World Chocolate Day: Chocolate Souffle

Today is World Chocolate Day and to celebrate, the Downstairs Cook invites you to share in her recipe for Chocolate Souffle, via Mrs Beeton.  Nothing could be more indulgent than a light, richly flavoured and velvety soufflé, so without further ado, here it is:

Chocolate Souffle
Ingredients for a moderate souffle

4 eggs
1 teaspoonful flour
3 teaspoonfuls flour
90g of the best chocolate, grated

Break the eggs,separating the whites from the yolks and put them into separate basins.  Add the sugar, flour and chocolate to the yolks and stir for 5 minutes.  Then whisk the egg whites in the other basin until they are stiff and when firm,  mix lightly with the egg yolks until the whole forms a smooth aand light substance.  Butter a round souffle or cake tim, put in the mixture and bake in a moderate oven for 15 to 20 minutes.  Pin a white napkin around the tin, strew sifted sugar over the top of the souffle and immediatelly send it to the table.  If allowed to stand after it comes from the oven it will be entirely spoiled, as it falls almost immediately.

This recipe, along with over 100 others is included in the upcoming publication The Downstairs Cook: Favourite Recipes which will shortly be available as an ebook via Amazon

Orange Flower Water, Fairy Butter & The Bloke

I don't know what propelled me to buy a bottle of orange flower water at Harris Farm Market at Potts Point in Sydney last year.  Maybe because the name sounded so pretty and it hails from the exotic East.  Or because in the back of my mind there was a thought that I had come across a recipe of Mrs Beeton's in which it was an ingredient.  Which recipe I wasn't sure.  So the purchased bottle sat on a shelf in the pantry until recently when I found we had no cream to whip to place atop the dessert strawberries.  But we did have natural Greek yoghurt. Knowing The Bloke wouldn't tolerate a simple unadulterated dollop on top of his naked strawberries, I reached for the honey and there it was, the still unopened bottle of orange flower water, in all its exotic glory.  A small amount only went into the yoghurt before it was applied to the strawberries and that was all that was needed.  The Bloke gave it the thumbs up, and he's a very fussy eater (although his stated favourite dish is Sausages and Eggs).

As for that elusive recipe where Mrs Beeton employed orange flower water, I'm still yet to find it.  I think it was a dessert recipe.  I leafed through her hefty tome this morning with no success however, other than to find just one recipe that incorporates this delightful ingredient - one with the enchanting name of "Fairy Butter".  It is essentially a butter cream icing for use on cakes (fairy ones no doubt), although if making icing I would omit the egg, substitute icing sugar and put it all into the food processor instead of a "coarse cloth."  So here it is:

Fairy Butter

1/4 lb (125g) fresh butter
2 eggs
2 tablespoonfuls caster sugar
1 tablespoonful orange flower water

Boil the eggs hard and when cold, take out the yolks and pound them in a mortar with the sugar and the orange flower in a mortar to a smooth paste. Incorporate this mixture with the butter. Put the paste in a coarse cloth and force it through by wringing the cloth hard and squeezing the butter through it. The butter should then drop into the dish or plate in irregular pieces according to the holes in the cloth and should have a pretty effect. Plain butter may be done in the same manner.

Orange flower water was no doubt an exotic ingredient in Victorian and Edwardian times and luckily a little goes a long way.  In fact, the less you use the better, as it flavours subtly, but well.  In the days of few flavour enhancers it would have been a useful and piquant addition to whipped cream on desserts and imparted a luxurious touch to dishes in which it was used, which could be savoury or sweet.

And that elusive other recipe of Mrs Beeton's where orange flower water is an ingredient?  I'll keep looking in my travels through her comprehensive publication and advise accordingly, as soon as I've found it.

An Edwardian Christmas Dinner Menu (with Amber Pudding)

My 1900 edition of Mrs Beeton's Family Cookery & Household Management does not provide any specific menu designed especially for Christmas, but Mrs Beeton does mention traditional Christmas dinner fare in her December menus for twelve, ten or eight persons.

She would have you prepare and serve for ten persons "Gravy Soup" as an entrée, followed by Brill with a Shrimp Sauce.  After a suitable interval,  Scalloped Oysters would be served with Mutton Cutlets.  The centrepiece course consists of Roast Turkey and Ham, accompanied by potatoes and stewed celery.  A Russian Salad would then clear the palate before a dessert course of Plum Pudding and Maraschino Jelly.

Personally, I am more taken with one of her December Dinners for "Six to Twelve Persons" where the perennial first course of soup is Oyster Soup, followed by Turbot with Tartare Sauce.  A Vol-au-Vent of Chicken follows, then a Sirloin of Beef accompanied by potatoes and cabbage.  I would give the next course of "Partridges" a miss (you can go a bit overboard at Christmas) but would willingly tuck into the recommended dessert of Amber Pudding (I'll get to this one later) and Mince Pies.

In another menu for the same number of guests, Mrs Beeton proposes Stewed Pigeons as the second entrée after which a Saddle of Mutton is to be served with the ubiquitous potatoes and stewed celery.  A "Salad" is to follow, then an incredibly rich dessert course of Plum Pudding and Trifle.  I suggest serving only one of these, as clothes may not fit after scoffing both of these extremely rich and sweetened dishes at the one sitting.

