Apple Custard Pudding

Oscar gives proportions for nothing here, which is normal for a professional's notebook — the cook was expected to know what a "good custard" was. The points below fill in the numbers and the one detail that decides whether this sets or curdles.

• The hinge: gentle heatA baked custard sets at about 175-180F internally and curdles above roughly 185F. Keep the oven low and pull the pudding when the centre still trembles slightly; it firms as it cools.
• "A slow oven"300 to 325F. At that temperature half an hour is realistic only for a shallow dish; a deeper one will want 45 minutes to an hour.
• Water bathNot mentioned, but a roasting pan of hot water reaching halfway up the pudding dish is the standard professional insurance against a grainy, weeping custard, and it costs nothing.
• Working proportionsAbout 1 1/2 lb apples cooked down to a thick puree, sweetened to taste, and a custard of 2 cups whole milk, 4 eggs (or 3 eggs plus a yolk), and 1/3 cup sugar. Serves four to six.
• Cooking applesPeriod "cooking-apples" means a tart variety that collapses when stewed, or otherwise put: Bramley if you can get it, otherwise McIntosh. Stew in the barest film of water; a wet puree thins the custard and encourages the two layers to marble.
• Powdered sugarIn this era the term usually means finely ground granulated sugar, not the cornstarch-cut confectioners' sugar sold today. Use regular granulated or superfine.
• Lemon flavoringGrated zest steeped in the warm milk and strained out gives a cleaner result than bottled extract. About a teaspoon of zest for 2 cups of milk.
• The sieveA coarse sieve was one of the usual puree tools. A food mill or a few pulses in a processor does the same job; avoid working it to a smooth glue, since a little texture is what distinguishes this from a plain custard.