Raspberry Creams Without Milk or Cream

A Victorian dairy-free dessert built entirely on raw egg white beaten with sweetened fruit jelly, and served without any cooking step at all. That is the problem with it, and the reason the notes below explain rather than adapt.

• Raw egg white, never heatedThe whites go into the glass exactly as they came out of the shell. Nothing in the method reaches a temperature that would inactivate Salmonella, and the sugar and fruit acid here are nowhere near sufficient to do the job. Raw shell eggs were treated as safe in the period; that assumption no longer holds.
• Held at room temperatureThe mixture is beaten at length and then served in glasses with no cooking or chilling step, so it stands at kitchen temperature for a long stretch. Whipping distributes any surface bacteria through the foam.
• No safe substitution is offered hereCold uncooked egg-white foams are still made, but only with pasteurised whites or a cooked meringue base, and those need their own measured method. Use a current recipe for a raspberry mousse or fruit snow rather than trying to patch this one.
• "Raspberry jelly"Not a gelatine dessert but a set, strained raspberry preserve made without seeds, of the kind sold in jars as a firm clear jam. Two ounces is about two heaped tablespoons.
• "Time, about one hour"Most likely the whisking and preparation time rather than a cooking time. The only heat involved is whatever is used to dissolve the jelly, and the whites go in after that, so nothing that contains egg is cooked.
• Cost and yieldSixpence was a real if modest sum for a two-glass dessert. "Custard glasses" were small serving glasses, so the finished quantity is genuinely small.