Grapenut Pudding with Fig Sauce

Destiny called this week with news and the news was this: she has met someone. His name is Travis—Travis Abernathy, she said, giving me the full name immediately, which means she has decided to tell me properly and not hedge—and he is a Birmingham firefighter and she met him at a community meeting about fire safety in the Woodlawn neighborhood where she does some of her casework. She described him in the way Destiny describes things she cares about: precisely and without embellishment, the facts rather than the romance, because Destiny has always trusted facts more than feelings, though she has plenty of both. She said he was steady. She said he was present. She said when he listened to her he seemed to actually hear what she was saying. I said, "Baby, that's the whole ball game right there." She laughed. She knows I'm right.

I have not met Travis yet. I will meet Travis when Destiny decides I should meet Travis, which will not be before she is ready and will not be without the Sunday dinner protocol, which in this family is the meeting-the-parents ritual, the formalization of welcome into the Simms table. When Travis comes to this table for Sunday dinner, that is when I will know who he is. The table tells me things that a first handshake can't. The way a person eats tells you more about them than a conversation. Does he take what he needs or what he wants? Does he help himself before others are served? Does he eat the greens? I will watch and I will know.

I made a butterscotch pudding this week—from scratch, not the box, which requires real butterscotch browned carefully in a heavy pot with butter and brown sugar and heavy cream, then egg yolks and patience, then the cooling and the chilling, then the eating, which requires a clean spoon and complete attention. Calvin ate it for dessert three nights running. He said it was the best pudding he'd ever had. I said I'd made him better things. He said, "This week, Loretta. This week it's the best." I accept this weekly rotation of superlatives. It means the food is different enough to surprise him. After twenty-seven years, that is its own kind of love.

The butterscotch pudding I made that week was its own kind of prayer—slow, deliberate, requiring attention I was glad to give while I turned Destiny’s news over in my mind like something warm in my hands. Pudding made from scratch is not a weeknight shortcut; it is a choice, and the choice means something. This Grapenut Pudding with Fig Sauce is that same kind of recipe: humble ingredients, real patience, and a result that is richer than it has any right to be—which is exactly what I hope for Travis Abernathy when he finally sits down at this table.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 10 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

3/4 cup Grape-Nuts cereal
3 cups whole milk
3 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened (for greasing dish)
For the Fig Sauce:
1 cup dried figs, stems removed and roughly chopped
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat and prepare. Heat oven to 325°F. Butter a 1 1/2-quart baking dish and scatter the Grape-Nuts evenly across the bottom. Let them sit while you mix the custard—they will begin to soften slightly, which is what you want.
Make the custard base. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until pale and slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, nutmeg, and salt, then slowly whisk in the milk until fully combined and smooth.
Assemble and bake. Pour the custard mixture gently over the Grape-Nuts in the prepared dish. Set the dish inside a larger roasting pan and add hot water to the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the baking dish. Bake for 50—55 minutes, until the pudding is just set at the edges but has a gentle wobble at the center when nudged.
Cool the pudding. Remove the baking dish from the water bath and set on a wire rack. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. The pudding can be served warm or chilled; both are correct.
Make the fig sauce. While the pudding bakes, combine the chopped figs, water, honey, lemon juice, and cinnamon in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook for 12—15 minutes until the figs are very soft and the liquid has reduced to a syrupy consistency. Use the back of a spoon to press the figs into a rough sauce, or blend briefly for a smoother texture. Taste and adjust honey or lemon as needed.
Serve. Spoon the pudding into bowls and ladle the warm fig sauce generously over the top. A clean spoon and your full attention are the only other requirements.

Nutrition (per serving)

Grapenut Pudding with Fig Sauce — The Pudding That Tells the Truth