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Jersey Pudding
Mix an ounce of flour thoroughly with two ounces of ground rice, two ounces of moist sugar, and a very small pinch of salt. Work these ingredients smoothly into four ounces of butter. Add two ounces of stoned raisins, chopped small, a tea-spoonful of finely-minced lemon-rind, three well-beaten eggs, and two table-spoonfuls of milk. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered mould, cover it with an oiled paper, tie it in a cloth, and keep it boiling until it is done enough. Pour round the pudding a sauce made of syrup, flavoured with lemon-rind and juice, and coloured with two or three drops of cochineal. Time, one hour to boil. Probable cost, 6d. Sufficient for two persons.
A rich boiled pudding in the Victorian manner: more butter than flour, bound almost entirely by egg. The method is a water bath, so the working temperature never exceeds boiling point and the texture stays close to a dense custard-cake.
- The hinge: keep the water boiling and topped upThe mould sits in simmering water for the full hour, and the pan must never boil dry or go off the boil for long. Add boiling water, not cold, when the level drops, and keep the water no more than two-thirds up the mould.
- Ground riceMilled rice, somewhat coarser than the fine rice flour sold today; either will serve, though the coarser grind gives the short, slightly sandy crumb that distinguishes the pudding from a plain steamed sponge. It is not the same thing as whole pudding rice.
- Moist sugarVictorian moist sugar was an unrefined soft sugar. Light brown soft sugar is the closest match; granulated white will work but the flavour is flatter.
- Butter and flour proportionsFour ounces of butter to one of flour and two of rice is not a misprint. The result is very soft and needs to sit five minutes before turning out, or it will slump.
- Covering the mouldOiled paper and a tied cloth were the period equivalent of a lid. A round of parchment plus foil, tied under the rim with string, does the same job; leave a pleat so the pudding can rise.
- CochinealCochineal is carmine, extracted from scale insects, and is still sold as a food colour (E120). It is not vegetarian. Two or three drops tint the syrup pink; omit it and the sauce is simply pale lemon.
- The sauce"Syrup" here means a thick sugar syrup, warmed with pared lemon rind and sharpened with the juice. Strain out the rind before pouring.
- YieldTwo portions as written. The recipe gives no mould size, but the quantity is small, so a mould of about a pint suits it. It doubles without difficulty, though a larger mould will need longer -- test with a skewer, which should come out clean.
Cassell's ran a great many boiled and steamed puddings, and they suited the equipment of the ordinary kitchen: one pot on one fire, no oven required, and a cloth and string in place of a lid. The Jersey name is usually taken as a nod to the island's dairy reputation rather than to any dish documented in Jersey itself, though the connection is traditional rather than established -- and this particular mixture uses only butter and two spoonfuls of milk. Ground rice was in common domestic use by this date, valued for the crumb it gave and for being cheaper than wheat flour. The costing of sixpence, given as a matter of course, reflects the book's habit of pricing every dish.