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Collection of Old British Beverages Recipes

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A HANDBOOK OF COOKERY FOR A SMALL HOUSE BY JESSIE CONRAD [1923]

Chocolate

Place a quarter of a pound of Chocolate Menier in a stone saucepan for ten minutes covered with cold water. Let it stand on the side of the stove.

Work it into a smooth paste and add water or milk to make it a pint. No sugar. Place it over the fire and bring it to a boil.

Do this six times, lifting it from the fire each time it boils.

Coffee for Four Persons

Put into an earthenware saucepan a teacupful of roasted coffee freshly ground, and pour over one pint and a half of boiling water. Bring to a boil twice. Tip a tablespoonful of cold water into the boiling coffee. Let it stand for five minutes and strain through a strainer into a warmed coffee pot.

Beef Tea

Take one pound of leg of beef not fat. One pound makes about a pint of good beef tea. Cut the meat several times across, taking care not to cut it through.

Sprinkle with a half teaspoonful of salt, put into a stone jar or saucepan with one piece of loaf sugar, add one and a half pints of cold water and place in a steady oven to cook for two hours. Always put it into the oven as soon as it is prepared as the salt otherwise would draw the juice out of the meat.

Directly it is cooked, dash about one tablespoonful of cold water into it. Place in a cold place for the fat to rise, remove with a sheet of white paper the fat which will have risen to the top and make hot as required.

The Healthy Life Cook Book by Florence Daniel [Second Edition, 1915]

LEMON CORDIAL.

12 lemons, 1 lb. lump sugar.

Put the sugar into a clean saucepan. Grate off the yellow part of the rinds of 6 lemons and sprinkle over the sugar. Now moisten the sugar with as much water as it will absorb. Boil gently to a clear syrup. Add the juice from the lemons, stir well, and pour into clean, hot, dry bottles. Cork tightly and cover with sealing-wax or a little plaster-of-Paris mixed with water and laid on quickly. Add any quantity preferred to cold or hot water to prepare beverage, or use neat as sauce for puddings.

LIME CORDIAL.

The same as for Lemon, but use 13 limes.

ORANGE CORDIAL.

The same as for Lemon, but use 3/4 lb. sugar.

A detailed list of Fruit and Herb Teas will be found in the companion volume to this, “Food Remedies.”

BARLEY WATER.

1 dessert spoon Robinson’s “Patent” Barley, 1/2 a lemon, 3 lumps cane sugar.

Rub the lumps of sugar on the lemon until they are bright yellow in colour and quite wet. (It is the fragrant juice contained in the yellow surface of the lemon rind that gives the delicious lemon flavour without acidity.) Mix the barley to a thin paste with a little cold water. This is poured into a pint of boiling water, well stirred until it comes to the boil again and then left to boil for five minutes, after which it is done. Add the sugar and lemon juice.

RAW CARROT JUICE.

Well scrub a medium sized carrot and grate it to a pulp on an ordinary tinned bread grater. Put the pulp into a cheese cloth and squeeze out the juice into a cup.

New Vegetarian Dishes by Mrs Bowdich [1892]

Lentil Tea. (A substitute for Beef Tea.)

  • 1 pint soaked lentils.
  • 1 pint water.
  • 2 ounces butter.
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  • 2 cloves.
  • 6 peppercorns.
  • A very small piece of mace.
  • A little pepper if liked.

Dissolve the butter in a saucepan, place in all the ingredients except salt and pepper. Boil half an hour, removing the scum as it rises. Add salt, boil another half hour. Strain carefully and serve with toast or bread.

Note.—The lentils should be re-boiled, and will make a very useful stock.

Victorian Beverage Recipes from A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes BY CHARLES ELMÉ FRANCATELLI, [1852]

Ginger-pop.

Put a very clean pot containing a gallon of water to boil on the fire, and as soon as it begins to boil, add twelve ounces of brown sugar, and one ounce of bruised ginger, and two ounces of cream of tartar; stir well together; pour the whole into an earthen pan, cover it over with a cloth, and let the mash remain in this state until it has become quite cold; then stir in half a gill of fresh yeast; stir all well together until thoroughly mixed, cover the pan over with a cloth, and leave the ginger-beer in a cool place to work up; this will take from six to eight hours; the scum which has risen to the top must then be carefully removed with a spoon without disturbing the brightness of the beer; it is then to be carefully poured off bright into a jug with a spout, to enable you easily to pour it into the bottles. These must be immediately corked down tight, tied across the corks with string, and put away, lying down in the cellar. The ginger-pop will be fit to drink in about four days after it has been bottled.

