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Old-Fashioned Corn Pudding

G By Our Grannies' Kitchen Updated Jul 2026 4.8 (227 ratings)
Old-Fashioned Corn Pudding
Old-Fashioned Corn Pudding
4.8 / 5
8 servings

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Ingredients

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  • 2 × 340 g pans sweetcorn, very well drained (about 520 g kernels)
  • 1 × 418 g pan creamed sweetcorn
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
  • ¾ stick (85 g) butter, melted, plus extra for the dish
  • 50 g granulated sugar and 30 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper and a small grating of nutmeg

Method

  1. Prep. Oven to 325°F (170°C, fan 150°C). Butter a 2-liter baking dish (about 23 cm square). Tip the kernels into a sieve and press them dry with the back of a spoon.
  2. Whisk. Eggs, granulated sugar, flour, salt, pepper & nutmeg until completely smooth. Whisk in the milk, then the melted butter.
  3. Fold. Stir in the drained kernels and the creamed corn, then pour into the buttered dish.
  4. Bake. 50–60 minutes, until golden and set at the edges with a gentle wobble left in the very center. For the silkiest custard, sit the dish in a roasting pan half-filled with hot water — allow up to 70 minutes.
  5. Rest. 10–15 minutes on the side — it finishes setting as it stands. Serve warm, spooned straight from the dish.
Granny's tip

Taste a kernel before you start — if your corn is very sweet, take the sugar down to a tablespoon. Corn pudding should sit just on the sweet side of savory, never like dessert.

Tips for silky corn pudding

Drain, then drain again

Tip the kernels into a sieve and press with the back of a spoon. The liquid in the pan is where watery corn pudding comes from.

Gentle heat, silky custard

Keep the oven moderate, or sit the dish in a roasting can of hot water. Fierce heat scrambles the custard — grainy, weeping, sad.

Pull it at the wobble

Edges set, center trembling like a just-set jelly. It finishes in the 10-minute rest — bake it firm and it turns rubbery.

Questions, answered

What is the difference between corn pudding, creamed corn and spoonbread?

Corn pudding is a baked egg custard with whole corn kernels folded through — soft enough to spoon, set enough to hold its shape. Creamed corn is a stovetop side of kernels in a creamy sauce, with no eggs and no baking. Spoonbread is made with cornmeal and beaten eggs, so it bakes up light and soufflé-like. Corn pudding sits between the two: custardy like spoonbread but with no cornmeal, and corn-rich like creamed corn but baked until just set.

Why is my corn pudding watery?

Two usual culprits. Overbaking makes the custard curdle and weep out its liquid — take it out while the center still wobbles, then let it rest, as it sets fully as it stands. The other is undrained corn: press the kernels dry in a sieve, because liquid from the pan bakes out as a puddle underneath. An oven that is too hot does the same, so keep it at 325°F (170°C) or use a water bath.

Can I use frozen or fresh corn instead of canned?

Yes. Swap the canned kernels for about 500 g frozen sweetcorn, thawed and patted very dry, or the kernels cut from 4 to 5 fresh cobs. For the creamed element, either keep the can of creamed sweetcorn or blitz a third of the kernels with the milk until roughly creamy — that creamed portion is what gives the pudding its old-fashioned body.

Can I make corn pudding ahead of time?

Bake it up to 2 days ahead, cool, cover and refrigerate, then reheat covered with foil at 325°F (160°C) (fan 275°F (140°C)) for 20 to 25 minutes until hot through. You can also mix the custard and fold in the corn a few hours ahead and keep it chilled — give it a good stir before pouring and baking. Freezing is not recommended, as the custard weeps when thawed.

From Granny's Pantry

The know-how behind this recipe:

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