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    Home » Cakes

    Published on: March 9, 2015 by Janice; Updated on: November 7, 2021 11 Comments

    Bananas foster pouding chômeur

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Bananas foster pudding cake - a riff on the classic Quebecois dessert pouding chomeur
    Click here if you want to go directly to the banana pouding chômeur recipe. And if you want to read more about my process and steps to get to this recipe, keep reading. I did a lot of tests to get these rhubarb apple pop tarts just right.

    bananas foster pouding chômeur is like a boozy banana pudding cake

    A few weeks ago, Caroline Dumas, a Montreal chef restaurateur and cookbook author,  accused Danny St-Pierre, another chef and cookbook author, of plagiarizing her recipe for pouding chômeur. Apparently, Caroline Dumas had been internalizing her rage over this for many, many years until she was presented with an opportunity to basically blow up publicly on a radio show and accuse him. She was mad. He was confused. From his reaction, it was clear that he wasn't aware of the blunder and that he has a staff behind him and his websites. It seems that somebody from his team goofed and copied/published word-for-word Caroline Dumas' entire pouding chômeur recipe, all the way down to the note at the end that you can add strawberries to the syrup layer. All that without a single credit or link back to her.

    Ouch.

    bananas for pouding chômeurTo make the situation even more dramatic, the Twitterverse hashtagged it #poudingchomeurgate and all the newspapers and radio jumped on the story. Even a grocery store tried to cash in on the media blitz by labelling their containers of pouding chômeur as "façon Caroline Dumas" or "façon Danny St-Pierre". There were online polls to gauge whose side the public was on. In general, a lot of us felt bad for the way Danny St-Pierre was ambushed on the radio. You'd think Caroline Dumas would have spoken to him beforehand about the issue before exploding on the radio...

    banana's foster pouding chômeur

    Like every other media scandal, #poudingchomeurgate quieted down and apologies were apparently exchanged all around. Still, it amazes me that people don't understand that copying something word-for-word isn't right, especially those working in the media and even worse, those working behind the scenes for big names. On the other hand, #poudingchomeurgate unleashed a whole lot of mocking because a lot of people interpreted that Caroline Dumas was claiming to have "invented" the pouding chômeur, which is clearly not the case. I gather her signature pouding chômeur syrup calls for equal parts cream and maple syrup, whereas traditional pouding chômeurs use brown sugar and boiling water because it was a "poor man's pudding" baked during the Great Depression, and maple syrup costs a small fortune. Her recipe has been published on a few websites and books over the last 10 years, and Martin Picard of Au Pied de Cochon apparently even uses it and has published it himself in his cookbook (of course, crediting Dumas).

    pouding chomeur ratios

    When I was prepping for this recipe, I did a lot of research and math, as usual, and of course, I made a spreadsheet (pictured above). I converted all the recipes into grams/mLs. There are probably hundreds of versions of pouding chômeur with slight variations, and a lot of people seem to use a 1:1 ratio of maple syrup and cream for the yummy sauce hidden beneath the cake layer. Perhaps Caroline Dumas started that trend. I can't say because I don't have the proper tools to research that. In general, nobody's reinventing the wheel here either (including me): it's a basic butter cake recipe dolloped over a pool of syrup. I'm sure they are all yummy, and they all yield some version of pouding chômeur. This one's my latest version to add to the pool: with a boozy maple syrup base reminiscent of bananas foster. I added both vanilla and salt to my cake layer because I think that's important, while most recipes don't (data not included in table).

    This is one of many great maple syrup recipes to warm you up as winter drags on and on. It's easy and it's sweet with a good amount of bananas foster flavour and a fluffy cake top. It might not be the prettiest, but it sure hits the spot! If it's rhubarb season, try this rhubarb pudding cake recipe, another easy dessert recipe with fruit baked on the bottom. Or for something simpler, there's always the best banana bread recipe ever.

