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ROSE CUSTARD (a French recipe)
Boil a pint of good milk; when it boils up, set it on one side of the fire, and sweeten to taste, adding some essence of rose and a little carmine in powder by way of colouring. Whilst this infusion is going on, take the yolks of eighteen or twenty eggs, put them into a deep dish, and with a wooden spoon keep turning them till they are well mixed. To these ingredients add by degrees the milk, keeping it turned all the time; then strain the mixture; put it again into the saucepan, set it on the fire, keep stirring it till it thickens, but on no account allow it to boil, or all will be spoiled. To prevent this, keep stirring it with one hand, holding the other on the handle of the saucepan to remove it instantly. Strain the mixture a second time into custard-cups or a deep bowl.
A stirred custard of extraordinary richness — eighteen to twenty yolks to a single pint of milk, which is nearer a French crème anglaise concentrate than anything an English cook of the period would have called custard. The whole thing turns on temperature control.
- Never let it boilEgg yolk proteins set from about 150F and curdle above roughly 185F. Hold the custard between 170F and 180F and pull the pan the moment it coats the back of a spoon. The book's advice to keep one hand on the handle is sound; a heatproof spatula and an instant-read thermometer are better.
- The pintAn Imperial pint is 20 fl oz, so use 2½ US cups of whole milk rather than 2. With this many yolks the ratio is forgiving, but the yield changes noticeably.
- Eighteen to twenty yolksThat is roughly 11-14 oz of yolk to a pint of milk, giving something dense enough to set almost like a pot de creme. Six to eight yolks per pint will produce a pouring custard if that is what you want; the original is deliberately extravagant.
- Essence of rose"Essence" in this period could mean a concentrated spirit-based extract, though the term was also used loosely for rosewater strength. If using rosewater, start with 1-2 teaspoons per pint and taste; if using a true rose extract, a few drops. Overdosed rose tastes of soap.
- Carmine in powderPowdered carmine is cochineal, still sold as a food colour (E120) and derived from insects — not vegetarian. A pinch dissolved in a little hot water gives the pale pink intended. Any pink food colouring does the same job.
- Double strainingBoth strainings are worth doing. The first removes chalazae and unmixed white, the second catches any thread of overcooked egg. A fine mesh sieve, not a colander.
- Pan and heatUse a heavy-based saucepan over low direct heat, or set a bowl over barely simmering water if you want insurance. "One side of the fire" means gentle, indirect heat — the coolest part of the range.
- Yield and servingAbout 1½ pints of finished custard, filling eight to ten small custard cups. Chill before serving; the rose scent is more pronounced cold, and the surface should be covered to prevent a skin.
Rose was one of the standard perfumes of the European dessert kitchen for centuries before vanilla displaced it — distilled rosewater came into medieval Europe through the Arab world and stayed in English and French sweet cookery well into the nineteenth century. By the nineteenth century rose was already reading as slightly old-fashioned and faintly exotic. The carmine is a reminder that Victorian dessert-making was as much about colour as flavour; cochineal, spinach juice and saffron are often mentioned as the standard palette. The technique itself is unchanged — this is the same stirred custard that underpins ice creams, trifles and bavarois today, at a yolk ratio few modern cooks would attempt.