A French-Canadian classic, this Maple Walnut Pudding Chômeur is essentially a self-saucing cake, with a maple syrup flavoured sauce.
About Pudding Chômeur
Pudding Chômeur (or Pouding Chômeur) translates to “Poor Man’s Pudding”. It’s humble food. It’s rustic and comforting. And yes, it’s quite sweet, but it’s a lovely treat and a great way to enjoy and celebrate Spring maple syrup.
I like this recipe as it doesn’t call for a ton of maple syrup. I know it can be expensive in some places (so much for the “poor man” thing :). Boiling the maple syrup down, together with some brown sugar creates great maple flavour without the need to use a lot of maple syrup.
You’ll want to enjoy this one warm from the oven. A drizzle of cream or a bit of ice cream is a great addition to the bowl.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Maple Syrup – there really is no substitute for real maple syrup, so it is highly recommended for this pudding. I like to use Grade B or Amber maple syrup, for the strongest maple flavour.
Walnuts – maple and walnut is a classic combination, but you could use pecans or, if you prefer not to use nuts, you can simply omit the nuts altogether.
Recipe Tips
- As noted above, this is a sweet dessert, so when it comes to serving size, a little goes a long way! This 9×9 pan will probably yield 12 servings. So if you don’t want 12 servings, you can go ahead and half the recipe and cook it up in a smaller or individual baking dishes.
- You can make these Pudding Chômeur in individual servings in ramekins as well, for a great dessert. Simply spread the batter and sauce between 6-8 ramekins. Baking time will a little less.
- As noted, to balance the sweet pudding, drizzle a little cream over-top. Ice cream or even better, Creme fraiche would also be great.
Making ahead, storage and freezing
Pudding Chômeur can be made ahead and re-heated, either in the microwave or lightly covered with foil in a 350F oven until warmed. It is best enjoyed on the day it is baked though, as the cake part will continue to absorb the liquid part.
Store left-overs in the fridge, covered, for 2-3 days.
Pudding Chômeur should freeze well for about 2 months.
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Get the Recipe: Maple Walnut Pudding Chômeur
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk
Sauce:
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
- 1 1/2 cups boiling water
- 1/2 cup real maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. (regular bake setting/not fan assisted) Grease a 9-inch square baking pan and set onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle chopped walnuts evenly over the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer of in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter with brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix until combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add flour mixture to batter in 3 additions, alternating with the milk. Mix just until combined. Spoon into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
- Make sauce by combining sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan. Heat over high heat until mixture comes to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and boil for 2 minutes. Carefully and slowly pour sauce mixture over batter in pan. Do not stir.
- Bake with pan on baking sheet in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until cake is set (pulling away from sides of pan) and golden.
- Serve warm with a drizzle of cream or a scoop of ice cream.
Notes
More Maple Desserts to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
I hesitated to make this due to your warning about how sweet it is.
I’m so glad that I ignored my misgivings and went ahead and made it for yesterday’s brunch. It was a huge hit!
I took your advice and served very small portions with creme fraiche and it was perfection. Even the one guest who always says that she doesn’t have a sweet tooth, raved about it.
And it served 12 guests from a 9×9 inch pan with left-overs.
Thanks!
Hi Dale and I’m glad you did, too :) So glad it was enjoyed! Thanks so much.
Stunningly delicious! (Especially with Muskoka maple syrup 😋 )
So glad you enjoyed it, Pam and with Muskoka maple syrup, too :) Thanks!
I’ve never gotten to have a European style pudding before. It’s so soft and light and moist. A friend called it “heavenly.” It is delicious with or without ice cream. I have plans to make it again. I want to try maple extract instead of vanilla in the cake just to see what that’s like, but it’s awesome as is.
So glad you enjoyed it, Abbie :) Thanks so much!
I do not like walnuts. Can you simply omit them? I would think it would still come out delicious.
Hi Andrea! You could omit them for sure or substitute them with pecans if you would like them better.
This looks so delicious. I’m wondering if this cake can be turned out onto a serving plate as you do a pineapple upside down cake, or would it fall apart?
Hi Tami and no, I’m afraid this cake is not appropriate for turning out, as they is a lot of sauce compared to the amount of cake. Once cooked, the cake actually floats on the sauce. I’m afraid turning it out would be a hot mess :)
Would like to use more maple syrup. What sugar and water can I reduce?
Hi Hylda, you could try reducing the brown sugar to 1 cup and increasing the maple syrup to 1 cup.
What can I use instead of walnuts? Pecans, maybe? One of my kids has a walnut allergy.
Hi Tammy and yes, pecans would be just fine. Enjoy!
Make sure that the pan is 9×9 as a smaller pan will result in leftover sauce. My family enjoyed it and took home leftovers.
So glad you all enjoyed it, Marion :) Thanks so much!
Do you freeze before or after baking? Any tips on freezing would be great!
Hi, you would want to freeze after baking. Freezing is really best for leftovers. Pudding Chômeur is at its best freshly baked and warm.
Can you tell me if the nutritional information is based on the entire dessert or per serving?
Thank you
Hi Hailey, it would be serving (with the 8×8 pan having 12 servings).
This looks so amazing. Will make it for dessert at Easter. Can you double the recipe for a bigger size casserole dish. Like 13 x 9?
Hi Shar and yes, it should do just fine doubled for a 9×13 pan. You probably know this, but you can use the “2X” button on the recipe card to automatically double the ingredients for you. The baking time should be similar, or just a touch longer. Enjoy and Happy Easter!