This is an ancient Roman dish.
Makes 2 servings.

½ cup farina (if you can't find plain farina, use unflavored cream of wheat or malt-o-meal)
1 cup water
1 Tbsp pine nuts
2 Tbsp blanched almonds
2 Tbsp raisins
¼ cup prune juice or grape juice
dates
figs
extra nuts of desired variety
Simmer the juice over low heat until it is reduced to half. Set aside.
Over low heat, whisk together the farina and water. Add the pine nuts and almonds. Cook, stirring, until it reaches desired thickness. (I like it really thick and solid, some want it thinner.)
Stir the raisins and juice into the farina.
Mince the dates and figs, and crush the nuts. Serve in bowls with the fruit and nuts on top.
I got together with a friend to do some experimental Roman cooking.
The recipe we used interpreted apothermum as a pudding. I found a second recipe that considers it a sauce for meat. However, in the original text, apothermum is in the minced dishes chapter, not the sauce chapter. The two different translations are interesting. One recipe comes up with forcemeats, the other says nuts and fruit. (Latin is weird because isn't it all, “We're pretty sure this word means this” because there are no original speakers?)
Here are the recipes:
Pudding recipe
Spelt or Farina Pudding
Apothermum
Boil spelt with Tor. pignolia nuts and peeled almonds1 [G.‑V. and] immersed in boiling water and washed with white clay so that they appear perfectly white, add raisins, flavor with condensed wine or raisin wine and serve it in a round dish with crushed2 nuts, fruit, bread or cake crumbs sprinkled over it.3
1
V. We peel almonds in the same manner; the white clay treatment is new to us.
G.‑V.: and — which is confusing.
2
The original: confractum — crushed, but what? G.‑V. pepper, for which there is neither authority nor reason. A wine sauce would go well with it or crushed fruit. List. and Goll. Breadcrumbs.
3
This is a perfectly good pudding — one of the very few desserts in
Apicius. With a little sweetening (supplied probably by the condensed
wine) and some grated lemon for flavor it is quite acceptable as a
dessert.
For clarification, the blue text in the first recipe are extrapolations added to the recipe by the translator. The footnotes are also by the translator, and some refer to the text of a different translation.
Sauce recipe
To make Apothermum: Boil spelt with small nuts and blanched almonds.
The almonds should previously been have been soaked in water with the
chalk used as polish, so that they are perfectly white. To this add
raisins and defritum or raisin wine. Sprinkle with ground pepper and
serve in a bowl [with prepared forcemeats].
Latin text:
10. Apothermum sic facies: alicam elixa nucleis et amygdalis depilatis et in aqua infusis et lotis ex creta argentaria, ut ad candorem pariter perducantur. cui ammiscebis uvam passam, caroenum vel passum, desuper ‹piper› confractum asparges et in boletari inferes.
As you see, the first recipe says that it's spelt or farina. Not sure where they're getting the farina bit, but, in my opinion, that would provide a way better texture than the boiled spelt berries that we tried the first time.
I looked up raisin wine to determine exactly what I needed to try for (because I don't use alcohol), and it's a sweet dessert wine. Defritum is a sweet syrup made by reducing grape juice (hence the translation into “condensed wine”).
I like that the second recipe says small nuts, which may not need to be pine nuts. Is “small nuts” the actual ancient Roman name for pine nuts? The translator for the first recipe seems obsessed with pine nuts because he specifies them pretty much anytime nuts are mentioned.
The nuts, fruit, bread or cake crumbs bit from the first recipe is hypothesized by the translator; so apparently no one really knows what the crushed stuff is that goes on the dish. I like the nuts/fruit idea.
I liked it. It is like eating fancied-up cream of wheat, which is basically exactly what it is.
#almond #breakfast #dairyfree #date #farina #fig #fruitjuice #grapejuice #historical #nuts #pinenut #prunejuice #pudding #raisin #vegan

1 lb cherries, any variety, pits and stems removed
2 Tbsp apple juice, as desired for sweetness
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
A pinch of ground cloves
1 cup milk or nut milk
If using canned cherries, drain out and discard the syrup. If using fresh cherries and juice comes out from pitting them, use the juice!
Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Be sure to blend it thoroughly. Strain the skins out if necessary.
#applejuice #cherry #cinnamon #clove #dairyfree #dessert #glutenfree #milk #nutmilk #pudding #vegan #vegetarian

¼ cup corn starch
¼ cup chopped raw nuts
2 cups milk, cream, buttermilk, or nut milk
1 ½ cups chopped apples
1 ½ cups chopped pear
¼ c honey
½ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of salt
pinch of nutmeg
Mix the corn starch, nuts, milk, apples, pears, and honey in saucepan and bring slowly to a simmer. Cook, stirring for 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Can be served warm or chilled.
#apple #buttermilk #cinnamon #cloves #cornstarch #cream #dairyfree #dessert #ginger #glutenfree #honey #milk #nutmeg #nutmilk #nuts #pear #pudding #salt #vegetarian
3 cups milk
2/3 cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
3 egg yolks
3 Tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa
1/8 tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup dark chocolate chips
Put 2 ½ cups milk, the cocoa, and the salt in a saucepan over med-high heat. Sprinkle sugar on the milk, without stirring.
In a separate bowl, whisk the cornstarch into the remaining milk. Add egg yolks and beat well.
Right when milk comes to a boil, remove from heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Keep stirring as the mixture begins to thicken. Return to heat and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly as it thickens. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips and vanilla. Serve warm.
#chocolatechip #cocoa #cornstarch #dessert #eggyolk #glutenfree #milk #pudding #salt #sugar #vanilla #vegetarian
3 ¾ cups milk
½ tsp salt
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup + 1 tsp cornstarch
3 egg yolks
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ Tbsp butter
Put 3 cups milk and the salt in a saucepan over med-high heat. Sprinkle sugar on the milk, without stirring.
In a separate bowl, whisk the cornstarch into the remaining milk. Add egg yolks and mix well.
When milk comes to steaming, right before a boil, remove from heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Keep stirring as the mixture begins to thicken. Return to heat and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. It will continue to thicken as it cools. Serve warm.
Makes 6 servings.
For variations, replace ½ tsp of vanilla extract with another extract, like orange or lemon.
Serve alone, or with fruit or cake.
#butter #cornstarch #dessert #eggyolk #glutenfree #milk #pudding #salt #sugar #vanilla #vegetarian