In honor of Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee this year, I am going through all my British cookbooks to find all the “Royal” recipes that I have; from Victoria Sponges/cake to Queen Mab cake and many more.  I will be posting them here for the rest of the year.

Andover UK 1880’s

Baroness Pudding                       

6 oz. flour, 4 oz. suet, 4 oz. raisins (stone & cut in half), ¼ pint milk, ½ ½ tea spoon (?), rind of ½ a lemon, steam 3 hours.  Serve with sifted sugar.  

Short Crust                  

6 oz. best flour, 4 oz. butter a tablespoonful of castor sugar, yolk of one egg, a few drops of lemon juice a little cold water; pass flour thru sieve, salt. 

Royal Cakes         

Gloucestershire UK 1900 – 1920  

Maids of honor                            Best recipe            

Mixture

¾ of a cupful of ground rice

¾ of a cupful of castor sugar

1 egg, grated rind of lemon

2 oz. butter

Melt butter, add rice sugar alternately, then egg, lastly lemon.  Put about a teaspoonful into each round of pastry as tart filling; bake in brisk oven. 

(Side notation: small quantity of jam at bottom)

Queen Mab Tarts                                   

1 oz. butter (melted)

2 oz. ground rice

2 oz. sugar

A little baking powder

Mix with 1 egg

Add the butter before the egg, will make 1 doz. Tarts.

Queen Mab was one of the Fairy Queens from poetry. Lord Dunsany, for example. Named in Romeo and Juliet as Midwife of the Fairies. Queen of the Unseelie in Shelley (I think). A bunch of uses in literature both classic and contemporary.

Queen Mab Tarts &

2 oz. ground rice

2 oz. sugar

1 oz. butter

1 egg

½ teaspoonful baking powder

Melt the butter, mix altogether

Maids of Honor                                      

Put jam at the bottom & then mixture at the top. 

Short Pastry                  

2 oz. butter or lard & ½ teaspoonful baking powder to each ½ lb. of flour. 

Also in Warne’s Model Cookbook Queen Mab’s Pudding page 118 Queen

Bitter Almonds – BE VERY CAREFUL!! If these are not processed correctly, they can kill you with a form of cyanide.  These are not actually almonds, even though they are classified as a nut, they are a drupe which is a seed encased in an outer shell. (peanuts are also a drupe.)  Bitter almonds are more useful in culinary preparations instead of the snacking sweet almonds that we see and use for most things in the U.S. 

They are smaller and with more pointed tips, and a bit darker in color. 

“Interestingly enough, raw bitter almonds contain certain toxins that can be lethal to humans, even in small doses. If you eat 7-10 bitter almonds that haven’t been processed (heated, boiled, baked etc.), you will consume a toxic level of hydrocyanic acid. For this reason, the raw form of bitter almonds is prohibited in certain countries, including the United States. Once a bitter almond is treated, however, the hydrocyanic acid is removed or neutralized, making these almonds safe to use in culinary applications.”

In a lot of the old recipes, you will see “Bitter Almonds” called for; it is easier to just substitute the sweet ones we have access to, than try to acquire the bitter ones; so, you can be certain they will not poison you. 

Isinglass – Was used as a form of coagulant and is a collagen used to clarify or for the solidification of foods; the same way we use gelatin today.  Originally made just from sturgeon, the same fish you get caviar from; in 1795 the inventor William Murdoch created an inexpensive substitute from cod.  It is formed from the dried swim bladder of fish, processed, dried and formed into shapes for use.  It can be found today in paper sized sheets that are often used as glass window panes in gingerbread houses.

Most often used in desserts such as blancmange and fruit jellies, it is also used in some beers to help clarify the brew and to remove the spent yeast.      

Castor Sugar – Also known as Baker’s Sugar: It is not very commonly used in the U.S. and may be very hard to find.  Castor sugar is a superfine grain about halfway between your regular table sugar and powdered or confectioners’ sugar.  It is used in England for cakes and cookies; you may be able to find it online, but the price may be prohibitive.   You can make your own with a little work, by adding it to a blender and processing it to a finer granule, but be careful, if you go too far it will become powdered sugar which is too fine a grain.  A suggestion on Bob’s Red Mill Website is to keep a towel over the top of the blender so the dust made in the process will not escape into the air and go everywhere. 

It is the perfect sugar for meringues, as it is a finer grain so it blends better and make the meringue lighter and fluffier. 

INGREDIENT REFERENCES and MEASUREMENTS

I have found several references that explains the equivalents to our modern measurements.  Just a few examples are;

Gill – Pronounced Jill; equal to a quarter of a pint; or four fluid ounces which equals ½ cup.  

Lump of (something) the size of a Turkey’s egg – equals 4 ounces

Lump of (something) the size of a chicken’s egg – equals 2 ounces.

Lump of Butter the size of a walnut – equals 1 ounce. (can also be 1 rounded tablespoon)

A Victorian measurement of a wine glassful, will not be the wine glass we think of today.  They were much smaller, about ¼ cup to ½ cup.  So, when using a recipe that askes for a wine glass full be sure to use a lot less than you would think about using from today’s size of glass.

Quite a few of these recipes call for; a coffee cupful. A teacup full, and a wineglass full. 

A coffee cupful = 1 cup.

A tea cupful = 1/3 cup, I have also found it to be ¾ cup.

A wine glassful = ¼ cup, ½ gill or 4 T.

A Tumbler = ½ pint or 1 cup

Oven temperatures are seldom given in the old books and recipes; most times the only say something like a slow oven or quick oven.  These are the equlivent to today’s oven temperatures;

A very slow oven equals 250 to 275 degrees.

A slow oven equals 300 to 325 degrees.

A moderate oven equals 350 to 375 degrees.

A hot or quick oven equals 375 to 400 degrees.

A very hot oven equals 400 to 450 degrees. 

Visit my ebay store to find some great kitchen utensils and collectables to go along with these vintage and antique recipes.

https://www.ebay.com/str/ozziesattic720?_trksid=p2047675.l2563