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Lemon Sauce
1/2 cup sugar 1 tablespoon corn-starch 2 tablespoons lemon-juice Nutmeg 2 tablespoons butter 1 cup boiling water Mix the sugar and corn-starch, add the boiling water and a pinch of salt and boil until thick and clear. Continue cooking over hot water for twenty minutes. Beat in the butter, the lemon-juice and nutmeg. A grating of lemon-rind may be added.
A clear cornstarch sauce of the sort meant to be spooned hot over steamed or baked puddings. The long finish over hot water is the part most cooks skip, and it is the part that matters.
- Cook the starch outBoiling until "thick and clear" takes a minute or two of actual bubbling, and the twenty minutes over hot water afterward is what removes the raw, chalky taste of cornstarch. A double boiler or a bowl set over simmering water works; the sauce should not boil again once it is over the water.
- Add the butter and juice off the heatBeating them in at the end, away from direct heat, keeps the butter emulsified and preserves the fresh lemon flavor. Reheating hard after the acid goes in can thin the sauce, since acid weakens cornstarch.
- NutmegThe original gives no amount. A few scrapes from a whole nutmeg, about 1/8 teaspoon, is in keeping with the period; pre-ground nutmeg is milder and stales quickly.
- LemonTwo tablespoons of juice is roughly one medium lemon, which also supplies the optional rind. Zest the lemon before juicing it.
- Salt"A pinch" here means roughly 1/16 to 1/8 teaspoon; the recipe calls for it outright rather than offering it as an option.
- YieldAbout 1 1/2 cups, enough for six modest servings over cottage pudding, gingerbread, steamed suet pudding or plain cake.
- ConsistencyIt thickens further as it cools. If it sets too stiff on standing, a spoonful of hot water beaten in over the hot water bath brings it back to a pouring sauce.