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Almond Pudding
Put some butter in a dish to warm. Then beat the yolks of a number of eggs with the whites in a basin, and add gradually a little sifted crushed loaf-sugar, then the butter and half a pound of sweet almonds, blanched and pounded, together with some sifted breadcrumbs. Turn the mixture into a well-buttered saucepan or mould, in layers alternately with apricot jam; tie the mould over with a wet cloth, and boil the pudding in a saucepan of water for an hour and a half. Turn it out onto a dish, pour sweet sauce around, and serve.
A boiled almond pudding of the old English type, written in the shorthand of a professional kitchen where quantities were assumed rather than stated. The half pound of almonds is the only firm measure given; everything else has to be judged.
- The eggs are genuinely unspecified"A number of eggs" is not a conversion problem, it is a gap. Comparable boiled almond puddings of the period vary a good deal, with something in the region of six to eight whole eggs to a half pound of almonds a workable starting point, but the original gives no figure and any number quoted here is an inference, not a reading.
- Loaf sugarRefined sugar was sold as a hard cone and crushed and sifted as needed. Ordinary granulated or caster sugar replaces it directly; there is no need to crush or sift anything. Around 4 to 6 oz suits this quantity of almonds.
- Sweet almondsThe distinction from bitter almonds mattered when both were sold. Use plain blanched almonds, ground in a processor with a spoonful of the sugar to keep them from turning to paste. Shop-bought ground almonds work but give a smoother, less interesting texture than pounding.
- Butter "in a dish to warm"This means softened to the point of pouring, not browned. Melt it gently and let it cool slightly before adding, or it will start to cook the eggs.
- BreadcrumbsDry white crumbs, sifted, are the binder that keeps the pudding from collapsing when turned out. The recipe gives no quantity; a volume roughly equal to the almonds is a reasonable starting point. Fresh soft crumbs make a wetter pudding.
- Covering the mouldA wet cloth tied over the rim was the period seal. Buttered parchment under a sheet of foil, crimped tightly, does the same job and will not sag into the pudding. Leave a pleat for expansion.
- The boiling water bathThe water should come no more than two thirds up the mould and be kept at a bare simmer, not a rolling boil, or the pudding rises and cracks. Top up with boiling water as it evaporates; ninety minutes is right for a 1.5 to 2 pint mould, and a skewer should come out clean.
- Turning outLet it stand five to ten minutes off the heat before inverting, or the layers of apricot jam will slump. Run a knife around the edge first.
- "Sweet sauce"Unspecified here; a simple pouring custard, or melted apricot jam thinned with water and a little lemon, both suit. The recipe has it poured around the pudding rather than over it.
- YieldA pudding on this scale serves six to eight. It is rich, and small portions with the sauce are enough.
Boiled puddings tied in a cloth or set in a buttered mould were the backbone of English dessert cookery from the seventeenth century onward, and almond puddings were among the most genteel of them, since imported almonds and refined loaf sugar both signalled expense. Oscar Tschirky was maitre d'hotel at the Waldorf from its opening in 1893, and the recipe's presence in his book reflects the hotel's European repertoire. The alternating layers of apricot jam gave a plain almond batter something to look like when it was cut.