Lemon Cream

A stirred custard in the older English manner, where lemon juice is deliberately allowed to curdle the milk before the eggs go in. It works, but two points in the method decide whether you get a smooth cream or scrambled egg in lemon whey.

• The hinge: never let it boilCook it in a double boiler or a heavy pan over low heat, stirring constantly, and pull it at 170-180F when it coats a spoon. Once it reaches a simmer the egg protein tightens and the whole thing breaks into grains that no amount of straining will rescue.
• Quantities in modern termsA quart of milk is 4 cups; "very nearly a pint of water" is a scant 2 cups. Three lemons give roughly 1/3 to 1/2 cup juice depending on size, which is enough acid to curdle the milk outright.
• The sugar is unspecified"A pint of water sweetened" gives no amount. For a dessert cream of this size, something in the region of 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar would not be out of place, but the original leaves it entirely to the cook's judgement.
• Peel means zestPeel -- The original says only "add the peel; cut up". Paring the yellow zest off in strips with a peeler and leaving the white pith behind is the safer reading, since pith is bitter and will carry through the straining. The strips steep and are removed at the straining, with the curds.
• Steep cold, not on the counterThe instruction to cover the milk and lemon "for an hour or two" assumes a cooler kitchen than most modern ones, and no reliable home refrigeration. Do it in the fridge; the acid extraction works just as well and you avoid holding milk at room temperature.
• Strain twiceStrain after the eggs go in, as directed, and again through a fine sieve after cooking. The first pass removes the curds and peel, the second catches any threads of set egg.
• Yield and servingThe combined liquids come to something over seven cups before straining, so expect roughly six to seven cups of thin, pourable cream once the curds are strained out. Chill thoroughly; it thickens noticeably as it cools.