Note: 1 gill equals 125 millilitres or half a cup

Bran Tea: a Remedy for Colds, etc.

Boil a large handful of bran in a quart of water for ten minutes, then strain off the water into a jug, sweeten it with one ounce of gum arabic and a good spoonful of honey; stir all well together, and give this kind of drink in all cases of affections of the chest, such as colds, catarrhs, consumption, etc., and also for the measles.

Orangeade, or Orange Drink.

Peel off the rind of one orange very thinly without any of the white pith, and put the rind into a jug, pare off all the white pith from three oranges so as to lay the pulp of the fruit quite bare, cut them in slices, take out all the seeds, or, as they are more generally termed, the pips, as their bitterness would render the drink unpalatable; add one ounce of sugar, or honey, pour a quart of boiling water to these, cover up the jug, and allow the orangeade to stand and steep until quite cold; it may then be given to the patient. This is a cooling beverage, and may be safely given in cases of fever.

How to make Lemonade.

Proceed in all particulars as directed for making orangeade [see recipe above], using, for the purpose, lemons instead of oranges.

Apple-water Drink.

Slice up thinly three or four apples without peeling them, and boil them in a very clean saucepan with a quart of water and a little sugar until the slices of apples are become soft; the apple water must then be strained through a piece of clean muslin, or rag, into a jug. This pleasant beverage should be drunk when cold; it is considered beneficial in aiding to allay scorbutic eruptions.

How to make a Soothing Drink for Coughs.

Take of marsh-mallow roots and of liquorice roots each one ounce; of linseed, half an ounce; shave the roots very thinly; put them and the linseed into a clean earthen pot with one quart of hot water, cover with the lid, and set the whole on the hob of the fire to simmer for half an hour or more; then strain the drink into a clean jug, sweeten with honey, and when it has become quite cold, let it be given in small quantities several times in the course of the day. This mucilaginous beverage is most beneficial in relieving persons who are suffering from cold on the chest, and also those who are afflicted with gravel, etc.

Linseed Tea.

Put a table-spoonful of linseed into a clean earthen pot or pipkin with a quart of water, and a little orange or lemon rind; boil this gently for about ten minutes, and then strain it through muslin into a jug; sweeten with honey or sugar, add the juice of a lemon, stir all together, and give this beverage to allay irritation of the chest and lungs—in the latter case, the lemon juice had better be omitted. Linseed tea in its purest form is an excellent accessory in aiding to relieve such as are afflicted with gout, gravel, etc.

Camomile Tea.

Put about thirty flowers into a jug, pour a pint of boiling water upon them, cover up the tea, and when it has stood about ten minutes, pour it off from the flowers into another jug; sweeten with sugar or honey; drink a tea-cupful of it fasting in the morning to strengthen the digestive organs, and restore the liver to healthier action. A tea-cupful of camomile tea, in which is stirred a large dessert-spoonful of moist sugar, and a little grated ginger, is an excellent thing to administer to aged people a couple of hours before their dinner.

Balm and Burrage Tea.

These, as well as all other medicinal herbs, may easily be cultivated in a corner of your garden, when you are so fortunate as to live in a cottage of your own in the country; they are also to be obtained from all herbalists in large towns. Take of balm and burrage a small handful each, put this into a jug, pour in upon the herbs a quart of boiling water, allow the tea to stand for ten minutes, and then strain it off into another jug, and let it become cold. This cooling drink is recommended as a beverage for persons whose system has become heated from any cause.

Sage or Marygold Tea.

Put a dozen sage leaves into a tea-pot, pour boiling water upon them, and, after allowing the tea to stand for five or ten minutes, it may be drunk with sugar and milk, in the same way and instead of the cheaper kinds of teas, which are sold for foreign teas, but which are too often composed of some kind of leaf more or less resembling the real plant, without any of its genuine fragrance, and are, from their spurious and almost poisonous nature, calculated to produce evil to all who consume them, besides the drawback of their being expensive articles.

Teas made from sage leaves, dried mint, marygolds,] and more particularly the leaf of the black currant tree, form a very pleasant as well as wholesome kind of beverage; and, if used in equal proportions, would be found to answer very well as a most satisfactory substitute for bad and expensive tea.

To make Elder Wine.