    Bananas foster pouding chômeur recipe

    banana's foster pouding chômeur
    Print Pin

    Bananas foster pouding chômeur

    Prevent your screen from going dark
    This bananas foster pudding cake is a riff on the classic Quebecois dessert, the maple pouding chômeur with a bananas foster layer on the bottom and vanilla cake on top.
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Canadian
    Prep Time 25 minutes
    Cook Time 35 minutes
    Total Time 1 hour
    Servings 9
    Calories 348kcal
    Author Janice

    Ingredients

    Cake ingredients

    • 58 grams unsalted butter ¼ cup, room temperature
    • 100 grams granulated sugar ½ cup
    • 1 large egg
    • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • 83 grams bleached all-purpose flour ⅔ cup
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • ⅛ teaspoon Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

    Bananas foster ingredients

    • 250 mL pure maple syrup 1 cup, medium
    • 250 mL whipping cream (35 % fat) 1 cup
    • 63 mL spiced or dark rum ¼ cup
    • 2 bananas about 2 cups, sliced and divided

    Instructions

    • In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), cream the butter and the sugar. Add the egg and beat well , scraping down as needed. Add the vanilla and continue beating on medium-low for several minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
    • In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Dump this mixture into the mixer bowl and beat on low to combine.
    • Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
    • Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
    • In a medium saucepan, combine the maple syrup, whipping cream, dark rum and half the bananas. Heat on high and bring to a boil. Boil for a minute or two.
    • Scatter the rest of the banana slices in the bottom of an 8x8-inch baking dish (preferably at least 2-inches high to minimize spillover later). Pour the syrup over the bananas, then dollop the cake batter over top with the help of a couple spoons (or you can use your fingers).
    • Place the baking dish on a parchment-lined sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the centre of the cake layer comes out clean. The cake will have browned nicely too.
    • Serve warm (but not straight from the oven because you might burn your mouth off).

    Notes

    • I baked this recipe with 58 grams Stirling unsalted butter
    Tried this recipe?Mention @bakesomethingawesome or tag #bakesomethingawesome!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 348kcal

    I do my best to bake with the finest ingredients. Stirling Creamery, a Canadian company, has provided the butter for this post.

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    Comments

    1. Joanne B says

      March 09, 2015 at 12:31 pm

      This looks yummy and simple. I may try it. But one question: you say one egg, but then say "add the eggs." Is it one egg or not?

      Reply
      • Janice says

        March 09, 2015 at 12:41 pm

        Thanks for catching that, Joanne! It's one egg. Originally, I made double the cake layer (so 2 eggs) because I was worried there wouldn't be enough cake. In the end, there was too much, so I only used half the cake batter (so 1 eggs-worth) for the final recipe.
        I hope you get the chance to try this recipe soon! Let me know if you do 🙂

        Reply
    2. Ayngelina says

      March 11, 2015 at 6:20 pm

      Love love love chomeur, these look beautiful.

      Reply
    3. Denise | Sweet Peas & Saffron says

      March 11, 2015 at 10:27 pm

      I hadn't heard of choumeur-gate, draaa-maa! I am impressed with your organization/math skills...and this chomeur looks amazing!

      Reply
      • Janice says

        March 13, 2015 at 1:47 pm

        such draa-maaaa, lol 😉

        Reply
    4. Shareba @ In Search Of Yummy-ness says

      March 12, 2015 at 11:30 pm

      I'm surprised that she didn't contact him immediately over the plagiarism. I can understand her rage though... what a mess. Your chomeur looks fabulous though!

      Reply
      • Janice says

        March 13, 2015 at 1:48 pm

        you'd think she'd have said "something" before now since apparently it started years ago!

        Reply
    5. Ethan says

      March 13, 2015 at 1:19 pm

      I'm not sure radio was the best way to "talk" to him about it, but I'm glad she said something and she can do whatever she wants! I'm tired of cookbook authors not taking responsibility for the actions of their staff. If you're going to put your name on something, you better be at least sure you didn't steal it from someone.

      Now pass me a spoon so I can dig in 🙂

      Reply
      • Janice says

        March 13, 2015 at 1:51 pm

        I would have thought she'd start with an email or a phone call, and if that went nowhere, then okay, radio show explosion. But she's totally right, and the recipe was copied word-for-word and credited to him, not her on a few sites, which is really, really awful. It's just not right! And if his staff did it, well, it's the equivalent of him doing it because he is responsible in the end.

        Reply
    6. Shelagh says

      March 13, 2015 at 9:21 pm

      Made this tonight for Friday night supper....it was a huge hit. We all loved it. Decadent flavour and a real winner. Will be put into my regular rotation.

      Reply
    7. Meaghan says

      April 27, 2016 at 10:02 am

      I have to admit the photo totally caught my eye on Twitter and getting a moment to read your post this morning I understand why... 'Poor man's pudding' was, sorry is, a staple dessert in my house. My grandmother is French Canadian and has instilled a love of this simple dessert in our family. There has been many a birthday candle stuck into the pudding 🙂 can't wait to try your recipe!

      Reply

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