Now to the recipe for Amber Pudding, which to me represents a fine and fitting recipe for a Christmas dessert with its glace cherries, apples and puff pastry:

Amber Pudding

Ingredients: (to fill a large pie dish)

6 apples                                      1 lemon
3 eggs, separated                       3 oz. sugar
a little caster sugar                     2 oz. butter
a few glace cherries                   short or puff pastry

Peel and core the apples and stew them with the rind and juice of the lemon and the sugar until reduced to a pulp.  Grease the bottom of the pie dish and line it half way down with pastry.  Pass the apple marmalade through a sieve, add to it the yolks of the eggs.  After mixing thoroughly, turn the mixture into the dish and bake for 15 minutes. 

Beat the whites of the eggs until they are stiff, adding as much caster sugar as they will take up.  Put this mixture on top of the baked pudding, decorate with the cherries and place into a moderate oven to bring to a bright golden colour.  This dish can of course be prepared ahead of time and served cold.

Edwardian cookery was the last hurrah of British cuisine as after WWI, when many soldiers had been buried on the battlefields, estates were sold off by the aristocracy and women went into service in reduced numbers. As a consequence, the wealthy went to live in smaller homes which warranted only one cook and lavish, multi-course, labour intensive meals were no longer served.

Aristocrats who formerly would never have set foot in a kitchen, except to deliver instructions to the cook or housekeeper, acquired at least a modicum of kitchen knowledge out of necessity.  Lady Agnes Jekyll published Kitchen Essays in 1922 where she describes meals for one in pieces such as the one entitled "Tray Food".  A supreme hostess, (whose first dinner party hosted Ruskin, Burne-Jones and Browning) Lady Agnes espouses in her delightfully written book that at Sunday suppers, 'it often matters less what is on the table than what is on the chairs...and a "loaf of bread, a jug of wine" might be found entirely adequate provision' at such occasions.  Such it was that simple food replaced heavy opulence and home entertaining changed forever.

Christmas Cake & Almond Icing by Mrs Beeton

Certain of Mrs Beeton's recipes are often quite simple to make as they state their measurements in cupfuls rather than ounces or pounds.  So much easier to measure and no necessity to look up the conversion chart into grams or millilitres.  And her Christmas Cake is one such recipe - to be precise it requires teacupfuls of flour, melted butter and treacle, but most cooks do have a teacup in their cupboard, usually inherited from their mother or grandmother.  So, once you have found your teacup, please try this recipe for a basic Christmas cake, flavoured with raisins.  It can then be decorated with almond icing or as pictured with glace cherries and almonds.

Christmas Cake

5 teacupfuls of flour                                                1 teaspoonful carbonate of soda
1 teacupful of melted butter                                    1 tablespoonful of vinegar
1 teacupful of cream                                               2 eggs, well-whisked
1 teacupful of moist sugar (I used brown)              1 teacupful of treacle
1/2 oz. (12g) powdered ginger                                8 oz. (225g) raisins, cut into small pieces

Pre-heat oven to 180C.  Melt the butter sufficiently warm to melt it, but do not allow it to oil.  Put the flour into a basin, add to it the sugar, ginger and raisins.  When these dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed, stir in the butter, cream, treacle and eggs.  Beat the mixture for a few minutes.  Dissolve the carbonate of soda in the vinegar, add it to the dough and be particular that these latter ingredients are well incorporated with the others.  Put the cake into a buttered mould or tin, place it into a moderate (180C) oven immediately and bake for 1 and half to 2 and a half hours.

Almond Icing

1 lb (500g) caster sugar                                            Whites of 4 eggs                                         
1 lb (500g) almonds, blanched                                 A little rosewater

Pound the almonds to a paste with a little rosewater.  Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth and mix with the almonds.  Add the sugar and beat all together.  Spread the mixture onto cake and put in oven to dry.

Hot Cross Buns

Seasonable on Good Friday

Mrs Beeton's recipe for "Buns, Hot Cross" is a very simple one compared to its modern counterparts: there are fewer ingredients and a lot less kneading.  Nevertheless, they were quite a success when I baked them according to her recipe: (The wineglass of yeast I took to mean the type of wineglass served in pubs, i.e. small).

Ingredients for 2 dozen buns:

2lbs (1 kg) of flour
1/2 lb (250g) of sugar
1 wineglass of yeast (or 2 tablespoons)
1 pint (568 ml) of milk
1/2 lb (250g) of butter
1 lb (500g) of currants
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of mixed spice

• Mix the flour and sugar, spice and currants; make a hole in the middle of the flour, and put in a glassful of thick yeast and the milk, warmed; make a batter of the surrounding milk and flour, and set the pan covered before the fire, till the leaven begins to ferment. (About an hour, and don't worry if you don't have a fire, just use a warm place and cover the mixture in plastic wrap).  Put to the mass the butter melted, and enough milk to make a soft paste of all the flour. Form the buns and lay them a little distance apart  on buttered tins to rise for half an hour. Cross them with a knife and bake in a quick oven for 20 minutes.

A 200 degree oven is what my buns were baked in and they turned out well, if a little scone-like. Interestingly, Mrs Beeton omits to tell us when to add the salt into the dough, but I put it in at the very beginning with flour with no ill effects.  The wineglassful of yeast turned into 2 tablespoons of dried yeast in my recipe and the buns certainly did rise.  

