The Allinson Vegetarian Cookery Book/Custards

1 quart of milk, 6 eggs, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour, 1 wineglassful of rosewater, sugar to taste, 1/2 lb. ground almonds. Boil the milk with the sugar and almonds; smooth the cornflour with the rosewater and stir it into the boiling milk, let it boil up for a minute. Beat up the eggs, leaving out 3 of the whites of the eggs, which are to be beaten to a stiff froth. Let the milk cool a little, then stir in the eggs very gradually, taking care not to curdle them; stir over the fire until the custard is nearly boiling, then let it cool, stirring occasionally; pour it into a glass dish, and pile the whipped whites of the eggs on the top of the custard just before serving.

8 large apples, moist sugar to taste, half a teacupful of water and the juice of half a lemon, 1 pint of custard made with Allinson custard powder. Peel, cut and core the apples and put into a lined saucepan with the water, sugar, and lemon juice, stew till tender and rub through a sieve; when cold put the fruit at the bottom of a pie-dish and pour the custard over, grate a little nutmeg over the top, bake lightly, and serve cold.

1 quart of milk, 6 eggs, sugar, and flavouring to taste. Heat the milk until nearly boiling, sweeten it with sugar, and add any kind of flavouring. Whip up the eggs, and mix them carefully with the hot milk. Pour the custard into a buttered pie-dish, and bake it in a moderately hot oven until set. If the milk and eggs are mixed cold and then baked the custard goes watery; it is therefore important to bear in mind that the milk should first be heated. Serve with stewed fruit.

1-1/2 pints of milk, 4 eggs, 1 dessertspoonful of sugar, 1/2 lemon and 4 oz. of castor sugar for caramel. Put the dry castor sugar into an enamelled saucepan and let it melt and turn a rich brown over the fire, stirring all the time. When the sugar is melted and browned stir into it about 2 tablespoonfuls of hot water, and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Then pour the caramel into a mould or cake-tin, and let it run all round the sides of the tin. Meanwhile heat the milk near boiling-point, and add the vanilla and sugar. Whip up the eggs, stir carefully into them the hot milk, so as not to curdle the eggs. Then pour the custard into the tin on the caramel and stand the tin in a larger tin with hot water, place it in the oven, and bake in a moderately hot oven for about 20 minutes or until the custard is set. Allow it to get cold, turn out, and serve.

Make the custard as in the recipe for "Cup Custard." Take 4 oz. of castor sugar; put it over a brisk fire in a small enamelled saucepan, keep stirring it until quite melted and a rich brown. Then cautiously add 2 tablespoonfuls of boiling water, taking care not to be scalded by the spluttering sugar. Gradually stir the caramel into the hot custard. Let it cool, and serve in custard glasses.

6 whole eggs or 10 yolks of eggs, 1 quart of milk, sugar and vanilla to taste. Beat the eggs well while the milk is being heated. Use vanilla pods to flavour—they are better than the essence, which is alcoholic; split a piece of the pod 3 or 4 inches long, and let it soak in the milk for 1 hour before it is set over the fire, so as to extract the flavour from the vanilla. Sweeten the milk and let it come nearly to boiling-point. Carefully stir the milk into the beaten eggs, adding only a little at a time, so as not to curdle the eggs. When all is mixed, pour the custard into a jug, which should be placed in a saucepanful of boiling water. Keep stirring the custard with a wooden spoon, and as soon as the custard begins to coat the spoon remove the saucepan from the fire, and continue stirring the custard until it is well thickened. In doing as here directed there is no risk of the custard curdling, for directly the water ceases to boil it cannot curdle the custard, although it is hot enough to finish thickening it. If the milk is nearly boiling when mixed with the eggs, the custard will only take from 5 to 10 minutes to finish. When the custard is done place the jug in which it was made in a bowl of cold water, stir it often while cooling to prevent a skin forming on the top. Remove the vanilla pod and pour the custard into glasses. Should the custard be required very thick, 8 eggs should be used, or the milk can first be thickened with a dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour before mixing it with the 6 eggs. This is an excellent plan; it saves eggs, and the custard tastes just as rich as if more eggs were used. Serve in custard glasses, or in a glass dish.

1 pint of milk or cream, 2 oz. of lump sugar and 1 packet of Allinson custard powder. Put the contents of the packet into a basin and mix to a smooth, thin paste with about 2 tablespoonfuls of the milk; boil the remainder of milk with the sugar, and when quite boiling pour quickly into the basin, stirring thoroughly; stir occasionally until quite cold, then pour into custard glasses and grate a little nutmeg on the top, or put in a glass dish and serve with stewed or tinned fruits, or the custard can be used with Christmas or plum pudding instead of sauce.

When the custard has been standing over night, it should be well stirred before using.

