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Chancellor Pudding
Butter rather thickly a plain round mould, and ornament it with alternate rows of raisins and citron, making a star or some other device at the bottom of the mould. Put in it a layer of small sponge-cakes, sprinkle over them a few raisins and a little finely-chopped citron, then four or five ratafias, and pour over these a teaspoonful of sherry, and repeat until the mould is nearly full. Take a pint of milk sweetened, and flavoured with lemon-rind, and mix with it the yolks of four eggs, well beaten. Stir this a few minutes over the fire till it thickens, but it must not be allowed to boil. When it is time to steam the pudding, pour this custard, which must be cold, gradually over the cakes. Place a piece of well-buttered writing paper on the top, put it in a saucepan, and either boil or steam it very gently indeed, until sufficiently cooked. It should stand four or five minutes before it is turned out. Serve with wine sauce. Time to boil, or to steam, one hour. Probable cost. 1s. 4d., exclusive of the sherry. Sufficient for four or five persons.
A steamed bread-and-butter-style custard pudding in the cabinet pudding family, built in a decorated mould. The whole thing hinges on gentle heat: the custard must not boil at any stage, before or during steaming.
- The custardStir over low heat only until it coats the back of a spoon, around 175-180F. Once it simmers the yolks curdle and the finished pudding weeps rather than slicing clean.
- A pint of milkThis is an imperial pint, 20 fl oz, so a little under 2.5 US cups. With four yolks that gives a soft set, which is what you want for a pudding held together by soaked cake.
- RatafiasSmall crisp almond macaroons, traditionally flavoured with bitter almond. Amaretti are the closest thing on shelves now; four or five per layer, as written.
- CitronCandied citron peel, sold in blocks or diced with the baking fruit at Christmas. Candied mixed peel or candied lemon peel substitutes without much loss.
- Buttered writing paperA greased cover to keep condensation off the top. Buttered parchment tied down, or foil with a pleat folded across it, does the same job.
- Boil or steamThe mould goes into a saucepan with water coming halfway up the sides, lid on, water barely trembling for the full hour. A hard boil at this stage will scramble the custard just as surely as boiling it in the pan did.
- Soaking timePour the cold custard over gradually, as the recipe directs, so the cake takes it up. Sponge cake that has not absorbed the liquid will float and the pudding is likelier to collapse when turned out.
- Turning outThe four or five minutes' standing is not optional; it lets the pudding pull away from the sides so the raisin-and-citron pattern comes out intact on the plate.
- Yield and sauceFour or five servings, as stated. Wine sauce here means a sweet stirred sauce of sugar, butter and sherry or Madeira, served warm.
Chancellor pudding is a dressed-up member of the cabinet pudding group, a family of Victorian moulded steamed puddings built from sponge cake or bread, dried fruit and a light egg custard, and turned out to show a pattern of raisins and candied peel set into the butter at the bottom of the mould. Cabinet, chancellor, diplomat and Newcastle puddings are near-identical variations, and nineteenth-century cookery books disagreed cheerfully about which name went with which detail; the grand titles are generally taken as a nod to the sort of dinner table where a decorated moulded pudding was expected to arrive. Cassell's gives the cost as 1s. 4d. exclusive of the sherry, a reminder that these dictionaries were written for households budgeting to the penny, and that the wine was reckoned a separate luxury rather than part of the everyday store cupboard.