And no fiddling around with a flour paste cross for the tops of the buns:Mrs Beeton merely slashes them with a knife.  I would however recommend making a glaze from 2 tablespoons of caster sugar and 2 tablespoons of boiling water to brush over the buns after they are turned onto a cake rack and while they are still hot.

• Allow to cool on the rack for 10 minutes before serving on Good Friday.

Does the Millennium Woman Have Time to Hollow Out a Meringue?

After reading Mrs Beeton's recipe for meringues sandwiched together with liqueur or vanilla flavoured cream, I mentioned it to a friend and then said, "But it's so fiddly; you have to take them out of the oven halfway through the baking, scoop out the underside and then put them back into the oven and I really couldn't be bothered."  His response was  "But they sound so delicious!"

I couldn't deny this fact, so I resolved to try and do as Mrs Beeton says.  The results were as promising as the recipe sounds, so here it is:

Meringues: INGREDIENTS FOR 2 DOZEN - 1/2 lb of pounded sugar, the whites of 4 eggs.

Whisk the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and, with a wooden spoon, stir in quickly the pounded sugar; and have some boards thick enough to put in the oven to prevent the bottom of the meringues from acquiring too much colour.  Cut some strips of paper about 2 inches wide;  place this paper on the board and drop a tablespoon at a time of the mixture on the paper, taking care to let all the meringues be the same size.  In dropping it from the spoon, give the mixture the form of an egg and keep the meringues about 2 inches apart from each other on the paper.

Strew over them some sifted sugar and bake in a moderate oven for 1/2 hour.  As soon as they begin to colour remove them from the oven; take each slip of paper by the two ends and turn it gently on the table and, with a small spoon, take out the soft part of each meringue.  Spread some clean paper on the board, turn the meringues upside down and put them into the oven to harden and brown on the other side.

When required for table fill them with whipped cream, flavoured with liqueur or vanilla and sweetened with sugar.  Join two of the meringues together and pile them high in a dish (i.e. cake stand).  To vary their appearance finely-chopped almonds may be strewn over them before the sugar is sprinkled over.

Great expedition is necessary in making this dish; as if the meringues are not put into the oven as soon as the eggs and sugar are mixed, the former melts and the mixture would run on the paper instead of keeping its egg shape.  The sweeter the meringues are made the crisper they will be; but if there is not sufficient sugar mixed with them they will most likely be tough.  They are sometimes coloured with cochineal and if kept well covered in a dry place will remain good for a month or six weeks.

A luxurious dessert or afternoon tea treat they turned out to be - I flavoured my cream with Triple Sec, but you could use Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Creme de Menthe, brandy or whatever is in your liquor cabinet.  The time spent was well worth the effort, as you now have a whole batch of meringues which will keep for some time, just waiting for their cream and liqueur filling at the right moment.

Your guests will be suitably impressed and you can congratulate yourself on producing a quite exquisite and elegant treat with only a relatively small amount of effort.

Ices & Iced Puddings

The heat here in this part of the world is intense at present and one should always have a water ice or iced pudding on hand to serve as a refreshing dessert. Otherwise known as sorbet, ices may be flavoured with just about any type of fruit.  Ms Beeton flavours hers with raspberry, strawberry or red currant fruit water and also provides recipes for banana ice cream, lemon water ice, pineapple ice, raspberry ice and strawberry ice cream. I will confine myself here to the recipes for ices first and the iced pudding second.

Ices:

[For every pint of fruit juice mixture (aka fruit water) allow 1 pint of syrup]

• Firstly, one must make a fruit water.  Select ripe fruit, pick off stalks and put into a pan with a little sugar strewed over. Stir mixture about with a wooden spoon until it is well broken, then rub it through a hair sieve.  
• Make a syrup by combining 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of water in a small saucepan and allowing mixture to simmer over medium to high heat until sugar is dissolved (about 5 minutes).  Remove from heat, let it cool, add the fruit water, mix well together and put the mixture into a freezing pan.  When frozen, put it into small glasses or plates.  

Cook's Tips:

For an elegant serving method, a loaf shaped cake tin may be used if you do not have a decorative jelly or cake mould or glass serving bowls.  Serve slices cut with a very sharp knife on plates for an elegant presentation.

Additions such as aromatics: mint, lemon mint, chocolate mint, spearmint, other fresh herbs, cinnamon sticks, vanilla beans, cardamom, cacao nibs, fresh lemongrass, fresh ginger, lavender, jasmine, coconut, rosewater or any other aromatic ingredient may be swirled into the mixture before freezing.*

Liqueurs such as wine, Cointreau, champagne, prosecco or Spanish Cavacrème de menthe or triple sec may also be included in the mixture prior to freezing.

Iced Pudding:

INGREDIENTS: 1/2 lb of sweet almonds, 2 oz. of bitter ones, 3/4 lb of sugar, 8 eggs, 1 and 1/2 pints milk, a few slices of citron or preserved cherries.

Blanch and dry the almonds thoroughly in a cloth, then pound them in a mortar until reduced to a smooth paste; add to these the eggs, well beaten, the sugar and milk; stir these ingredients over the fire until they thicken, but do not allow them to boil; then strain and put the mixture into the freezing pot and freeze it.  When quite frozen, fill an iced-pudding mould, put on the lid and keep the pudding in ice until required for table; then turn it out on the dish.  This pudding may be flavoured with vanilla, curacao or maraschino.

