For our Cooking Up History Session in December, we entered the Christmas spirit with a menu of mince pies and warming lemon caudle.
You can find out how we got on with the recipes by taking a look at Kim’s special report.
Mamma’s Mince Pyes
Take a neats tongue, parboule it & skin it, & shred it. Put to it 3 pd of beif sewit, a pd & a half of raisins, 2 pd of currants, half a dozen of pipens, a qr of a pd of sweet meats, 3 qrs of a pd of white sugar, half a pint of sack, a qr of an ounce of nutmegs, the same quantity of all other spice’s, a little salt. Mix all well together.
Inspired by ‘Mamma’s’ recipe, here’s our take on Georgian-era mincemeat pies. It makes enough mixture for two dozen pies.
- 500g shortcrust pastry
- 150g cooked ox tongue
- 175g suet
- 170g raisins
- 225g currants
- 1 apple (we used a cox’s apple), peeled, cored and chopped small
- 85g sugar
- 100ml sherry (plus an extra tablespoon)
- 100g finely chopped sweetmeats (we used candied ginger, dried apricots, dried cranberries and candied peel)
- 2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp allspice
- pinch of salt
- Shred the ox tongue into small pieces and place in a large bowl
- Add the suet, sugar, raisins and currants to the bowl and mix
- Peel, core and finely chop the apple
- Finely chop the sweetmeats (candied and dried fruits) and mix with the spices
- Add the spiced sweetmeats and apple to the tongue mixture
- Pour in the sherry and season with a pinch of salt. Use your hands to combine the mixture
- Grease a muffin tray and line with shortcrust pastry cases
- Put some of the mincemeat mixture into each pastry case, ensuring the pies are not overfilled
- Top with pastry and bake at 180ºC until golden brown and cooked through, approximately 30 minutes
Lemon Caudle
Boyle some milk & turn it with ye juce of a lemon till it is very clear. Take of the curd & strain the whey, & season it with nutmeg & sugar, & thicken it with the yolks of eggs & a little rose water.
Here’s our version:
- 1 pint milk (we used semi-skimmed)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ tbsp rose water
- Bring the milk to the boil in a large saucepan. Remove from the heat
- Add the lemon juice to the milk, so that the milk curdles
- Strain the milk through a muslin cloth to remove the curd*
- Place the egg yolks in a large bowl and pour the warm whey over them, whisking all the time
- Return the whey and egg yolks to the saucepan and place on a gentle heat, stirring constantly
- Stir in the sugar, nutmeg and rosewater to taste
- When warm and slightly thickened (the consistency of a thin custard), pour into cups and enjoy!
* To avoid wasting the curd, why not try our Cookbook of Unknown Ladies recipe for lemon cheese?
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It is a shame to discard the curds from the lemon caudle; you have just made lemon cheese, which no wise housewife would throw away.
Hi Kimberly, thank you very much for your suggestion about the lemon cheese – I’ve now amended the recipe to include this tip!