madbaker | Not so much a pudding

This week's Resolution Recipe, continued from the war: Florentine-style Fasanitico Millet Pudding.

For a good Millet Pudding for ten, get a pound of the newest cheese and grind it up very well –that is, until it is like milk; then get four ounces of the finest [millet] flour, twelve egg whites and half a pound of fine sugar, and mix everything together… get a pan without a pastry crust on its bottom, and put the mixture in it; but before doing this, put in a layer of good lard a finger-width’s deep, put the pan on the coals, and, when the butter or lard has melted, immediately put the mixture in, applying a moderate fire above and below; when it is cooked, remove it and put sugar and rosewater on top. (Cuoco Napoletano, late 15th century)

8 ounces fresh cheese (I used mascarpone)
2 ounces millet flour
4-6 large egg whites
1/4 pound + 1 Tbsp turbinado sugar, divided
1 Tbsp butter or lard
1 Tbsp rose-water

Beat the cheese thoroughly, then beat in millet flour, egg whites, and 1/4 pound sugar. Heat a casserole dish or other covered pan and melt the butter, greasing the bottom and sides well. Pour in the mixture and bake for 45 minutes (at - some temperature. I did it over the fire, so I don't know.) Remove from the heat, gently slide out the pudding, and top with rose-water and sugar.

What worked: Exceedingly yummy. I can't swear that I used the full 1/4 lb sugar - I packed my scale but didn't find it until two days later. Nice texture and it wasn't at all smoky.

What didn't: Like a Dutch pancake, it deflated shortly after removing to 1/3 its height.

Will I make it again? Oh heck yes. I might even do this at the Erinwood event for dinner potluck.

Sources
Scully, Terence. Cuoco Napoletano: The Neapolitan Recipe Collection. Ann Arbor, Mich: University of Michigan, 2000. Print. ISBN 0-472-10972-3.
Holt, Richard. The Mills of Medieval England. Oxford, UK: B. Blackwell, 1988. Print. ISBN 0-631-15692-5.

What I'm reading: Peter Brett, The Warded Man