty.

So, here are the recipes:

Snow Pudding

1 cup water

1 cop sugar

1 envelope unflavored gelatin (Knox)

Juice of 1.5 lemons

Mix altogether and heat until sugar and gelatin are dissolved.

Set in refrigerator until mixture begins to thicken.

In separate bowl, beat 2 egg whites until they peak.

Beat gelatin mixture until foamy.

Mix both together until it doubles in volume.

Refrigerate until totally jelled.

(Grandma usually made a double batch of this recipe)

Sunshine (Custard) Sauce

1.25 cups milk

2-3 tablespoons of sugar

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix egg yolks with a little milk.

Mix sugar, add milk and mix thoroughly.

Cook over boiling water (in a double boiler) until mixture coats spoon.

Add vanilla and cool."




Thank you for being today's guest blogger, Jen!