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Lemon Apple Pudding
890. Take two or four small apples, boil them to a pulp in a little water; add the peel of one lemon cut fine, the juice of half a one, the yolks of four eggs, a large spoonful of brandy, and two ounces of butter melted; sweeten to the taste. Line a dish with puff paste, and fill with the mixture; then bake it. These proportions are for a rich pudding. For a common one omit the brandy, use one or two eggs and one ounce of butter, and add rather more lemon juice.
A lemon curd-style baked custard thickened with apple pulp, set in a puff pastry case. The whole thing hinges on cooking the apples down dry enough that the filling sets rather than weeps.
- Cook the apples dryBoil two to four small apples (roughly 5-12 oz peeled and cored, depending on how many you use) in a few tablespoons of water, covered, until collapsing, then beat smooth and let the excess moisture steam off over low heat. A wet pulp gives a soggy base and a filling that separates.
- SweeteningNo quantity is given because it depends on the apples. For the rich version, 3 to 4 oz (about 1/2 cup) sugar suits a tart cooking apple such as Bramley; taste the warm pulp before the eggs go in.
- "A large spoonful"Read as a generous tablespoon, roughly 20 ml. In the common version it is omitted entirely, so it is flavouring rather than structure.
- Lemon peel"Cut fine" is best read as pared zest chopped as small as possible; a microplane zester does the job more easily and avoids strips of rind in the set custard.
- Temper the eggsLet the apple pulp and the melted butter cool to warm before beating in the yolks, or the eggs will scramble in streaks.\t
- OvenThe original gives no temperature or time. A workable modern approach is 400F for the first 15 minutes to set and lift the puff pastry, then 340-350F for a further 25-30 minutes until the filling is just firm at the edge with a slight wobble in the centre.
- The dish"Line a dish" means a shallow pie plate or tart tin, pastry on the base and up the sides, no lid; no size is specified, but something around 8 inches suits these quantities. Chill the lined case and dock the base before filling.
- The two versionsThe rich mixture is close to a lemon curd carried on apple pulp; the common one, with one or two eggs, one ounce of butter and more juice, bakes softer and sharper and will likely need less time in the oven.
- YieldOne 8-inch tart, six modest servings. Best barely warm or at room temperature; it slices cleanly once fully cold.