*Further flavour suggestions:
- Pink Grapefruit, Tarragon with Vodka
- Key Lime
- Bittersweet Chocolate
- Lime Basil
- Strawberry with Black Pepper
- Lemonade
- Iced Tea (made with English Breakfast Tea which forms the 'fruit water')
- Cherry (made with Cherry Jam)
- Rhubarb
- Orange
- Limoncello-Mint
- Buttermilk
- French Martini (Pineapple juice (3 cups) Lemon juice (1/4 cup) Chambord (1/4 cup) Vodka (2 tblspns)
- Spicy Lemon (2 tblspns finely chopped crystallized ginger, 1/4 tblspn white pepper added to previously made Lemon Sorbet)
- Mango Tequila
- Early Grey with Chocolate
- Peach, Watermelon and Cranberry
- Port and Plum
- Hibiscus Tea with Rosewater
- Watermelon with Rosewater, Mint Leaves or Rose Petals & Coconut Cream (optional)

-

Christmas Gingerbread

Things have been a bit hectic for the Downstairs Cook of late, with little time to think of recipes to make for friends and family for Christmas.  Fortunately, the real Downstairs Cook took time to mark  tried and tested recipes in her copy of Mrs Beeton's Family Cookery & Household Management with an "X" and the odd comment.  Such is the case with Mrs Beeton's gingerbread which she has labelled "Very Good".  It is a simple recipe you can make from your store cupboard and produces a white gingerbread:

Gingerbread, White - INGREDIENTS: 1 lb of flour, 1/2 lb of butter, 1/2 lb of loaf sugar, the rind of 1 lemon, 1 oz of ground ginger, 1 nutmeg grated, 1/2 teaspoons of carbonate of soda, 1 gill of milk.  AVERAGE COST 1 s 3 d

Rub the butter into the flour, add the sugar which should be finely pounded and sifted, and the minced lemon-rind, ginger and nutmeg.  Mix these well together, make the milk just warm, stir in the soda and work the whole into a nice smooth paste, roll it out, cut it into cakes, and bake in moderate oven from 15 to 30 minutes.
TIME - 15 TO 20 minutes
SEASONABLE: at any time

A gill is a quarter of a pint.  For those who measure using the metric system, a pint is 568 ml.  So a quarter of a pint is 142 ml.

A nutmeg (which I've never seen in the flesh) looks to be the size of an acorn in the illustrations I've found.  Grated, it may well produce over a teaspoonful.  I'd suggest using a teaspoonful in the recipe, but since nutmeg is a rather pungent spice, it may be a bit overpowering for most.  Just season to taste and trust your nose for this flavoursome recipe.

Mrs Beeton's Christmas Drinks

The redoubtable Mrs Beeton appears to have loved a party; the following are recipes for drinks for a crowd - one for the northern hemisphere and two for the southern, although I'm sure the champagne-based recipe would go down well all year round in both parts of the world.

In the 1890s all sorts of fizzy wines were fashionable - sparkling hock and sparkling claret to name just a couple.  Mrs Beeton's recipe for Claret Cup could well be an economical version of a sparkling claret which had to be purchased by the bottle when the 1900 edition of her book was published and used a cheaper non-sparkling claret, the taste of which was disguised by sugar and the addition of liqueur.

Claret Cup. INGREDIENTS for sufficient for 4 persons - 1 bottle of claret, 1 bottle of soda water, about 1/2 lb of pounded ice, 4 tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, 1 liqueur glass of Maraschino, a sprig of green borage.

Put all the ingredients into silver cup, regulating the proportion of ice by the state of the weather, if very warm, a larger quantity would be necessary.

 

Champagne Cup. INGREDIENTS for cup for 4 persons - 1 bottle of champagne, 2 bottles of Schweppes soda water, 1 liqueur glass of brandy or curacao, 2 tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, 1 lb of pounded ice, a sprig of green borage.

 

Put all the ingredients into a silver cup or bowl, stir them together and serve the same as claret cup.  Should the above proportion of sugar not be found sufficient to suit some tastes, increase the quantity.  When borage is not easily obtainable, substitute for it a few slices of cucumber.

 

Mrs Beeton also has  recipe for Cider Cup, but it includes an ingredient called Harstin's selzer, not available, as far as I know, in contemporary times.  I'm reproducing the recipe here with soda water as a substitute:

 

Cider Cup. INGREDIENTS for cup for 4 persons - 1 quart bottle of cider, 1 bottle of soda water, 1/2 glass brandy or liqueur, 1 lemon, 2 tablespoonfuls of pounded sugar, borage or a few slices of cucumber.

 

Put the sugar in a jug with the lemon rind and half the juice, pour over the brandy and set on ice.  When the cup is sufficiently flavoured with the lemon peel, take it out and add the soda water, then pour all into a glass jug in which have been placed a few sprigs of borage.



The Claret Cup recipe intrigues me the most; it could actually be used as an accompaniment to a Christmas Day dinner where a sweet glazed roast turkey and ham are on the menu as a still dry red wine may be overpowered by such richly and full-flavoured dishes.  If you are serving game, try accompanying it with a sparkling shiraz for an authentic (or near-authentic) 1890s experience. 

Merry Christmas from Mrs Beeton!

Cheese Pastries

Mrs Beeton, ever the frugal cook, provides a recipe she titles Ramekins, Pastry and which uses up odds and ends of puff pastry left over from making pies or tarts.  These small pastries are "to serve with the Cheese Course" but I have no idea why they are called ramekins, which I have always known as small crockery ovenproof bowls.  Her recipe is however a delightfully easy one, and I would make it even easier by spraying the oven tray with oil before placing the ramekins on it.

Ramekins, Pastry. INGREDIENTS. - Any pieces of very good light puff-paste, Cheshire, Parmesan or Stilton cheese.

The remains or odd pieces of paste left from large tarts, &c., answer for making these little dishes.  Gather up the pieces of paste, roll it out evenly, and sprinkle it with grated cheese of a nice flavour.  Fold the paste in three, roll it out again, and sprinkle more cheese over: fold the paste, roll it out, and with a paste-cutter shape it to any way that may be desired.  Bake the ramekins in a brisk oven from 10 to 15 minutes, dish them on a hot napkin, and serve quickly.  The appearance of this dish may be very much improved by brushing the ramekins over with the yolk of egg before they are placed in the oven.

TIME. - 10 TO 15 minutes
SEASONABLE at any time

I have a small collection of biscuit cutters which I rarely use, so was delighted to be able to give them an airing in this recipe.  As it is near Christmas, the star shaped cutter was the one I chose, along with a plain round one.  Animal shapes are something that children would love, so pitch your shapes to your audience, and have fun!

Raspberry Vinegar

Decanted into elegant glass containers, this recipe of Mrs Beeton's is an excellent addition to salad dressings even for those who do not have a paticularly sweet tooth.  I'm thinking the "jelly-bag" referred to in the recipe would equate to a coffee filter paper, as its purpose is to strain the liquid mixed with the raspberries.  Mrs Beeton recommends the recipe as "an excellent drink in case of fevers and colds," no doubt due to the addition of brandy, although she stipulates: "it should be diluted with cold water."  I'm sure the odd cook or other member of staff would have sometimes felt the need to take a sneaky swig from the raspberry vinegar bottle just to relax during or after a marathon Edwardian dinner, and who could blame them?  It's delicious, anyway, so here is Mrs Beeton's seminal recipe:

Raspberry Vinegar. - INGREDIENTS. - 3 pints of the best vinegar, 4 and 1/2 pints of freshly gathered raspberries; to each pint of liquor allow 1 lb of pounded loaf sugar and 1 wineglass of brandy. AVERAGE COST,  1s per pint.

Let the raspberries be freshly gathered, pick them from the stalks, and put 1 and 1/2 pint of them into a stone jar; pour 3 pints of the best vinegar over them, and let them remain for 24 hours; then strain the liquor over another 1 and 1/2 pint of fresh raspberries.  Let them remain another 24 hours, and the following day repeat the process for the third time; then drain off the liquor without pressing, and pass it through a jelly-bag (previously wetted with plain vinegar) into a stone jar. Add to every pint of the liquor 1 lb of pounded loaf sugar; stir them together, and, when the sugar is dissolved, cover the jar, set it upon the fire in a saucepan of boiling water and let it boil for an hour, removing the scum as fast as it rises; add to each pint a glass of brandy, bottle it and seal the corks.  This is an excellent drink in cases of fevers and colds; it shoud be diluted with cold water, according to the taste or requirement of the patient.
TIME. - To be boiled 1 hour
SEASONABLE. - Make this in July or August, when raspberries are most plentiful.

I couldn't help but notice Mrs Beeton's recipe for Raspberry Jelly, which I also reproduce below,  seeing it is summer at present in the southern hemisphere and raspberries are just starting to appear. They may even appear on my own raspberry cane, if the local bush turkeys do not dig it up for its roots.

Raspberry Jelly. - INGREDIENTS. To each pint of juice allow 3/4 lb of loaf sugar. AVERAGE COST, 9d. per pot.

Let the raspberries be freshly gathered, quite ripe, and picked from the stalks; put them into a large jar, after breaking the fruit a little with a wooden spoon, and place this jar, covered, in a saucepan of boiling water.  When the juice is well drawn, which will be from 3/4 to 1 hour, strain the fruit through a fine hair-sieve or cloth; measure the juice, and to every pint allow the above proportion of loaf sugar.  Put the juice and sugar into a preserving pan, place it over the fire, and boil gently until the jelly thickens when a little is poured on a plate; carefully remove all the scum as it rises, pour the jelly into small pots, cover down, and keep in a dry place.  This jelly answers for making raspberry cream and for flavouring various sweet dishes, when, in winter, the fresh fruit is not obtainable.
TIME. - 3/4 to 1 hour to draw the juice.
SEASONABLE. - This should be made in July or August.

Reading that Mrs Beeton's Raspberry Jelly is used in making her Raspberry Cream recipe, I feel compelled to reproduce that recipe as well:

Raspberry Cream. - INGREDIENTS for quart mould. - 3/4 pint of milk, 3/4 pint of cream, 1 and 1/2 oz. of gelatine, raspberry jelly, sugar to taste, 2 tablespoons of brandy.
AVERAGE COST, 2 s. 3 d.

Boil the milk, cream and gelatine together for 1/4 hour, or until the latter is melted, and strain it through a hair sieve into a basin.  Let it cool a little; then add to it sufficient raspberry jelly, which when melted, would make 1/2 pint, and stir well until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.  If not sufficiently sweet, add a little pounded sugar with the brandy; whisk the mixture well until nearly cold, put it into a well-oiled mould, and set it in a cool place till perfectly set.  Raspberry jam may be substituted for the jelly; but must be melted, and rubbed through a sieve, to free it from seeds: in summer, the juice of the fresh fruit may be used, by slightly mashing it with a wooden spoon, and sprinkling sugar over it; the juice that flows from the fruit should then be used for mixing with the cream.  If the colour should not be very good, a few drops of prepared cochineal, or carmine, may be added to improve its appearance.
TIME.- 1/4  hour to boil the cream and gelatine.
SEASONABLE, with jelly, at any time.

Note - Stawberry cream may be made in precisely the same manner, substituting strawberry jam or jelly for the raspberry.

Now all I need is Victorian mould to present my Raspberry Cream - preferably one that looks like a castle, with turrets.  What a conclusion to Christmas dinner that would be!

Tomato Pickle

Now is the time to be making tomato pickle to put into attractive jars as Christmas gifts.  This recipe of Mrs Beeton's takes two weeks and three days precisely to be made and, apart from boiling the vinegar with finely chopped onion and spices, requires no cooking.  I reproduce the quaint, old fashioned measures set out by Mrs Beeton, but played fairly fast and loose with the quantities when I made this recipe myself.  I used only five tomatoes, not 24, as I did not have a container large enough for even 24 small tomatoes and hence reduced the quantities of vinegar, onions and spices as well.  The amount of vinegar I used was the amount which covered the tomatoes in their container and the spices were reduced to a tablespoon for the pepper, half tablespoons for the cloves and celery seeds, and a teaspoon of mustard seeds.

Tomato Pickle. - INGREDIENTS. - 24 small and perfectly ripe tomatoes, 1 quart of vinegar, 4 small onions, 1 oz. of pepper, 1/2 oz. of cloves, 1/2 oz. of celery-seed, 2 spoonfuls of mustard-seed, salt. AVERAGE COST, 3 s.

Prick the tomatoes and lay them in an earthen jar with a little salt sprinkled between the layers, and let them stand for 3 days covered, draining away the juice into another covered jar.  Mince the onions, then boil them in the vinegar with the other ingredients.  Wash and dry the tomatoes, put them in a jar, pour over the juice from the other jar and the vinegar and other ingredients when cold, then cover and tie down closely.
TIME. - A fortnight, before the pickle is ready.
SEASONABLE.- Make this in September or October.

Making this recipe in the Australian summer, I put the jar in the fridge, rather than risk producing rotten tomatoes in our heatwave-prone weather.  When decanting the contents of the large jar into smaller jars, I drained off the liquid together with the cloves and most of the celery seeds, to avoid unnecessary crunch and pungency.

Being a collector, I was able to use some of my recycled jars to give the pickle to neighbours and friends as Christmas gifts.  Decorated, of course.  Mrs Beeton would not have it otherwise.

Lemon Cheese Cakes

I came across this recipe in Mrs Beeton's book thinking they were what we call "cheesecake" today; the classic dessert made with a biscuit base and a cream cheese filling.  Instead, I found they are actually lemon tarts containing what my mother referred to as "lemon cheese", better known today as lemon curd.

A particularly buttery pastry contains the curd; I made the tarts exactly as Mrs Beeton prescribed - with puff pastry rather than the shortcrust pastry we generally use today and they went down a treat.  My next door neighbour Natasha, a professional baker from way back, was impressed.

First, make your lemon curd:

INGREDIENTS for 2 dozen cheesecakes. -  1/4  lb butter, 1 lb  of sugar, 5 eggs, the rind of 2 lemons and the juice of 3.  AVERAGE COST, 1s 2d.

Put  all the ingredients into a stewpan, carefully grating  the  lemon rind and straining the juice.     Keep stirring  the mixture over the fire until the sugar is dissolved, and it begins to thicken; when of the consistency of honey it is done; then put it into small jars and keep in a dry place. This mixture will remain good 3 or 4 months.

When made into cheesecakes, add a few pounded almonds, or candied peel, or grated sweet biscuit.

To  make the tarts:

Line some patty pans with good puff-paste, rather more than half fill them with the mixture and bake for about 1/4 hour in a good brisk oven.
TIME. - 1/4  hour.
SEASONABLE at  any time.

My suggestions for decoration: raspberries and blueberries, with a mint leaf for garnish.  (I'm sure Mrs Beeton would approve).  Serve with a dollop of cream for a dessert.

Simple Starter: Lobster (or Crab) Canapes

One thing about Mrs Beeton's recipes is that the ones most appealing to a modern palate use only a few, readily available ingredients.  If you have ready access to a lobster, that is, in the case of her simple canapé recipe.  Or, you could use a crab, particularly if you are able to catch one in your crab pot.  Otherwise, I'd recommend using a can of crabmeat.  No-one will know the difference. 

Mrs Beeton evidently expected her devotees to buy a ready cooked lobster tail, as her recipe does not mention cooking it.  The canapés can be made ahead of time and are really a no fuss, no frills recipe, except for the mandatory garnish.  I've reproduced the exact text of Mrs Beeton's instructions, but for today's busy cook, I'd recommend using a sliced baguette for the croutons, in the interests of economy and even less fuss.

