The New England dessert pudding made with cornmeal, milk, and molasses is Indian pudding.
Indian pudding is a slow-cooked American dessert traditionally made from cornmeal, milk, molasses, and spices such as cinnamon and ginger. It is usually served warm, sometimes with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Its texture is denser and grainier than modern commercial custards because the cornmeal gradually absorbs liquid during extended cooking.
English colonists brought the idea of hasty pudding to North America, but wheat flour was not always plentiful. They adapted the dish around maize, which they called “Indian meal,” and used locally available milk and sweeteners. The resulting cornmeal pudding became a characteristic New England cold-weather food and later gained a strong association with autumn and Thanksgiving celebrations.
Despite the name, Indian pudding is not the same as hasty pudding, bread pudding, or rice pudding. Hasty pudding is a broader porridge-like category that can be made with different grains; Indian pudding is the specifically American cornmeal-and-molasses version. Colonial references also connect its ancestry with earlier Indigenous corn-based preparations.