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Cold Cabinet Pudding
1/4 box gelatine or 1 tablespoon granulated gelatine 1/4 cup cold water 2 cups scalded milk Yolks 3 eggs 1/3 cup sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 tablespoon brandy 5 lady fingers 6 macaroons Soak gelatine in cold water and add to custard made of milk, eggs, sugar, salt; strain, cool slightly, and flavor.
Place a mould in pan of ice-water, decorate with candied cherries and angelica, cover with mixture, added carefully by spoonfuls; when firm, add layer of lady fingers (first soaked in custard), then layer of macaroons (also soaked in custard); repeat, care being taken that each layer is firm before another is added. Garnish, and serve with Cream Sauce I and candied cherries.
A moulded gelatine custard layered with soaked sponge biscuits, in the manner of a charlotte. The whole thing depends on cooking the custard properly and on patience between layers.
- Cook the custard to 175-180FStir the yolks, sugar, salt and scalded milk over low heat or a water bath until it coats a spoon, around 175-180F. This is the hinge: an undercooked custard leaves raw yolk in an uncooked dessert, and an overcooked one scrambles and no amount of straining will fix the texture.
- Gelatine quantitiesA box of gelatine of the period held about 1 oz in four envelopes, so a quarter box is one envelope, roughly 1 tablespoon or 7 g of granulated gelatine. That sets 2 cups of liquid to a firm, sliceable mould rather than a soft cream.
- Bloom, then dissolveSoak the gelatine in the cold water until it swells, then stir it into the hot custard so it dissolves completely before straining. Adding it to a cooled custard leaves rubbery threads.
- AngelicaCandied angelica stem, once a standard green garnish, is now sold mainly by baking specialists. Any candied green peel or thin strips of candied citron work in the same decorative role.
- Lady fingers and macaroonsThe macaroons meant here are the crisp almond kind, not the modern French macaron. Both biscuits should be dry enough to absorb custard without collapsing; soak them briefly, a few seconds only.
- Layer disciplineEach layer must be set before the next goes on, or the biscuits float and the pattern muddles. Refrigeration is easier than a pan of ice water, but the mould still needs 20-30 minutes between layers and 4 hours or overnight to finish.
- UnmouldingDip the mould in warm water for a few seconds, loosen the rim with a thin knife, and invert onto a chilled plate. Oiling the mould lightly beforehand helps the decorated top release cleanly.
- YieldRoughly a quart mould, serving four to six. Cream Sauce I is a separate recipe elsewhere in the book and should be looked up there; a lightly sweetened pouring cream will serve the same purpose.
Cabinet pudding in its older form was a steamed or baked bread-and-custard pudding studded with raisins and candied peel, and the cold version here is a later adaptation, helped by commercial powdered gelatine and household ice. The name's origin is disputed; it is often said to derive from the pudding's appearance at cabinet dinners, though no firm documentation supports that. What is clear is the family resemblance to charlotte russe: a lined and layered mould, ready-made biscuits, and a set custard doing the structural work.