Home › Lemon Cream › Lemon Cream
Lemon Cream
1022. Lemon Cream in Glasses. To the peel of one large lemon pared thin put the juice of two, half a pint of water, the whites of four eggs and yolk of one beaten well, and half a pound of lump sugar; stir it over a slow fire till it is the thickness of cream; strain it, and put it in glasses. 1023. Lemon Cream without Cream. - Take the peel of a large lemon and put it into a glass, then squeeze the juice of two lemons upon it, add to it half a pint of water and four eggs (leaving out three of the yolks) well beaten, and add half a pound of fine sifted sugar. Strain and set it over a slow fire, stirring it till it is as thick as a good cream. 1024. Lemon Cream with Arrowroot. - Dissolve and mix up two table-spoonfuls of arrowroot in a little cold water, add one and a half pint of boiling water, and boil it in a nice clean saucepan for a few minutes, stirring it all the time; add a couple of pinches of saffron (to colour it), and as much lemon juice and grated peel and lump sugar as will flavour and sweeten it; then add the yolks of five or six eggs well beaten up; stir the whole on the fire for a few minutes (but do not let it curdle), and cool. The above quantity will fill about twelve small glasses, and requires two or three lemons. It is not so good made with fewer eggs (see White Lemon Cream). 1025. White Lemon Cream. - Make the cream, as above, with the whites instead of yolks of eggs (leaving out the saffron). The whites must be well beaten, but not frothed, and an egg or two more is an improvement, making it whiter. If it should appear to curdle, the straining makes all right. In this manner three or four eggs will make six glasses of white, and six of yellow lemon cream.
Four versions of the same idea: a lemon custard set with egg, or in one case thickened with arrowroot, poured into small glasses and eaten cold. Nos. 1022 and 1023 are effectively the same recipe written twice.
- The hinge: never let it boilThe egg-only versions (nos. 1022 and 1023) have no cream or starch to protect them, so they curdle easily as they approach a simmer; the arrowroot versions are more forgiving, though the book still warns "do not let it curdle." Cook over low heat or in a bowl over barely trembling water, stirring constantly, and pull it off when it coats the spoon -- around 175-180F by the usual modern guide.
- Straining is not optionalThe book is right that straining "makes all right" — it removes the peel, the chalazae and any threads of set egg. Strain into a jug while hot, then pour into the glasses.
- Imperial measuresHalf a pint here is 10 fl oz, about 1 1/4 US cups; the arrowroot version's pint and a half is 30 fl oz, about 3 3/4 cups. Half a pound of sugar is 8 oz, roughly a generous cup of granulated.
- Lump sugarLoaf or lump sugar was refined sugar broken from a cone, the cleanest sugar available. Ordinary granulated or caster sugar is the direct replacement; caster dissolves faster in a custard that must not be overheated.
- A slow fireRead this as the lowest setting on the hob, or a double boiler. A heavy pan and a silicone spatula that reaches the corners will do more for the texture than any change to the quantities.
- The saffronIn no. 1024 saffron is purely a colourant, standing in for the yolk colour of a richer custard. It carries a distinct flavour of its own; leave it out if you want a plain lemon custard, and the recipe still works.
- Arrowroot handlingSlake it in cold water first, as directed, then add the boiling water. Arrowroot thins if boiled hard or held long over heat, so give it only the couple of minutes it needs to clear and thicken.
- Yield and servingNo. 1024 fills about twelve small glasses and needs two or three lemons. Chill the filled glasses for at least three hours; the egg-only versions set to a soft spoonable cream rather than a firm jelly.