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Velvet Cream Made with Gelatine
Soak three-quarters of an ounce of gelatine in a quarter of a pint of water for half an hour. Pour upon it a quarter of a pint of sherry or raisin wine, and stir it over the fire till dissolved. If it is preferred, the gelatine may be dissolved in half a pint of wine only, instead of wine and water. Add six ounces of loaf sugar which has been rubbed upon the rind of two fresh lemons to draw out the flavour, together with a table-spoonful of lemon-juice, and stir the mixture over the fire till the sugar is dissolved. Pour the liquor into a bowl, and when it is cool mix with it gradually but thoroughly a pint of thick cream. Pour it into a mould which has been laid in cold water for some time. Serve upon a glass dish. Probable cost, 2s. 2d. Sufficient for six or seven persons.
A moulded wine cream of the sort that stood at the centre of a Victorian sweet course. It is simple, but the proportions are in imperial pints of the period and the gelatine is not the gelatine you will buy today.
- The measuresAn imperial quarter-pint is 5 fl oz, a scant 2/3 cup; a pint is 20 fl oz, about 2 1/3 cups. Six ounces of sugar is a scant cup granulated.
- Gelatine strengthThree-quarters of an ounce is roughly 21 g, which by modern standards is a good deal for 20 fl oz of cream plus 10 fl oz of liquid. Victorian gelatine and isinglass were not graded for strength as modern leaf and powder are, so results varied; with modern gelatine, 12-14 g should give a cream that unmoulds cleanly without turning rubbery.
- Never let it boilDon't let it boil -- warm it only until clear. Prolonged boiling weakens gelatine's setting power and drives off the wine's aroma. Take it off the heat as soon as no grains remain on the back of the spoon.
- Loaf sugar and the lemon rindLoaf sugar came as a hard cone or block, and rubbing it against the lemon abraded off the zest with its oil. Sugar cubes work the same way; alternatively, finely grate the zest of two lemons into granulated sugar and let it stand while the gelatine soaks.
- Cool before the cream goes inThe instruction to cool the liquor first is worth following: hot, acidic wine syrup meeting cream risks curdling it. Let it cool as directed, then add the cream to it gradually, stirring constantly.
- Thick creamThis means double cream, about 48% fat; heavy or whipping cream at 36% or more will do. It is stirred in unwhipped, not folded, so the set is dense and smooth rather than mousse-like.
- The mouldWetting the mould with cold water, rather than oiling it, was a common way to get a clean-surfaced turn-out. Chill at least 5 to 6 hours or overnight, then dip the mould briefly in hot water and invert onto the glass dish.
- Raisin wineA sweet homemade wine, rarely found for sale now. Cream sherry, Madeira or a sweet Marsala give a comparable effect; if you use a dry sherry, the six ounces of sugar will carry it.
- YieldSix or seven servings, as stated -- about a 1.2 litre (2 pint) mould.
Cassell's places this among its "velvet creams," a family of moulded, wine-flavoured creams that Victorian cookery books also filed under Bavarian creams, Swiss creams and Italian creams -- names applied loosely and often interchangeably. The dish belongs to a long line of set creams that were originally stiffened with isinglass, a setting agent made from the swim bladders of sturgeon and other fish, which was expensive and had to be prepared at home. The qualifier "Made with Gelatine" in the title implies a companion version set by other means, most likely isinglass; commercial gelatine had become comparatively cheap and consistent by the later nineteenth century, and the distinction was evidently still worth drawing. The costing of 2s 2d is characteristic of Cassell's, which gives a probable cost for nearly every dish -- and a pint of thick cream plus a quarter to half a pint of sherry made this a dish for company rather than a Tuesday.