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Marmalade Pudding
Two cupfuls of fine stale bread crumbs, one cupful of rich milk, half cream preferred, the yolks of five eggs beaten very light, one-half teaspoonful of soda stirred in boiling water, one cupful of sweet marmalade. Scald the milk and pour over the crumbs. Beat until half cold and stir in the beaten yolks, then the soda. Fill pudding dish two-thirds full with the batter, set in a quick oven and bake one-half hour. When done turn out quickly and spread over the top a goodly spoonful of marmalade. Cover with the whites of the eggs beaten stiff and return to the oven to brown.
A bread-crumb custard baked and finished with meringue — essentially a queen of puddings with marmalade in place of jam. The original assumes you know when a custard is set; the rest translates cleanly.
- The hinge: don't scramble the yolksBeat the scalded milk and crumbs until half cold before the yolks go in, exactly as written. Hot milk poured onto raw yolks will curdle them and the pudding bakes grainy.
- "A quick oven"Usually reckoned at somewhere around 400-425F, which is hot for an egg custard. A moderate 350F for 35-40 minutes gives a set centre without weeping; test with a knife an inch from the middle.
- The sodaHalf a teaspoon of baking soda slaked in a little boiling water, added last. It lightens the crumb mixture and takes the edge off the acidity of the marmalade. Too much will taste soapy and tint the pudding yellow-grey.
- Bread crumbsFine crumbs from stale, dryish white bread — not packaged dried crumbs, which are too hard and too fine and will make the pudding pasty. Two cups loosely packed.
- "Rich milk, half cream"Whole milk with a splash of cream, or half milk and half single/light cream. Modern whole milk alone works but gives a leaner set.
- Turning out"Turn out quickly" then meringue the top is awkward and risks collapse. It is easier to leave it in the baking dish, spread the marmalade, pile on the meringue and return it.
- The meringueFive whites is generous for one pudding; beat to stiff peaks with 2–3 tablespoons sugar for stability, and brown at 350F for 12–15 minutes, or briefly under a broiler while watching it.
- YieldA 1½-quart dish, filled two-thirds as directed, serves six.
Bread-crumb puddings crowned with meringue were a standard of nineteenth-century English and American cookery -- the best-known version being queen of puddings, in which raspberry or apricot jam is spread over the baked custard before the whites go on. Marmalade in place of jam is a natural variation, and it works because the bitterness of the peel cuts a custard that is otherwise very sweet. The recipe belongs to the household economy of its period: stale bread was not thrown away.