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Jam, Imitation
Cut off the yellow rind from a large fresh lemon, being careful not to take any of the white. Mince it as finely as possible, and put it with half a pint of the best treacle, the strained juice of the lemon, and a well-beaten egg into a saucepan, and boil gently for a few minutes, stirring all the time. When cold it is ready for use, and may be employed instead of jam for roly-poly puddings. If put into a jar, and the air excluded, it will remain good for some time. Probable cost, 4d. Sufficient for a pudding large enough for six or eight persons.
A thrifty stand-in for preserve, closer to a treacle-based lemon curd than to jam. It comes together in five minutes; the only real difficulty is keeping the egg from scrambling.
- The hinge: the eggBeat the egg thoroughly, then whisk a spoonful or two of the warmed treacle into it before adding it to the pan, and keep the heat low with constant stirring. Brought straight to a boil it will set in threads and the mixture will need sieving.
- Half a pint of treacleAn imperial half-pint is 10 fl oz, about 1¼ US cups or 400 g of treacle. "The best treacle" probably points to dark cane treacle (US: unsulphured molasses, not blackstrap), though the period term also covered lighter syrups; golden syrup gives a milder, sweeter result.
- Rind, not pithTake the zest with a microplane or a vegetable peeler and shred it fine. The white pith is the source of bitterness, and there is nothing in this mixture to mask it.
- Cooking timeTwo to four minutes of gentle bubbling is enough to thicken it and cook the egg through. Cook it much longer and the treacle darkens and the mixture stiffens as it cools.
- KeepingTreat "will remain good for some time" with caution. This is a cooked egg mixture, and the lemon juice and treacle are not concentrated enough to preserve it reliably; refrigerate in a covered jar and use within four or five days.
- Roly-poly puddingThe intended vehicle is a suet crust rolled around the filling and steamed or boiled for about two hours. The mixture is thick, so it sits in the roll without running.
- YieldAbout 1½ cups, which the book reckons enough for a pudding serving six to eight. It also works as a filling for tarts or spread on bread.
Imitation jams belong to the long tradition of English kitchen economy, where treacle stood in for fruit preserve whenever sugar and jam were dear and the store cupboard was not. Cassell's dates from a period when treacle — the dark by-product of cane sugar refining — was among the cheapest sweeteners in Britain, and treacle puddings were common cheap fare. The quoted cost of fourpence, set against a shop-bought pot of preserve, is the argument for the recipe. Adding lemon zest, juice and egg pushes it toward lemon curd, a preserve of the same era made with butter, sugar, eggs and lemon.