Lobster Canapes. - INGREDIENTS for dish for 4 persons - 12 small croutons fried in butter, a little lobster butter, the tail of a small lobster, oil, capers, pepper and vinegar. AVERAGE COST, 10d.

Fry the croutons and when cold spread them with the butter.  Cut small slices of the lobster and soak in oil and vinegar for a few minutes.  Lay a slice on each crouton and give a seasoning of pepper and cayenne, put 2 or 3 capers on the top and serve on a flat dish, on a stamped paper, garnished with parsley and watercress.

SEASONABLE AT ANY TIME

Mrs Beeton's recipe for lobster butter appears earlier in her recipe book, under the heading "Butter," along with Anchovy Butter, Fairy Butter, Malted Butter and Montpelier Butter:

Lobster Butter. - INGREDIENTS - Lobster coral, fresh butter, salt and cayenne.

Rub down in a mortar the coral and add to it the butter, blending well together till a deep red colour is obtained; add cayenne and salt to taste, put it into pots and tie over closely.
 
SEASONABLE AT ANY TIME

Whether one would want to use 'lobster coral' in this way, rather than simply scoffing what is for most people a luxury ingredient, is of course up to the individual.  It would however make a very tasty butter, which could then be put to use in other recipes.  Particularly Mrs Beeton's, as they feature butter as an ingredient more often than not.

The canapés made by me with a crab went down a treat; I'll certainly be using Mrs Beeton's recipe again and thank her for making it so simple out of ingredients that were mainly in my kitchen pantry.  I just need a supply of watercress...

Stuffed Trout: According to Mrs Beeton

This is a rich and lavish dish, one that produces 'oohs' and 'ahs' when served to guests on an appropriately garnished serving platter.  The late Victorians and Edwardians were obsessed with presentation; decorating and garnishing plates 'sent to table' was de rigeur and no respectable cook would have thought not to do this with vigour.  Mrs Beeton's baked trout is stuffed lavishly with mushrooms, truffles, breadcrumbs and parsley, but it will be rich enough without the truffles - these are simply an over-the-top Victorian 'extra' which believe me, you will not miss if left out.

Mrs Beeton coated her trout in breadcrumbs after it had been baked.  She then fried it in butter before sending it to table with a tomato sauce.  All in the name of extravagance, flavour and variety.  Omission of the sauce and breadcrumbs however did not dull the effect of barramundi (this being Australia) cooked by me in a manner based on the recipe found in her weighty and comprehensive Family Cookery & Housekeeping (1900 edition) which is as follows:

Trout, Stuffed. Fried - INGREDIENTS for dish for 4 persons - A fine trout, a little breadcrumb and butter, 2 oz. of truffles, 6 button mushrooms, 1 teaspoonful of minced thyme, parsley and chervil for the Court bouillon, a quart of water, a pint of white wine vinegar, 1 large carrot, onion and parsnip, a small heart of celery, a little thyme, parsley, chervil and salt, 2 bay leaves, 2 oz. of butter  AVERAGE COST 3s 6d

Reduce ingredients for the Court bouillon quickly over a strong fire; the vegetables being sliced up, drain, cool and preserve for cooking fish, replacing the liquid consumed each time by some good white wine.  Stuff the trout with a forcemeat made of the breadcrumbs, truffles, mushrooms, butter and herbs.  The fish having been washed and dried, tie up the head and simmer in the Court bouillon for 1/4 hour.  Take it out, dip it in egg and breadcrumbs, fry and serve up with a tomato sauce.
TIME 1/2 HOUR
SEASONABLE from May to September

Being a time poor 21st century woman, I chose not to make a Court bouillon in which to poach the rather large barramundi bought from my local fish market in the absence of trout.  I didn't have a pot large enough to put it in, in any event.  So it was stuffed with Mrs Beeton's recommended forcemeat (minus truffles) and placed on a tray in the oven for about 20 minutes.  Being extremely lazy, I also omitted coating it with egg and breadcrumbs and frying it and as I did not have a readymade tomato sauce to hand, simply sent it to table on a platter garnished with parsley and thyme sprigs.                                                                    

When I was a dance student, I was always told to make a strong 'finish', a definite statement at the end of a routine which meant arriving at a stance with a flourish. Victorian and Edwardian cookery is the same.  A dish itself can be quite simple in its ingredients and method, but its appearance is everything.  'Garnish' was the catchcry of the day and fresh herbs used in this way were plentiful on main courses placed on Victorian and Edwardian dining tables.  Plain cuisine was dressed up, as were the diners of the period.

I'm pleased to report the barramundi cooked by the Downstairs Cook's granddaughter was a success, moist and tender and above all, easy to prepare using what is my favourite method of cooking - the oven, because you can just set and forget.  Just don't forget to garnish!

Photography: Christian Hodge

Steamed and Batter Puddings: Seasonable at Any Time

When you feel a need for comfort, look no further than a soft and flavoursome steamed pudding.  Mrs Beeton calls them "batter puddings" and provides a recipe for a baked version as well which includes instructions for decorating the finished pudding with "damsons, plums, red currants, gooseberries or apples."  Otherwise, her recipes are spare in detail.  Presumably, one learnt the necessary techniques from observing the more experienced cook.

I have inherited a 1970s pudding basin lid, pictured below in its red anodised glory.  This marvellous contraption clips onto an enamel basin which then needs to fit into a saucepan of boiling water in order to cook.

