Indian Pudding--Eggless - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3 cups milk (4 cups in total, 1 cup reserved for later use in the recipe)
2/3 cup dark molasses (do not use Black Strap, it's too intense)
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup maple syrup (white sugar can be substituted to have a less sweet taste)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup butter
1 cup milk (COLD!)

Preparation

Heat oven to 300 degrees.
Grease a 2 quart casserole. Set aside.
Mix the cornmeal, sugar (or maple syrup), salt, cinnamon and ginger together. Set aside.
Heat the first 3 cups of milk and molasses slowly until scalded.
Gradually stir the cornmeal-sugar mixture into the hot milk/molasses mixture. When combined, add the butter. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, about 10-20 minutes or until the cornmeal mush begins to thicken slightly.
Boil water to create a water bath (Bain Marie) for the casserole dish.
Pour into greased casserole. Place casserole in a baking pan deep enough to hold enough boiling water to come 2 inches up the side. Fill baking pan with boiling water.
Pour the remaining 1 cup of cold milk over the pudding; DO NOT STIR!
Bake for 3 hours or until a knife inserted of the center of the pudding comes out clean.
Carefully remove pudding from oven so water from baking pan does not spill. Set on trivet or hot pad to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. Allow water to cool in oven for safe removal.
Serve Indian Pudding alone, with ice cream, poured cream or whipped cream.