Pudding au Chomeur (Poor Man's Pudding)

(From Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World, available in Kids InfoBits, which includes ReadSpeaker text-to-speech technology)

Upside down cake with caramel base.

Ingredients for pudding (cake)

• One-half cup milk
• 3 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• Three-fourths cup flour
• 1 and one-half teaspoons baking powder
• One-half teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• Three-fourths cup sugar

Ingredients for sauce

• 1 and one-half cups brown sugar
• One-half cup chopped nuts (optional)
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• Vanilla ice cream as accompaniment (optional)

Procedure

• Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
• Make pudding (cake): Combine one-half cup milk, melted butter, and vanilla in small bowl.
• Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl.
• Using electric mixer, beat eggs and one-quarter cup sugar in large bowl until thick and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Add about one-third of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir to combine.
• Next add about one-half of the milk mixture and stir to combine. Continue adding flour and milk, beating well after each addition. Set batter aside.
• Make caramel sauce: Combine brown sugar and butter in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves completely.
• Pour sauce into an 8-inch-diameter ceramic soufflé dish.
• Spoon cake batter over brown sugar mixture in soufflé dish. Bake until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean and syrup is bubbling at edges, about 40 minutes.
• Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.