Yeomanry Pudding

A very short Victorian formula for what is essentially a Bakewell-style pudding: jam under a rich, almost curd-like egg and butter filling in a pastry case. The proportions are all there, but almost every process instruction has been left to the cook's judgement.

• Scale and tinThree ounces each of sugar and butter with three eggs will fill a shallow 7-inch tart case and serve four to six. It can be scaled up for a 9-inch tin, but the filling is dense and is best kept under about an inch deep or the centre will not set before the pastry overbrowns.
• Ounces to cupsThree ounces of sugar is a scant half cup, three ounces of butter is six tablespoons. Eggs of the period were probably smaller on average than today's large eggs; if yours are large, two whole eggs plus one yolk is a safer reading than three whole eggs with the whites part-removed.
• "Leaving out half the whites"Beat three eggs and leave out roughly half the white: three yolks with about one and a half whites. Discarding one white of the three (two whole eggs plus a yolk) is the easier approximation, and closer still if your eggs are large. The yolk-heavy mix gives the set filling its richness; too much white makes it spongy and prone to weeping.
• The hinge: melted butter must be coolMelt the butter and let it cool to barely warm before it meets the beaten eggs. Hot butter scrambles the eggs and the baked filling turns grainy instead of smooth.
• "Paste" and a soggy baseThe lining is not specified; shortcrust or puff paste would both suit. Blind baking the case for about 15 minutes at 400F and letting it cool a little before the jam goes in helps, since jam spread on raw pastry tends to soak in.
• OvenNo temperature is given. Bake at 350F for 30 to 40 minutes, until the filling is set at the edges with a slight wobble at the centre and lightly golden on top. It firms further as it cools.
• The preserveApricot is named first, but the recipe allows any other preserve. Two to three tablespoons, spread thin, is enough; a thick layer will boil up through the filling.
• ServingBest warm rather than hot, when the filling has set enough to slice, with cream. It keeps a day at room temperature and is good cold.