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LEMON PUDDING, BAKED (another and a richer way)
Crush four ounces of ratafias to powder, and strain over it the juice of four fresh lemons; add the grated rind of two lemons, four ounces of powdered sugar, three-quarters of a pint of cream, the eighth of a nutmeg, grated, a small pinch of salt, the beaten yolks of six and the well-whisked whites of three eggs. Line the edges of a pie-dish with good puff paste, put in the mixture, and bake in a moderate oven until the pudding is lightly browned, which will be in about half an hour. Probable cost, 2s. 8d. Sufficient for five or six persons.
A baked lemon custard set on almond biscuit crumbs, with puff paste only around the rim of the dish. It reads oddly to modern eyes chiefly because of the ratafias and the imperial pint.
- RatafiasSmall, hard almond macaroons about the size of a coin, sold in Victorian confectioners and flavoured with bitter almond. Italian amaretti, crushed fine, are the closest thing on a modern shelf; four ounces is roughly 115 g, or upwards of a cup of crumbs.
- The pint is imperialThree-quarters of an imperial pint is 15 fl oz, about 1 3/4 US cups of cream. Single or whipping cream both work; the eggs, not the fat, do the setting.
- Moderate ovenRead this as 350F (175C). Anything hotter will brown the paste rim before the custard has set and risks the eggs curdling at the edges.
- Order of mixingThe juice is strained over the crushed ratafias before anything else, which softens them so they disperse rather than sink. Add the cream and eggs to that, not the other way round, and expect the mixture to look slightly grainy going into the dish.
- Acid and creamFour lemons' juice against 15 fl oz of cream is a lot of acid, and the mixture may look thickened or lightly curdled before baking. That is normal here; whisking in the eggs and baking gently brings it together.
- Six yolks, three whitesNot a misprint. The extra yolks give richness and a soft set, while the whisked whites lighten it. Fold the whites in last and bake at once.
- Paste at the edges onlyThere is no base crust. Press a band of puff pastry around the rim of the pie dish; the recipe gives no dish size.
- DonenessHalf an hour is a fair guide for a shallow dish. The pudding is done when the outer inch is set and the centre still trembles; it firms as it cools. Serve warm or at room temperature, five or six portions as stated.
- Probable cost2s 8d is the book's own estimate of what the ingredients would cost at the time of publication, a figure it gives for every recipe. It has no useful modern equivalent.
Ratafia biscuits are generally said to take their name from ratafia, a sweet almond- or fruit-kernel-flavoured cordial popular from the seventeenth century onward, and the biscuits carried the same bitter-almond note into English puddings, trifles and charlottes. Cassell's New Dictionary of Cookery gives lemon pudding in several graded versions, this one being the richer, with more cream, more yolks and bought biscuits. The band of puff paste around the rim, rather than a full lined crust, holds the pudding at its edge.