Mike McIntyre has fond memories of eating his father Billy McIntyre’s corn pudding for nearly every special occasion since he was a child. But if you try to recreate the recipe as it appears in the cookbook “A Grand Heritage,” you won’t be eating what the McIntyre family eats.
The recipe that was printed in “A Grand Heritage” back in 1983 for “Billy Mc’s Corn Casserole” is not correct, Mike said. But it is not because it is not delicious. It’s because it isn’t the right version of the recipe.
“When the book came out and it was slightly different, (Billy) said that it was a previous version of his recipe,” Mike said.
Billy started creating a recipe for a sweet corn pudding before Mike was ever born, developing the recipe from scratch. Mike said his father became known for the corn pudding recipe, as he would bring the dish to share with members of his supper club and other friends. Eventually, he also shared the recipe itself with friends.
When “A Grand Heritage” started to be assembled, Mike said his father got a call from a friend asking for permission to use the recipe in the book. When his father agreed, the friend involved said they already had the recipe. Billy did not realize the friend did not have an updated version, which he had developed through several years of iterations.
Mike said the older version’s printing was an accident, and he doesn’t blame anyone for the older version making it into “A Grand Heritage.” But whenever possible, he tries to share the newer version of the recipe that he still bakes today.
Since his father’s passing, Mike has taken over making the corn pudding for his family’s special events, which always brings back memories of making it with his dad as a child.
“All my life growing up… daddy would make this dish with any meal, like Sunday dinners, birthdays, but certainly at Christmas and Thanksgiving, along with Spinach Madeline, which was in the book also,” Mike said.
The most major difference between the printed version and the current version, Mike said, is the amount of the ingredients. The McIntyre family’s current version is intended to fill a large casserole dish, while the older one would make fewer servings.
The older version also includes brown sugar instead of white sugar, which makes the color slightly darker, and bacon drippings instead of corn oil, which affects the density of the pudding. The newer corn pudding recipe has the consistency of almost a souffle, Mike said.
The “A Grand Heritage” version also does not specify what color of corn to use, but Mike recommends the Pride brand creamed white corn. He also recommends a longer baking time than the older version shows.
While the McIntyre family recipe is different from what appears in “A Grand Heritage,” Mike’s wife, Wanda, said that the cookbook is still a “treasure,” as it contains the best of the best of what Columbus citizens fed their families when it was printed.
Wanda said she and Mike even purchase copies of the cookbook to give away to family members on special occasions. But, of course, they always make sure to set the record straight before putting it in others’ hands.
“I give the book away when (our) children get married as wedding gifts,” McIntyre said. “And to our friends’ children and stuff like that. And we try to write in each one if there are special recipes that we really like, and we always write in Billy Mc’s Corn Pudding recipe.”
BILLY MC’S CORN PUDDING (CORRECTED)
Ingredients
3 (17-ounce) cans cream style corn (Pride cream white corn is best)
1 cup chopped bell pepper
6 tablespoons white sugar
6 tablespoons corn oil
6 eggs, beaten
6 tablespoons plain flour
6 tablespoons milk
Bacon slices, slightly cooked and cut into pieces
Directions
■ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together “wet” ingredients, including eggs, sugar, oil and flour.
■ Add corn, milk and bell pepper. Mix lightly. Pour into a 9×13 casserole dish. Top with pieces of bacon slices.
■ Bake for 55 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before enjoying!
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 38 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 38 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion