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Cabinet Pudding
Mrs. Wyllie.
Take three or four penny sponge cakes, cut into squares; line a well buttered mould with raisins; place the cake in the mould, adding raisins; pour over a rich custard, and steam for one and a half hours.
A short, contributor-style recipe that assumes you already know how to make a boiled custard and how to steam a mould. The gaps are worth filling in before you start.
- The custard is the whole dishNo proportions are given, so use a standard rich custard: 3 eggs (or 2 eggs plus 2 yolks) to 1 pint of milk or half milk and half cream, with 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar and a little vanilla or grated lemon peel. Scald the milk, whisk it into the eggs, and pour it over the cake warm but not hot.
- Penny sponge cakesSmall plain sponge cakes sold singly for a penny. The closest modern substitute is plain sponge cake cut into 1-inch cubes, about 6 oz, which roughly fills a 1-quart mould; sponge fingers will serve at a pinch.
- Let it soakPour the custard over and stand for 15 to 20 minutes before steaming so the cake absorbs it. Cake that goes into the steamer dry will float up and leave a layer of set custard beneath it.
- Mould and coverA 1-quart pudding basin or charlotte mould, buttered heavily so the raisins stick to the sides. Cover with buttered parchment and foil, tied down, or the condensation will water the top of the pudding.
- Steam gently, and less longSteam gently -- a hard, rolling boil can curdle an egg custard. Keep the water at a bare simmer, halfway up the mould. The recipe's hour and a half is reasonable for a 1-quart mould at a gentle steam, but start checking from about an hour: it is done when a knife inserted at the centre comes out clean and the pudding is just set, still with a slight wobble.
- RaisinsRaisins of the period were often sold unstoned and had to be seeded by hand. Modern seedless dark raisins work directly; a brief soak in warm water or brandy is commonly recommended before use.
- Turning outRest 10 minutes off the heat before unmoulding, then invert onto a warm dish. Serve with a sweet sauce, thin custard, or warmed apricot jam.
- YieldA 1-quart mould serves four to six.
Cabinet pudding is one of the great Victorian steamed puddings, built on the same logic as trifle and bread pudding: stale sponge, dried fruit, and a custard to bind them. It appears in nineteenth-century English cookery books under several names, including Chancellor's pudding and Newcastle pudding; the source of "cabinet" is not settled, though it is often linked to the idea of a cabinet dinner. The bare, telegraphic style here, and the attribution to Mrs. Wyllie, mark it as a community cookbook entry: The Home Cook Book was compiled from recipes contributed by named ladies of Toronto and other Canadian towns. The mention of "penny sponge cakes" is a period detail worth noticing, since it suggests a baker's shop selling small plain cakes by the piece.