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Citron Pudding
Mix two table-spoonfuls of flour very smoothly with the beaten yolks of six eggs. Add very gradually one pint of new milk or cream, a quarter of a pound of citron chopped small, and two table-spoonfuls of sugar. Mix thoroughly, pour the batter into well-buttered cups, and bake in a quick oven. Time to bake, about twenty minutes, or till set. Probable cost, if made with milk, 1s. 2d. Sufficient for six persons.
A baked egg-yolk custard thickened with a little flour and studded with candied citron, cooked in individual cups. The whole thing hinges on not letting the eggs scramble.
- Citron is candied peelThis is the preserved peel of the citron fruit, sold in blocks or diced with the baking supplies, not the lemon-scented herb and not fresh citrus. Chop it fine so it suspends in the batter rather than sinking; candied lemon or orange peel substitutes acceptably.
- "A quick oven"Period usage puts this somewhere around 400F, hot for a custard. Because the flour stabilises the yolks it will not break as readily as a plain custard, but a moderate oven with the cups standing in a pan of hot water gives a smoother set; expect longer than the stated twenty minutes if you drop the heat.
- "New milk"Simply fresh whole milk, as opposed to milk that had stood and been skimmed. Whole milk gives a light, quivering pudding; cream gives something closer to a pot de creme.
- Add the milk gradually, and coldSix yolks and two tablespoons of flour form a paste that will go lumpy if flooded at once. Work the liquid in a spoonful at a time until the mixture is loose, then pour in the rest.
- The cupsRamekins or custard cups of 4-5 oz each, well buttered. Filled to about three-quarters, one pint of liquid plus the eggs makes six.
- Judging "till set"The centres should still wobble slightly when the cups are nudged; they firm as they cool. Baked until stiff throughout, the pudding turns weepy and grainy.
- SweetnessTwo tablespoons of sugar is modest by modern taste, and much of the sweetness comes from the citron itself. Taste the peel first and adjust rather than assuming.
- The cost note1s. 2d. is pre-decimal British currency, one shilling and twopence, and reflects late Victorian prices. It is a pricing guide for a household cook, not an ingredient measure.
Citron pudding appears in English cookery books from the eighteenth century onward, usually as a small baked custard rather than a boiled or steamed pudding, and Cassell's version follows that older pattern closely. Candied citron was one of the standard imported sweetmeats of the British larder, arriving preserved from the Mediterranean and keeping well, which made it a useful flavouring in kitchens without fresh fruit for much of the year; it turns up alongside the candied lemon and orange peel used for cakes and mincemeat. Recipes of this kind use yolks alone, leaving whites to be used elsewhere, in meringues, icing or clearing soup.