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Pastry Cream, for Garnishing Tartlets and Other Pastry
Rub together one ounce of flour and a well-beaten egg. When quite smooth, add a small pinch of salt, one ounce of powdered and sifted sugar, and a quarter of a pint of milk, and stir the mixture over the fire until it boils. Draw the saucepan to the side, cover closely, and let the contents simmer gently for a quarter of an hour; then turn the mixture into a bowl, and add to it the yolks of two eggs and a table-spoonful of powdered ratafias, with any additional flavouring that may be liked. Put a lump of butter the size of a small egg into a saucepan, place it on a gentle fire. As soon as it is lightly coloured stir it into the flavoured cream. When cold it is ready for use. Probable cost, 6d.
A crème pâtissière in the older English style, thickened with flour rather than cornflour and enriched at the end with browned butter. Two things decide whether it works: the long covered simmer that cooks the raw taste out of the flour, and the temperature at which the yolks go in.
- The measurementsOne ounce of flour is about 1/4 cup (28 g); one ounce of sugar is a good 2 tablespoons, more if it is finely powdered as the recipe specifies. A quarter of an imperial pint is 5 fl oz, so 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of milk. Butter "the size of a small egg" is roughly 1 1/2 oz (40 g).
- RatafiasRatafia biscuits were tiny dry almond macaroons, sold by the bag for exactly this sort of use. Crushed amaretti are the closest thing on a modern shelf; a tablespoon of the crumbs, or a few drops of almond extract, gives the same note.
- The long simmerFifteen minutes at a bare simmer is not padding. Flour-thickened creams taste pasty until the starch granules have fully burst, and the covered pan keeps a skin from forming. Use a heavy saucepan, keep the heat very low, and stir down to the corners often, or the bottom will scorch and the whole batch will taste of it.
- Getting the yolks safely cookedThe book has you stir the yolks into the hot base off the fire. Work fast while the base is still near boiling, then return the pan to low heat for a minute or two, stirring, until it reaches 180F (82C) and visibly thickens. Do not let it boil hard after the yolks go in or it will curdle.
- The browned butterA light beurre noisette. Melt it over gentle heat only until it takes colour and smells nutty -- the book says "lightly coloured" -- then get it off the heat immediately, as it darkens and turns bitter quickly. Stir it in while the cream is still warm so it emulsifies rather than sitting on top.
- Cooling and keepingPress cling film directly onto the surface as it cools to prevent a skin, and chill it. It thickens considerably as it cools; whisk it smooth before piping. Use within two days, as with any egg-and-milk custard.
- YieldAbout 1 to 1 1/4 cups, enough to fill roughly a dozen small tartlet cases or one 7-inch tart shell thinly. The recipe doubles cleanly.
- "Probable cost, 6d."Sixpence, the price quoted for the whole quantity; such costings were presumably an aid to household budgeting, and the figure means nothing now.
Pastry cream reached English kitchens from French patisserie, where creme patissiere had long been the standard filling for tartlets, eclairs and gateaux. The version here is distinctly Victorian in two respects: it leans on flour rather than the cornflour that would largely replace it in later English recipes, and it finishes with browned butter, a richness modern pastry cream usually gets from plain butter or extra yolks. The ratafias are a period detail: these small bitter-almond macaroons were a commercial biscuit sold to be crumbled into creams, trifles and puddings, and they are now hard to find in British shops.