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Macaroni and Custard
1040. Into nearly a quart of new milk when boiling fast, put by degrees a quarter of a pound of pipe macaroni. Simmer by the fire till nearly tender. Add two or three ounces of lump sugar, a small quantity of isinglass (and either lemon or cinnamon flavouring if liked). Then simmer the whole till the pipes are soft and swollen to their full size. Press it in a meald, and when quite cold turn it out into a deep glass dish, pouring over it enough of a rich custard to fill the dish-a little brandy is an improvement to the custard.
A Victorian sweet macaroni mould, set with isinglass and served flooded with pouring custard. The hinge is the gelatine: too little and it collapses when turned out, too much and it turns to rubber.
- Quantities"Nearly a quart" of milk is a little under 1 litre if read as a US quart, and nearer 1.1 litres if read as the imperial quart the book would have meant; a quarter pound of macaroni is 4 oz (about 115 g). Two or three ounces of lump sugar is roughly 1/3 to 1/2 cup.
- New milkThis means fresh whole milk, not skimmed and not scalded beforehand. Modern whole milk is the right substitute; the fat matters, since the mould has no cream or eggs of its own.
- Pipe macaroniStraight hollow tubes, sold at the time in long lengths and broken down as needed. Use short dried macaroni or ditalini; avoid egg pasta, which muddies the flavour, and avoid quick-cook shapes, which disintegrate before the tubes swell.
- IsinglassA setting agent made from sturgeon swim bladders, long since replaced in domestic use by leaf or powdered gelatine. The original's "small quantity" is genuinely unquantified, so treat it as a test batch: enough to firm a quart of milk to an unmouldable-but-just set, no more.
- Add the gelatine off the heatThe original adds the isinglass before the final simmer, but modern gelatine loses strength if boiled, so dissolve it into the hot milk once the macaroni is soft and the pan is off the fire.
- Cooking the macaroniSimmer gently and stir now and then, or the starch will catch on the base of the pan. The pasta should be swollen and fully soft, well past al dente, since it firms in the mould as it chills.
- Moulding and chillingRinse the mould with cold water and do not grease it. Four to six hours in the refrigerator, or overnight, before turning out; a brief dip of the mould in warm water releases it.
- The custardA "rich custard" here is a stirred pouring custard of egg yolks, milk or cream and sugar, cooked to about 175-180F until it coats a spoon. Add the brandy after it comes off the heat, a tablespoon or two for a pint.
- YieldServes six as a dessert, in a glass dish deep enough to hold the custard around the turned-out mould.