by James Wilson
My Mom worked for a number of years as a cook at Camp Wildwood. While some of the things she made would end up on the dinner table for years after, none had quite so unique a name as Tory Pudding with Liberal Sauce. Since its an election year let’s take a moment to look at this politically-named dessert.
The name contains a pun with ‘liberal’ both referring to the party and the generous portion of sugary sauce. Its a fun name for what is essentially a type of bread pudding but its not the only name. In Mom’s old Barbour cookbook it is referred to as ‘Radio Pudding’, presumably because people got the recipe off the radio. Searching either name brings up many alternate names such as ‘Halifax Pudding’, ‘Montreal Pudding’, ‘Half-hour Pudding’, and even ‘Unemployment Pudding’! Clearly this pudding has gotten around.
My Mom worked for a number of years as a cook at Camp Wildwood. While some of the things she made would end up on the dinner table for years after, none had quite so unique a name as Tory Pudding with Liberal Sauce. Since its an election year let’s take a moment to look at this politically-named dessert.
The name contains a pun with ‘liberal’ both referring to the party and the generous portion of sugary sauce. Its a fun name for what is essentially a type of bread pudding but its not the only name. In Mom’s old Barbour cookbook it is referred to as ‘Radio Pudding’, presumably because people got the recipe off the radio. Searching either name brings up many alternate names such as ‘Halifax Pudding’, ‘Montreal Pudding’, ‘Half-hour Pudding’, and even ‘Unemployment Pudding’! Clearly this pudding has gotten around.
The recipe itself is simple. You will need:
1 cup of flour
½ cup of white sugar
1 tsp soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp salt
½ cup of raisins (an unnecessary amendment, in my view, that you are free to vote down)
½ cup of milk
½ tsp vanilla
Sauce ingredients:
½ cup brown sugar
butter the size of a large walnut
2 cups of boiling water
Butter a casserole dish or 8x8 pan. Mix together the ingredients for the dough and put it in the pan.
In a bowl, mix the brown sugar, boiling water, and the butter until combined. Pour over the dough.
There is also an alternative method of putting the sauce in the pan first and dolloping the dough over it. Regardless of how you do it the tory pudding will end up rising above the liberal sauce as it bakes (this is not political commentary).
Place, uncovered, in a 350-degree oven for about 25-30 minutes or until it’s reaches a nice brown colour and crusty appearance.
Perhaps members of the NDP are upset they are not included in this dessert. Never fear! A nickname for the party is the ‘Dippers’, which is another name for a ladle or scoop. This happens to be just the sort of tool you will need to serve this politically-themed dessert. So nice to see all parties working together so well.
1 cup of flour
½ cup of white sugar
1 tsp soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp salt
½ cup of raisins (an unnecessary amendment, in my view, that you are free to vote down)
½ cup of milk
½ tsp vanilla
Sauce ingredients:
½ cup brown sugar
butter the size of a large walnut
2 cups of boiling water
Butter a casserole dish or 8x8 pan. Mix together the ingredients for the dough and put it in the pan.
In a bowl, mix the brown sugar, boiling water, and the butter until combined. Pour over the dough.
There is also an alternative method of putting the sauce in the pan first and dolloping the dough over it. Regardless of how you do it the tory pudding will end up rising above the liberal sauce as it bakes (this is not political commentary).
Place, uncovered, in a 350-degree oven for about 25-30 minutes or until it’s reaches a nice brown colour and crusty appearance.
Perhaps members of the NDP are upset they are not included in this dessert. Never fear! A nickname for the party is the ‘Dippers’, which is another name for a ladle or scoop. This happens to be just the sort of tool you will need to serve this politically-themed dessert. So nice to see all parties working together so well.
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