Ingredients, two gallons of elderberries, two quarts of damsons, eight pounds of raw sugar, at 4 1/2d. per pound, two gallons of water, two ounces of ginger, one ounce of cloves, and half a pint of fresh yeast. To make this quantity of elder wine, you must have a copper, a tub, a large canvas or loose flannel bag, and a five-gallon barrel. First, crush the elderberries and damsons thoroughly in the pot or copper in which they are to be boiled; then add the water, and keep stirring all together as it boils, until the fruit is well dissolved; then use a wooden bowl or a basin to pour the whole into a loose flannel bag, steadily fixed across two stout sticks, resting safely on two chairs, or, if you have one, a large coarse sieve instead. When all the liquor has passed through into the tub, put the dregs back into the copper, to be boiled up with a couple of quarts of water, and then to be strained to the other liquor. The next part of the process is to put the whole of the elderberry juice back into the clean pot or copper, with the sugar, and the spice, well bruised with a hammer; stir all together, on the fire, and allow the wine to boil gently for half an hour, then pour it into the clean tub to cool; the half-pint of yeast must then be added, and thoroughly mixed by stirring. At the end of two days, skim off the yeast which, by that time, will have risen to the surface. The elder wine must now be put into the barrel, and kept in the cellar with the bung-hole left open for a fortnight; at the end of this time, a stiff brown paper should be pasted over the bung-hole, and after standing for a month or six weeks, the wine will be ready for use. To be obliged to buy all the ingredients for making elder wine, would render it a matter of great difficulty—perhaps, in some cases, an impossibility; but, remember, that when living in the country, where in some parts elderberries grow in the hedge-rows, you may have them for the trouble of gathering them, in which case the elder wine would be cheaper, and more easily within your means.

Rice-milk for Six Persons.

Put one pound of Patna rice into a boiling pot with two ounces of butter, two quarts of water, a small bit of cinnamon or lemon-peel, and a little salt; put the lid on, and set the rice to boil very gently indeed close to the hob, until the rice is done quite soft; this will take about one hour and a quarter; then add three pints of skim milk, and after having stirred the rice-milk over the fire for ten minutes longer, it may be sweetened with a little honey or sugar, and will produce an excellent breakfast for at least six persons.

How to Brew your own Beer.

The first preparatory step towards brewing is to gather your necessary plant together in proper working order, and thoroughly clean. Your plant or utensils must consist of the following articles, viz.:—A thirty-gallon copper, two cooling-tubs capable of holding each about thirty gallons; a mash-tub of sufficient size to contain fifty-four gallons, and another tub of smaller size, called an underback; a bucket or pail, a wooden hand-bowl, a large wooden funnel, a mash-stirrer, four scraped long stout sticks, a good-sized loose-wrought wicker basket for straining the beer, and another small bowl-shaped wicker basket, called a tapwaist, to fasten inside the mash-tub on to the inner end of the spigot and faucet, to keep back the grains when the wort is being run off out of the mash-tub.

You will also require some beer barrels, a couple of brass or metal cocks, some vent-pegs, and some bungs. I do not pretend to assert that the whole of the foregoing articles are positively indispensable for brewing your own beer. I merely enumerate what is most proper to be used; leaving the manner and means of replacing such of these articles as may be out of your reach very much to your intelligence in contriving to use such as you possess, or can borrow from a neighbour, instead.

Spring water, from its hardness, is unfit for brewing; fresh fallen rain water, caught in clean tubs, or water fetched from a brook or river, are best adapted for brewing; as, from the fact of their being free from all calcareous admixture, their consequent softness gives them the greater power to extract all the goodness and strength from the malt and hops.

In order to ensure having good wholesome beer, it is necessary to calculate your brewing at the rate of two bushels of malt and two pounds of hops to fifty-four gallons of water; these proportions, well managed, will produce three kilderkins of good beer.

I recommend that you should use malt and hops of the best quality only; as their plentiful yield of beneficial substance fully compensates for their somewhat higher price. A thin shell, well filled up plump with the interior flour, and easily bitten asunder, is a sure test of good quality in malt; superior hops are known by their light greenish-yellow tinge of colour, and also by their bright, dry, yet somewhat gummy feel to the touch, without their having any tendency to clamminess.

The day before brewing, let all your tackle be well scrubbed and rinsed clean, the copper wiped out, and all your tubs and barrels half filled with cold water, to soak for a few hours, so as to guard against any chance of leakage, and afterwards emptied, and set to dry in the open air, weather permitting; or otherwise, before the fire. Fasten the tapwaist inside the mash-tub to the inner end of the faucet and spigot, taking care to place the mash-tub in an elevated position, resting upon two benches or stools.

Early in the dawn of morning, light the fire under your copper, filled with water over-night, and, as soon as it boils, with it fill the mash-tub rather more than three-parts full; and as soon as the first heat of the water has subsided, and you find that you are able to bear your fingers drawn slowly through it without experiencing pain, you must then throw in the malt, stirring it about for ten minutes or so; then lay some sticks across the mash-tub, and cover it with sacks or blankets, and allow it to steep for three hours.

At the end of the three hours, let off the wort from the mash-tub into the underback-tub, which has been previously placed under the spigot and faucet ready to receive it; pouring the first that runs out back into the mash, until the wort runs free from grains, etc.; now put the hops into the underback-tub and let the wort run out upon them. Your copper having been refilled, and boiled again while the mash is in progress, you must now pour sufficient boiling water into the grains left in the mash-tub to make up your quantity of fifty-four gallons; and when this second mashing shall have also stood some two hours, let it be drawn off, and afterwards mixed with the first batch of wort, and boil the whole at two separate boilings, with the hops equally divided; each lot to be allowed to boil for an hour and a-half after it has commenced boiling.

The beer is now to be strained through the loose wicker basket into your cooling tubs and pans; the more you have of these the better the beer, from its cooling quickly. And when the beer has cooled to the degree of water which has stood in the house in summer-time for some hours, let it all be poured into your two or three largest tubs, keeping back a couple or three quarts in a pan, with which to mix a pint of good yeast and a table-spoonful of common salt; stir this mixture well together, keep it in rather a warm part of the house, and in the course of half an hour or so, it will work up to the top of the basin or pan.

This worked beer must now be equally divided between the two or three tubs containing the bulk of the beer, and is to be well mixed in by ladling it about with a wooden hand-bowl for a couple of minutes. This done, cover over the beer with sacks or blankets stretched upon sticks across the tubs, and leave them in this state for forty-eight hours.

The next thing to be seen to is to get your barrels placed in proper order and position for being filled; and to this end attend strictly to the following directions, viz.:—First, skim off the scum, which is yeast, from the top or surface of the tubs, and next, draw off the beer through the spigot, and with the wooden funnel placed in the bung-hole, proceed to fill up the barrels not quite full; and, remember, that if a few hops are put into each before filling in the beer, it will keep all the better. Reserve some of the beer with which to fill up the barrels as they throw up the yeast while the beer is working; and when the yeast begins to fall, lay the bungs upon the bung-holes, and at the end of ten days or a fortnight, hammer the bungs in tight, and keep the vent-pegs tight also. In about two months’ time after the beer has been brewed, it will be in a fit condition for drinking.

Beef Tea.

Chop up a pound of lean beef, and put it on to boil in a saucepan with a quart of water, stirring it on the fire occasionally while it boils rather fast, for at least half an hour; at the end of this time the beef tea will have become reduced to a pint; season with salt to taste, strain it through a clean bit of muslin or rag, and give a tea-cupful of it with dry toast to the patient.

How to make Toast Water.

Toast a piece of bread thoroughly browned to its centre without being burnt, put it into a jug, pour boiling water upon it, cover over and allow it to stand and steep until it has cooled; it will then be fit to drink.

How to make Barley Water.

Boil one ounce of barley in a quart of water for twenty minutes; strain through muslin into a jug containing a bit of orange or lemon peel.

How to make Rice Water.

To six ounces of rice add two quarts of water, and two ounces of Valentia raisins; boil these very gently for about half an hour, or rather more; strain off the water into a jug, add about two table-spoonfuls of brandy. Rice water, prepared as above, is recommended in cases of dysentery and diarrhœa.

How to make Treacle Posset. [for a cold]

Sweeten a pint of milk with four table-spoonfuls of treacle, boil this for ten minutes; strain it through a rag; drink it while hot, and go to bed well covered with blankets; and your cold will be all the less and you the better for it.

How to make White Wine Whey. [for a cold or cough]

Put a pint of milk into a very clean saucepan or skillet, to boil on the fire; then add half a gill of any kind of white wine; allow the milk to boil up, then pour it into a basin, and allow it to stand in a cool place, that the curd may fall to the bottom of the basin; then pour off the whey—which is excellent as an agent to remove a severe cough or cold.

How to make a Cordial for Colds.