Mrs Beeton advised those cooking in the nineteenth century to "tie it down very tightly" which is what my mother used to do before a neighbour bequeathed the said 1970s pudding lid. What is tied down after the pudding basin is greased with butter, is a double round of greased foil or greaseproof paper large enough to tie with string over the top and rim of the pudding basin, with 2.5 cm (1") pleat in the middle.  Mrs Beeton doesn't say this, but unless you are making a pudding with jam or syrup as a topping, the bottom of the bowl should be lined with a round of greased greaseproof paper.

 

Marmalade puddings appear to have been popular around 1900.  Mrs Beeton provides a recipe for one large enough for 6 persons where "half a pot" of marmalade is put "all over the top" as soon as the pudding is turned out of the basin.  "It is advisable to warm the marmalade to make it liquid," she says, but the same effect can be achieved by placing some marmalade in the bottom of the pudding basin before steaming.

 

If using fresh fruit as a topping, peel and chop the fruit and place it in the bottom of the pudding basin before pouring in the batter.  According to the redoubtable Mrs B, the finished product "must be sent quickly to table and covered plentifully with sifted sugar."

 

Rather than the "deep, deep pleasure" afforded by contemporary cook Nigella Lawson's rather decadent desserts, the steamed pudding provides a warm and comforting feeling with its light, spongy texture and sweet topping, just like a mother's comforting hug.

 

Batter Pudding, Boiled. - INGREDIENTS for good-sized pudding. - 3 eggs, 1 oz. (28g) of butter, 1 pint (570 ml) of milk, 3 tablespoonfuls of flour, a little salt.

 

Put the flour into a basin, and add sufficient milk to moisten it; carefully rub down all the lumps with a spoon, then pour in the remainder of the milk, and stir in the butter, which should be previously melted; keep beating the mixture, add the eggs and pinch of salt, and, when the batter is quite smooth, put it into a well-buttered basin, tie it down very tightly, and put it into boiling water; move the basin about for a few minutes after it is put into the water, to prevent the flour settling in any part and boil for 1 and a 1/4 hour.  This pudding may also be boiled in a floured cloth that has been wetted in hot water; it will take a few minutes less than when boiled in a basin.  Send batter puddings very quickly to table, and serve with a sweet sauce, wine sauce, stewed fruit, or jam of any kind, when the latter is used, a little of it may be placed round the dish in small quantities, as a garnish.

 

Cook's Tips:

• Fill basin no more than two thirds with pudding mixture, to allow for expansion.
• It's also a good idea to tie a string handle across the top of the basin to make it easy to lift the hot pudding from the steamer.
• Cover saucepan tightly and check water level from time to time, adding more water if necessary.
• At the end of the cooking time, lift out the pudding basin, remove cover and stand on a cake rack for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge and unmoulding pudding onto a serving platter.

  

Mrs B's baked and steamed batter pudding recipes can be found on page 38 of the 1900 edition of her Family Cookery & Housekeeping Book

 

 

 

 





The Downstairs Cook

There had always been mystery surrounding my maternal grandmother. Born in London, she had arrived in Sydney in 1910 and worked as a governess before marrying a stockman and settling on a cattle property near Warialda in northern New South Wales, or so the family legend held.  She died in 1955, before I was born, so I never knew her - only of her reputation as a rather formidable, matriarchal woman who eventually left her husband and moved to the nearby town of Inverell so their two children could attend school.  Always puzzled by her ownership of a 1900 edition of Mrs Beeton's Household Management (now passed to me) as it was not clear why a governess would need to refer to such a publication, this mystery was finally cleared after I searched the online 1901 UK census records and found "Edith Irwin" aged 19, living in a residence in Streatham, London where she was listed as "Cook, domestic."

My interest piqued, I searched the 1891 census records, but to no avail.  There was no record of her at all.  My mother then gave me the clue, shortly before she died, that unlocked Edith's origins; she was an orphan "who lived with an aunt."  No "aunt" was located by me, but when I typed the word "orphanage" into the search engine, presto! There she was - a resident of the St.Pancras Foundling Hospital, along with many other girls aged from eight to 14.

I had found her, but I needed to know more - what was life like for a young orphan girl in late Victorian London?  When and how did she arrived at the Foundling Hospital?  And were there any records relating to her parents - whose names she knew, as they appeared on her marriage certificate.  The items I inherited from her - an exquisite crystal perfume bottle with an elaborate silver cap, a silver dressing table set with a glorious design of cherubic angels had always fascinated me; she was clearly a woman who loved beauty and who could afford to buy such things, despite her humble station.  The fact she had been born into a situation where she sat on the bottom rung of society, yet managed to acquire items of beauty, apparent self-sufficiency and self-reliance only made me more curious and determined to discover more about her and the eras in which she lived - the late Victorian and the Edwardian, the end of which coincided with her embarking upon the ship which would bring her to her new home, and new era of her own, in Australia.

My hunger led me to commence a fabulous journey of discovery into the period of my grandmother's life which coincided with the elegant and glittering fin de siecle.  Guided also by Mrs Beeton and her household bible full of recipes, this is the story of a culinary journey as well, informed by annotations made by my grandmother herself in that definitive tome.  Please read on to discover a collection of the best tried and tested recipes from Mrs Beeton and other cooks of the time....