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Rice Cream
1028. Soak two and a half to three ounces of rice over night in water for a short time, then put in a sieve to drain and dry. Next morning to be half pounded, then boiled in half a pint of milk, and put in a basin to cool; add half a pint of cream, half an ounce of dissolved isinglass, and whip it to a strong froth; leave it in the mould all day, and add sweetmeats, or fresh fruits, or French prunes, in the middle.
A Victorian moulded cream, set with isinglass rather than gelatine and lightened by whipping before it goes into the mould. The whole thing turns on the temperature at which you whip: too warm and it will not hold air, too cold and the setting agent seizes into threads.
- The pints are imperialHalf a pint here is 10 fl oz, or 1¼ US cups. The recipe uses that quantity twice, so you need 20 fl oz total of milk and cream.
- IsinglassIsinglass is a gelatine made from the swim bladders of sturgeon and other fish; it is still sold for brewing and conservation but is not a kitchen staple. Half an ounce (about 14 g) of leaf gelatine, or two 7 g sachets of powder, is the nearest practical stand-in, though isinglass and modern refined gelatine do not set with identical strength; dissolve in a few spoonfuls of hot water and cool to lukewarm.
- "Half pounded" riceThe soaked and dried grains were cracked in a mortar so they would cook to a thick, slightly grainy pulp rather than dissolve. A few pulses in a spice grinder does the same, or use commercial ground rice and simmer it gently, stirring, until it thickens.
- The hinge: whip warm-cool, not coldAdd the dissolved isinglass or gelatine to the rice base while both are around body temperature, then whip in the cream as the mixture begins to thicken. If the base is hot the froth collapses; if it has already set you will get lumps that no amount of beating will smooth out.
- No sugar is givenThe original leaves the cook to sweeten to taste. Two to three tablespoons of sugar in the milk, plus vanilla or a strip of lemon peel infused and removed, brings it into line with modern palates.
- Setting time and temperature"Leave it in the mould all day" meant a cold larder. Four to six hours in the refrigerator is enough; overnight is better. Rinse the mould with cold water first, and dip it briefly in warm water to turn out.
- The fruit in the middleSweetmeats, fresh fruit or French prunes go in the middle; the recipe does not make clear whether they are set into the mould or arranged in the centre after turning out. Wet fruit will weep into the cream if buried, so drain stewed prunes well and add raw berries only at the table.
- YieldA pint of liquid plus the rice, rising to roughly 1½ pints once whipped; serves four to six from a single mould, or six small ramekins.