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Canary Cream
Put a pint of milk into a saucepan, with a little sugar, and the grated rind of half a lemon. When boiling, pour it upon the beaten yolks of three eggs. Return it to the stewpan, and stir it over a slow fire till the eggs thicken, and be very careful that it does not curdle. When cool, stir in a small glass of sherry or brandy to flavour it, and serve in custard glasses. Time, twenty minutes. Probable cost, 7d., exclusive of the wine. Sufficient for a dozen small glasses.
A stirred custard of the plainest kind, poured into glasses rather than baked. Everything depends on holding the heat low enough that the yolks thicken without setting into curd.
- The hinge: keep it under 180FYolks thicken from about 160F and scramble by roughly 185F. Stir constantly over low heat, or use a bowl over barely simmering water, and pull it off the moment it coats the back of a spoon. If it does break, a moment in a blender or a pass through a sieve will usually rescue it.
- A pintCassell's is imperial: 20 fl oz, about 2 1/2 US cups. Three yolks to that much milk gives a pouring custard, not a spoonable one; expect the consistency of thin cream.
- "A little sugar"Unspecified, as was normal. Two to three tablespoons suits the amount of milk and leaves room for the sweetness of the sherry.
- "A small glass" of wineRoughly 2 fl oz in Victorian usage, a sherry glass rather than a tumbler. Add it only once the custard is cool, as the book says, since cold spirit hitting hot yolks encourages curdling.
- Slow fire, and a stewpanA heavy-bottomed saucepan on the lowest burner setting. The recipe names a "saucepan" first and a "stewpan" on the return, apparently for the same pan.
- The lemon rindGrated zest will leave flecks and a slight bitterness in a pale custard. Strain the finished cream through a fine sieve, or infuse a pared strip of peel in the milk and lift it out instead.
- Yield and servingTwelve "small glasses" means the little stemmed custard glasses of the period, about 2 fl oz each. In modern glassware, count on six servings. Chill thoroughly before serving; it keeps two days covered in the refrigerator.
The formula itself is the standard English boiled custard. The costing of 7d. for a pint, wine excluded, is a reminder that Cassell's was written for households keeping accounts by the dish.