Rice pudding is the most boring food you could have, good enough for the sick but not quite a dessert. It's the least exciting of puddings although British housewives or chefs (I'm not sure which) have found ways to improve it: eggs, cream, raisins, dried fruit, nuts, butter, and sauces made of alcoholic drinks. A long while ago I blogged about 17th century rice pudding. That pudding was so delicious I had no intention of sharing another post on rice boiled in milk. But I recently heard someone in a 1995 period drama complain to the housemaid: "Is this rice pudding - again?!" I really like Bramwell, whose fictional plot is set at the end of the nineteenth century so yesterday I looked into rice puddings from that era.
I ended up with three recipes, one from Cassell's New Universal Cookery Book (1894) by Lizzie Heritage and two from Modern Cookery, in all its branches (1845) by Elizabeth Acton - the second cookbook being more likely the guide in Dr Bramwell's kitchen.
Recipe #1
"Cereal Pudding, Rich (See above). Either of the cereals therein named may be made into a good pudding by cooking the grain and milk together until almost done, then leaving it to cool, and adding, to every four ounces of grain and quart of milk, the whole of two of three eggs and a little cream: a couple or three tablespoonfuls will much improve the pudding, though a gill is better, and any flavouring to taste. Two to four ounces of castor sugar should be used, and an ounce or two of butter stirred in when the mixture is hot. The only thing to do is to bake this until set, say for half an hour in a moderate oven. These puddings are very nice if left to get quite cold: they should then be turned out and garnished with a little fresh or dried fruit, or spread with jam or jelly, or sauce or custard be poured over: or they may be sent to table in the dish and a fruit compôte or some other adjunct served with them. Those are not a success unless the cereal is well cooked. Puddings so prepared will be found superior to those in which the eggs are used and added to the cold milk, and subjected to the prolonged heat necessary for the cooking of the grain. A tablespoonful of grated nuts of any sort may be used with each pint or pint and a-half of milk." Cassell's New Universal Cookery Book, pp. 829-830
Could this be the pudding Eleanor (at 27 years old and medical woman, no less) turned up her nose at? The family belonged to the upper middle class, both father and daughter treated wealthy patients, the housemaid could read. Perhaps the household was familiar with Cassel's New Universal Cookery Book.
RICH CEREAL PUDDING
In the following version, I've used the maximum of luxuries suggested in the original recipe. Today we're chatting about rice but the pudding could be made with any kind of cereal.
I n g r e d i e n t s
for the pudding:
115g Carolina rice
1lt full milk
3 large eggs, whisked
150ml full cream
30g almonds, ground
grated nutmeg
115g caster sugar
60g butter
to serve:
fruit, jam, custard, or sauce
M e t h o d
Gently boil the rice in the milk until the grain swells. Remove from the heat and stir in the eggs, cream, almonds, nutmeg, sugar and butter. Pour into a baking dish or individual ramekins and bake until set in a moderate oven.
T i p
Milk puddings are baked fast and well in bain-marie so place your baking dish or ramekins in a roasting pan that's halfway up full of hot water.
Comments