First, prepare a quart of the juice of black currants, by bruising and boiling them for twenty minutes, and then straining off the juice with great pressure through a sieve into a basin. Next, boil four ounces of linseed in a quart of water until reduced to one-third of its original quantity, taking care that it does not boil fast, and, when done, strain the liquid into a very clean saucepan; add the currant juice, two pounds of moist sugar, and half an ounce of citric acid, or one pint of lemon juice; boil all together until reduced to a thick syrup—that is, when it begins to run rather thick from the spoon without resembling treacle; as soon as the syrup has reached this stage, remove it from the fire, and pour it into a jug to become quite cold. This syrup will keep good for any length of time, if bottled and corked down tight, and kept in a cool place. A tea-spoonful taken occasionally will soon relieve the most troublesome cough.

This cordial may also be prepared in winter, using for the purpose black currant jam, or preserved black currant juice, instead of the juice of fresh-gathered currants.

A Cooling Drink.

To half an ounce of cream of tartar, add one ounce of loaf sugar, and a bit of orange or lemon peel; put these into a jug, pour upon them a quart of boiling water; stir all together, and allow the beverage to become cold.

Hop Tea.

Pour a quart of boiling water upon half an ounce of hops, cover this over, and allow the infusion to stand for fifteen minutes; the tea must then be strained of into another jug. A small tea-cupful may be drunk fasting in the morning, which will create an appetite, and also strengthen the digestive organs.

Lime-flower Tea.

To half an ounce of lime-flowers, placed in a tea-pot or jug, pour a pint of boiling water, and when the infusion has stood for ten minutes, sweeten with honey or sugar, and drink the tea hot, to assuage the pains in the stomach and chest, arising from indigestion. This beverage may also be successfully administered in attacks of hysteria.

Hyssop Tea: a Remedy for Worms.

To a quarter of an ounce of dried hyssop flowers, pour one pint of boiling water; allow the tea to infuse for ten minutes, pour it off, sweeten with honey, and take a wine-glassful three times in the course of the day; this will prove an effectual cure when children are troubled with worms.

Antispasmodic Tea.

Infuse two-pennyworth of hay saffron (sold at all chemists’) in a gill of boiling water in a tea-cup for ten minutes; add a dessert-spoonful of brandy, and sugar to sweeten, and drink the tea hot. This powerful yet harmless remedy will quickly relieve you from spasmodic pains occasioned by indigestion.

Dandelion Tea.

Infuse one ounce of dandelion in a jug with a pint of boiling water for fifteen minutes; sweeten with brown sugar or honey, and drink several tea-cupfuls during the day. The use of this tea is recommended as a safe remedy in all bilious affections; it is also an excellent beverage for persons afflicted with dropsy.

Refreshing Drink for Sore Throat attended with Fever.

Boil two ounces of barberries with half an ounce of violets in a quart of water for ten minutes; sweeten with honey, strain off into a jug, and drink several glasses during the day.

How to make Coffee.

Mix one ounce of ground coffee in a clean pot with a pint of cold water, stir this on the fire till it boils, then throw in a very little more cold water, and after allowing the coffee to boil up twice more, set it aside to settle, and become clear and bright. The dregs saved from twice making, added to half the quantity of fresh coffee, will do for the children. It is best to make your coffee over-night, as it has then plenty of time to settle. If, as I recommend, you grind your coffee at home, you will find Nye’s machines very good.

How to Prepare Cocoa Nibs.

Boil gently two ounces of cocoa nibs in three pints of water for two hours and a-half, without allowing it to reduce more than one-third; that is, the three pints should be boiled down to one quart. When sufficiently boiled, strain the cocoa from the nibs, mix it with equal proportions of milk, and sweeten with sugar. Two ounces of cocoa nibs cost a penny three-farthings, one quart of skim milk twopence (in the country one penny), two ounces of moist sugar three-farthings; thus, for about fourpence halfpenny, you may prepare sufficient cocoa for the breakfasts of four persons. This would be much wholesomer and cheaper than tea. To be sure, it would take some trouble and care to prepare it, and this should be attended to over-night.

Egg-hot.

Put a pint of beer on the fire to warm, break an egg into a jug, add a table-spoonful of sugar and some grated nutmeg or ginger; beat all together with a fork for three minutes; then add a drop of the beer, stir well together, and pour the remainder of the hot beer to this, and continue pouring the egg-hot out of the warming-pot into the jug for two minutes, when it will be well mixed and ready to drink.

MODERN COOKERY FOR PRIVATE FAMILIES (New Edition) by ELIZA ACTON [1882]

MAI TRANK (MAY-DRINK).

