Rice Pudding, Iced
INGREDIENTS for pudding for 6 persons.-6 oz. of rice, 1 quart of milk, 1/2 lb. of sugar, the yolks of 6 eggs, 1 small teaspoonful of essence of vanilla. AVERAGE COST, 1s. 2d.
Put the rice into a stewpan, with the milk and sugar, and let these simmer over a gentle fire until the rice is sufficiently soft to break up into a smooth mass, and should the milk dry away too much, a little more may be added. Stir the rice occasionally, to prevent its burning, then beat it to a smooth mixture; add the yolks of the eggs, which should be well whisked, and the vanilla (should this flavouring not be liked, essence of bitter almonds may be substituted for it); put this rice custard into the freezing-pot, and proceed as directed in the recipe for Iced Pudding.
When wanted for table, turn the pudding out of the mould, and pour over the top and round it a compote of oranges, or any other fruit that may be preferred, taking care that the flavouring in the pudding harmonizes well with the fruit that is served with it.
TIME. hour to freeze the mixture.
SEASONABLE all the year.
A Victorian frozen rice custard, moulded and turned out like a pudding rather than scooped. The proportions are sound; only the equipment and the egg handling need translating.
- The hinge: cook the custardAs written the whisked yolks are stirred into the rice with no further cooking specified, and the mixture then goes straight to the freezing-pot, so the eggs may never reach a safe temperature. Stir the yolks into the hot rice and milk over low heat until the mixture thickens and registers 170-175F, then chill it thoroughly before freezing.
- QuantitiesThe sugar reads 1/2 lb., about a cup granulated, and matches the printed page. The 6 oz of rice is a weight, nearer a cup of short-grain or pudding rice; long-grain will not break down to the smooth mass the recipe wants.
- Imperial quartMrs Beeton's quart is 40 fl oz, about 1.15 litres or 4 3/4 US cups. Whole milk is intended, and the recipe expects you to top it up as it reduces.
- The freezing-potA pewter or tin canister packed in a tub of crushed ice and coarse salt, scraped and worked by hand. An ice cream churn does the same job; the mixture must be cold before it goes in, and the "hour to freeze" assumes constant agitation.
- MouldingTo turn it out cleanly, pack the churned mixture into a chilled mould, cover with paper and freeze hard for several hours, then dip the mould briefly in warm water. Rice ices set firmer than plain custard ices, so let it stand a few minutes before serving.
- Essence of bitter almondsThe Victorian article was distilled from bitter almond kernels and, unless rectified, carried prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide); it is hard to buy for domestic use in most places today. Modern almond extract gives the intended flavour without the problem.
- Yield and servingSix as printed, with a compote of oranges spooned over and around. Any poached fruit works, but keep it acidic - the pudding is sweet and starchy and needs the contrast.
Iced puddings belong to the tail end of the era when ice was a luxury commodity: through the middle of the nineteenth century British kitchens depended on ice houses and on block ice shipped from Norway and North America, and a moulded ice was a statement of a household's resources as much as a dessert. Mrs Beeton gives a whole family of them, all referring back to a single master recipe for working the freezing-pot, which is why this entry ends with "proceed as directed in the recipe for Iced Pudding" rather than explaining the ice-and-salt method again. Rice is the thrifty member of the group - a quart of milk and a handful of grain stretched further than a cream ice - and its starch gives the frozen mixture a body that survives being turned out of a mould, which is the whole point of an iced pudding as opposed to an ice served in glasses.