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Royal Cream Pie
Mix together two table-spoonfuls of flour, three of sugar, and a quarter of a pint of milk; bring to the boil and add a pint of cream by degrees. Bring again to the boil, then take from the fire and beat in three eggs, leaving out two of the whites. Line a pie-dish with a nice flaky paste, pour the mixture in, and bake it until it has a good brown surface. Beat the remaining whites, mix with an ounce of sugar and a little spice, and spread unevenly over the top; the pie should then be returned to the oven to brown. Any kind of fruit in season may be served with this pie. Probable cost, 1s. 10d., without the fruit.
A baked cream custard in a pastry shell, finished with a small meringue — closer to a rich crustade than to a modern cream pie. The measurements are imperial and the quantities generous.
- The measuresAn imperial quarter-pint of milk is 5 fl oz (about 2/3 cup); the pint of cream is 20 fl oz (2 1/2 cups). Two tablespoons flour and three of sugar are as written.
- Eggs"Three eggs, leaving out two of the whites" means three yolks plus one whole white go into the custard, and the two reserved whites make the topping.
- Beat the eggs in off the heatThis is the hinge. The flour-thickened cream must be taken from the fire before the eggs go in, or they scramble. Better still, temper: whisk a ladle of the hot mixture into the beaten eggs, then return the lot to the pan.
- Oven temperatureThe recipe gives no oven heat. A moderate oven, about 350F/180C, suits a baked custard; much hotter than that and it will curdle and weep however carefully the eggs were handled.
- Blind-bake the shellA wet custard poured into raw flaky pastry gives a soggy base. Bake the lined dish blind at 400F/200C for 15 minutes, then drop the heat before filling.
- Judging doneness"Until it has a good brown surface" is unreliable for custard. Take it out when the edge is set and the centre still trembles — roughly 30-40 minutes — since it firms as it cools.
- The meringueOne ounce of sugar (about 2 tablespoons) to two whites is a soft, low-sugar meringue that browns fast. Five to eight minutes at 350F is enough; "spread unevenly" is deliberate, so the peaks catch colour.
- Yield and servingNo dish size is given; the quantity of filling needs a deep dish, roughly 9 inches, giving six to eight servings. The suggested fruit in season is served alongside, not baked in — stewed rhubarb, raspberries or poached plums all suit the richness.
- The cost note1s 10d is the late-Victorian retail price for the ingredients, quoted so a housekeeper could cost a menu. It is a period record, not a conversion anyone can use.
Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery was compiled for middle-class British households in the 1870s and reissued for decades afterwards. The "Royal" in the title carries no traceable court connection and is best read as a signal of richness rather than provenance. What marks this one as expensive is the ratio: a full pint of cream to a scant quarter-pint of milk, where plainer household custards leaned on milk, sometimes with a spoonful of cornflour to help them set. The flour-and-milk base boiled first works much as a pastry cream does, as insurance against curdling, and the meringue lid made from the leftover whites reflects the same economy that governs much of the book, which prices its recipes in shillings and pence.