Line a pie-dish with puff paste, prick well with a fork and bake carefully, then fill the case with a custard made as follows. Mix 1 dessertspoonful of flour with the contents of a packet of Allinson custard powder, out of a pint of milk take 8 tablespoonfuls and mix well with the flour, custard powder, &c., boil the remainder of milk with sugar to taste and 1 oz. of butter and when quite boiling pour on to the custard powder, stir quickly for a minute, then pour into the pastry case, grate a little nutmeg on the top and bake till of a golden brown; serve either hot or cold.

1 quart of milk, 1/2 pint of ready boiled wheat (boiled in water), 1/4 lb. of sultanas and currants mixed, sugar to taste, 4 eggs, a stick of cinnamon. Mix the milk with the wheat (which should be fresh), the sugar and fruit, adding the cinnamon, and let all cook gently over a low fire, stirring frequently; when the mixture is nicely thickened remove it from the fire and let it cool; beat up the eggs and gradually mix them with the rest, taking great care not to curdle them. Stir the frumenty over the fire, but do not allow to boil. Serve hot or cold. The wheat should be fresh and soaked for 24 hours, and then cooked from 3 to 5 hours.

Make some good puff paste and line a pie-dish with it, putting a double row round the edge. With 1/2 lb. of castor sugar stew 1 lb. of green gooseberries until the skins are tender, then rub them through a sieve. Scald 1 pint of milk, mix 1 tablespoonful of Allinson cornflour to a smooth paste with cold milk, add it to the milk when boiling, let it boil for 5 minutes, gently stirring it all the time, then turn it into a bowl and let it become cool. Add 1/4 lb. of castor sugar, 2 oz. of butter melted and dropped in gradually whilst the mixture is beaten, then put in the well-beaten yolks of 6 eggs, add the mashed gooseberries in small quantities, and lastly the whites of the eggs whipped to a stiff froth; beat all together for a minute to mix well. Pour this into the lined pie-dish and bake 25 or 30 minutes; serve in the pie-dish. This can be made from any kind of acid fruit, and is as good cold as hot.

Top and tail 1 pint of gooseberries, put into a lined saucepan with sugar to taste and half a small teacupful of water, stew gently until perfectly tender, rub through a sieve, and when quite cold add 1 pint of custard made with Allinson custard powder, which should have been allowed to become cold before being mixed with the fruit. Serve in a glass dish with sponge fingers.

N.B.—Apple fool is made in exactly the same way as above, substituting sharp apples for the gooseberries.

4 oz. of Allinson macaroni, 3 eggs, 1 tablespoonful of sugar, 1 even dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour, vanilla to taste. Boil the macaroni in 1 pint of milk, and add a little water it needed; when quite tender place it on a glass dish to cool; make a custard of the rest of the milk and the other ingredients; flavour it well with vanilla; when the custard is cool pour it over the macaroni, and serve with or without stewed fruit.

1/2 lb. of macaroons, 1 quart of milk, 6 eggs, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour, sugar and vanilla essence to taste. Boil the milk and stir into it the cornflour smoothed with a little of the milk; whip up the eggs, and carefully stir in the milk (which should have been allowed to go off the boil) without curdling it; add sugar and vanilla to taste, and stir the custard over the fire until it thickens, placing it in a jug into a saucepan of boiling water. Arrange the macaroons in a glass dish, and when the custard is cool enough not to crack the dish, pour it over them and sprinkle some ground almonds on the top. Serve cold.

The juice of 6 oranges and of 1/2 a lemon, 6 eggs, 6 oz. of sugar, and 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour. Add enough water to the fruit juices to make 1-1/2 pints of liquid. Set this over the fire with the sugar; meanwhile smooth the cornflour with a little cold water, and thicken the liquid with it when boiling. Set aside the saucepan, (which should be an enamelled one) so as to cool the contents a little. Beat up the eggs, gradually stir into them the thickened liquid, and then proceed with the custard as in the previous recipe. This is a German sweet, and very delicious.

1-1/2 pints of raspberries, 1/2 pint of red currants, 6 oz. of sugar, 7 eggs, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour. Mix the fruit, and let it cook from 5 to 10 minutes with 1 pint of water; strain the juice well through a piece of muslin or a fine hair-sieve. There should be 1 quart of juice; if necessary add a little more water; return the juice to the saucepan, add the sugar and reheat the liquid; when it boils thicken it with the cornflour, then set it aside to cool. Beat up the eggs, add them carefully after the fruit juice has somewhat cooled; stir the custard over the fire until it thickens, but do not allow it to boil, as the eggs would curdle. Serve cold in custard glasses, or in a glass dish poured over macaroons or sponge cakes. You can make a fruit custard in this way, with strawberries, cherries, red currants, or any juicy summer fruit.

Remove the stalks from 1 lb. of fresh strawberries, place them in a glass dish and scatter over 2 tablespoonfuls of pounded sugar; prepare 1 pint of custard with Allinson custard powder according to recipe given above, and while still hot pour carefully over the fruit, set aside to cool, and just before serving (which must not be until the custard has become quite cold) garnish the top with a few fine strawberries.