NANA’S NOODLE PUDDING
My nana always made THE best noodle pudding. Some people call it kugel, but in our family, it was always Nana’s Noodle Pudding. When she passed, I got to keep her recipe box with all of her classics jotted down on 3 x 5 stained and faded cards. It’s been over thirty years since she passed, and yet I never made this dish on my own.
Determined, I went through her box and did find the recipe. But as I read through it, it called for sour cream and cream cheese—two ingredients that I don’t remember being in her dish. My brother confirmed that they were not, so where did this mysterious recipe come from and did she ever make it?
I went on the hunt through my Jewish cookbooks as well as the internet. Of course, there are hundreds from which to choose, but through a bit of cross-referencing, I think I came up with something closest to her original. I can’t take credit for its originality—it’s more of a sleuthed recipe.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter, plus a tablespoon more for greasing pan
½ cup white sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
12 oz. bag of extra wide egg noodles
½ cup raisins
½ cup of apples, cored, skinned and cut into small cubes
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon raw sugar
PREPARATION
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook egg noodles as per bag instructions. Drain and set aside.
In a medium sized saucepan, combine the milk, butter, white sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cook over low heat, whisking until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool for fifteen minutes.
Butter a 10” round by 3” deep baking dish. Add the noodles, raisins and apples and mix lightly to combine.
Beat eggs in a medium sized bowl. Add ¼ cup of the milk mixture to the eggs and whisk. This allows the eggs to warm up from the milk mixture without scrambling them. Pour the egg mixture back into the milk mixture and whisk to combine.
Pour the combined milk mixture over the noodles as evenly as possible. Sprinkle raw sugar on top.
Bake for 45 minutes. Allow to cool for thirty minutes before serving.
NOTE: If there’s any left, refrigerate it. It’s great served cold for breakfast.