Tutti Frutti Sauce

Mrs. Wilson gives ingredients and a serving note but no method, which was normal in a book that assumed you already knew what a hard sauce was. Everything here turns on which of the two versions you want.

• The hinge: two different saucesFor hard sauce, cream the softened butter with the brown sugar until light, beat in the cream a spoonful at a time, then fold in the fruit and nuts and chill until firm. For the hot version, melt butter, sugar and cream together over low heat and simmer two or three minutes to a smooth syrup before adding the fruit. Do not try to make the cold version from a melted base; it will separate.
• 8 tablespoons creamThat is 1/2 cup. Heavy cream is the safer choice here; light cream will thin the hard sauce too far.
• Light brown sugarTwo cups; the recipe does not specify packed or loose. Brown sugar of the period was less standardised than the modern product, so the result may differ somewhat from hers.
• Pineapple and cherriesShe means candied or glace fruit, the kind sold for fruitcake, not canned pineapple or fresh cherries. Wet canned fruit will weep into the sauce and slacken it. Chop to raisin size.
• NutsWalnuts or pecans, chopped, and worth toasting first since the sauce gets no oven time of its own.
• Yield and servingCloser to five cups, since the fruit and nuts alone come to three, over steamed pudding, baked apples, gingerbread or plain cake. The cold form keeps a few days covered in the refrigerator; the hot form reheats gently with a splash of cream.