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Spanish Cream
Mrs. J. H. Brown.
Boil one ounce of gelatine in one pint of new milk until dissolved; add four eggs well beaten and half a pound of sugar; stir it over the fire until the eggs thicken ; take it off the fire and add a full wine glass of peach water; and when cool pour it into moulds; serve with cream,
A stirred custard set with gelatine and turned out of a mould — straightforward once the quantities are translated. Two things need attention before you start: the amount of gelatine, and what "peach water" means.
- Peach waterNineteenth-century peach water was usually an infusion or distillate of peach leaves or cracked peach kernels, both of which contain amygdalin and release hydrogen cyanide — the same problem as bitter almonds. Do not make an infusion from leaves or kernels. Use peach brandy or a peach liqueur, or a teaspoon of almond extract for the flavour the original was after.
- A wine glassIn American cookbooks of this era a wine glass is about 2 fluid ounces, a quarter cup. "A full wine glass" means brimming, not a larger vessel.
- One ounce of gelatineThat is four envelopes of modern powdered gelatine, which sets a pint of milk very firmly — closer to a sliceable jelly than a cream. Two envelopes give a spoonable set that still unmoulds. Sheet gelatine at 1 oz is roughly 14-16 leaves.
- Bloom it, do not boil itSprinkle the gelatine over the cold milk and let it stand five minutes, then warm gently until dissolved. Prolonged boiling is unnecessary and weakens the set slightly; the original instruction reflects the coarse, sometimes shreddy gelatine of the 1870s.
- New milkFresh whole milk, unskimmed and not soured. Ordinary whole milk is the equivalent; the cream served alongside supplies the richness.
- Until the eggs thickenThis is a stirred custard. Keep it below a simmer and off direct high heat, stirring constantly, until it coats a spoon at 175-180F. Past that the eggs curdle and the gelatine will not disguise it. Strain into the moulds.
- Half a pound of sugarAbout 1 1/8 cups granulated. Very sweet by current taste; 3/4 cup is ample, especially if you are serving it with cream.
- Setting and turning outAdd the spirit off the heat so the alcohol is not driven off, cool to room temperature, then chill at least four hours. Dip the mould briefly in warm water to release. Serves six.
Spanish cream was one of the standard set desserts of the American and British household repertoire from the mid-nineteenth century onward — an egg custard stiffened with gelatine so it could be moulded, distinct from Bavarian cream (whipped cream folded in) and from blancmange (no eggs). The name is largely decorative; it is often said that "Spanish," as applied to onions and paprika, signalled something a little richer or more southern-sounding rather than any Iberian origin, though this is folk reasoning rather than established etymology. Its appearance in a community compilation, credited to a contributor by name, belongs to the period in which packaged gelatine was becoming cheap and reliable enough for ordinary kitchens: earlier cooks had to boil calves' feet or isinglass for the same effect, which is why moulded creams were once a mark of a household with servants to spare. The peach water is the older note in the recipe — infusions of peach leaf and kernel supplied a bitter-almond flavour long before commercial extracts, and they gradually disappeared from cookbooks.