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Frangipane
Beat 6 eggs until light; add to them gradually a pint of new milk and 2 small spoonfuls of flour. Put the mixture over the fire in a clean saucepan, with a quarter of a pound of fine sugar, and when close at the boiling point and thickish, stir in 2 ounces of crushed ratafias, a glass of rum or brandy, some grated lemon rind, and 2 ounces of butter, browned slightly in a clean pan. This delicious, creamy preparation is an excellent substitute for custard. It can be flavored with vanilla, orange-flower, or coffee to suit the dish it is wanted for. The French use it to fill tartlets or cover fruit tarts.
This is a stirred pastry cream rather than a baked pudding, flour-thickened and flavoured with almond biscuit crumbs and browned butter. It comes together in about fifteen minutes and behaves like any crème pâtissière.
- Do not add cold eggs to hot milkWhisk the flour into the beaten eggs, then pour in the milk gradually while whisking, as the order here implies, before the pan goes on the heat; the sugar goes into the pan with the mixture, as the recipe directs. Stir constantly over medium heat and get into the corners of the pan; the flour helps protect the eggs from curdling, but only if nothing sits still.
- Cook it past "close at the boiling point"Cook it a little past "close at the boiling point" -- flour-thickened creams can taste pasty if the starch is undercooked, so let it barely bubble for a moment once it thickens. With this much egg to so little flour, do not hold it at a rolling boil, and expect a thick coating rather than a stiff mound.
- RatafiasSmall crisp almond macaroons, sold in Britain as ratafia biscuits. Amaretti are the closest widely available substitute; 2 oz is about 55 g, crushed to coarse crumbs. Crumbled almond biscotti or 2 oz of ground almonds plus a little extra sugar will also serve.
- A glass of spiritIn cookery of this period a wine glass means roughly 2 fl oz, or a scant quarter cup. That is a generous amount of alcohol for a pint of cream; half of it still flavours the mixture clearly.
- Pint and spoonfulsIf the book is following British measure the pint is 20 fl oz, otherwise 16; either works. "Two small spoonfuls of flour" is genuinely ambiguous, but two rounded tablespoons (about 20 g) gives a filling firm enough for tartlets, while two teaspoons yields a pouring custard.
- New milkSimply fresh whole milk, unskimmed and not soured. Whole milk from any carton is the equivalent; skimmed milk makes a thinner, chalkier cream.
- The browned butterBrown the 2 oz of butter separately until it smells nutty and the milk solids are hazel, then stir it in with the ratafias and spirit as directed; taking the pan off the heat first is the safer option if the cream looks close to breaking.
- Orange-flower and coffeeOrange-flower water is added off the heat, a teaspoon at a time, as it dulls with cooking. For coffee, infuse the milk with coarsely ground beans and strain before mixing, rather than stirring in brewed coffee, which loosens the cream.
- Yield and keepingAbout a pint and a half of finished cream, enough for a 9-inch tart or a dozen tartlets. Press cling film onto the surface, chill, and use within two days; whisk smooth before spreading.