(German.)

Put into a large deep jug one pint of light white wine to two of red, and dissolve in it sufficient sugar to sweeten it agreeably. Wipe a sound China orange, cut it in rather thick slices, without paring it, and add it to the wine; then throw in some small bunches or faggots of the fragrant little plant called woodruff; cover the jug closely to exclude the air and leave it until the following day.

Serve it to all May-day visitors.

One orange will be sufficient for three pints of wine. The woodruff should be washed and well drained before it is thrown into the jug; and the quantity of it used should not be very large, or the flavour of the beverage will be rather injured than improved by it. We have tried this receipt on a small scale with lemon-rind instead of oranges, and the mixture was very agreeable. Rhenish wine should properly be used for it; but this is expensive in England.

The woodruff is more odorous when dried gradually in the shade than when it is fresh gathered, and imparts a pleasant fragrance to linen, as lavender does. It grows wild in Kent, Surrey, and other parts of England, and flourishes in many suburban gardens in the neighbourhood of London.

CHERRY-BRANDY. (Tappington Everard Receipt.)

Fill to about two-thirds of their depth, some wide-necked bottles with the small cherries called in the markets brandy-blacks; pour in 580sufficient sifted sugar to fill up more than half of the remaining space, and then as much good French brandy as will cover the fruit, and reach to the necks of the bottles. Cork them securely, and let them stand for two months before they are opened: the liqueur poured from the cherries will be excellent, and the fruit itself very good. The morella cherry-brandy of the preceding chapter would often be preferred to this.

OXFORD PUNCH.

Extract the essence from the rinds of three lemons by rubbing them with sugar in lumps; put these into a large jug with the peel of two Seville oranges, of two lemons cut extremely thin, the juice of four Seville oranges and of ten lemons, and six glasses of calf’s feet jelly in a liquid state. Stir these well together, pour to them two quarts of boiling water, cover the jug closely, and set it near the fire for a quarter of an hour, then strain the mixture through a sieve into a punch bowl or jug, sweeten it with a bottle of capillaire, add half a pint of white wine, a pint of French brandy, a pint of Jamaica rum, and a bottle of orange shrub; stir the punch as the spirit is poured in. If not sufficiently sweet, add sugar in small quantities, or a spoonful or two of capillaire.

Rinds of lemons rubbed with sugar, 3; thin peel of lemons, 2; of Seville oranges, 2; juice of 4 Seville oranges, and 10 lemons; calf’s feet jelly, 6 glasses; water, 2 quarts: 1/4 hour. Capillaire, 1 bottle; white wine, 1/2 pint; French brandy and Jamaica rum, each 1 pint; orange shrub, 1 bottle.

OXFORD RECEIPT FOR BISHOP.

“Make several incisions in the rind of a lemon, stick cloves in these, and roast the lemon by a slow fire. Put small but equal quantities of cinnamon, cloves, mace, and allspice, with a race of ginger, into a saucepan with half a pint of water: let it boil until it is reduced one-half. Boil one bottle of port wine, burn a portion of the spirit out of it by applying a lighted paper to the saucepan; put the roasted lemon and spice into the wine; stir it up well, and let it stand near the fire ten minutes. Rub a few knobs of sugar on the rind of a lemon, put the sugar into a bowl or jug, with the juice of half a lemon (not roasted), pour the wine into it, grate in some nutmeg, sweeten it to the taste, and serve it up with the lemon and spice floating in it.”

Obs.—Bishop is frequently made with a Seville orange stuck with cloves and slowly roasted, and its flavour to many tastes is infinitely finer than that of the lemon.

CAMBRIDGE MILK PUNCH.

Throw into two quarts of new milk the very thinly-pared rind of a fine lemon, and half a pound of good sugar in lumps; bring it slowly to boil, take out the lemon-rind, draw it from the fire, and stir quickly in a couple of well-whisked eggs which have been mixed with less than half a pint of cold milk, and strained though a sieve; the milk must not of course be allowed to boil after these are mixed with it. Add gradually a pint of rum, and half a pint of brandy; mill the punch to a froth, and serve it immediately with quite warm glasses. At the University the lemon-rind is usually omitted, but it is a great improvement to the flavour of the beverage. The sugar and spirit can be otherwise apportioned to the taste; and we would recommend the yolks of three eggs, or of four, in preference to the two whole ones.

New milk, 2 quarts; rind, 1 large lemon; fresh eggs, 2; cold milk, 1/2 pint; rum, 1 pint; brandy, 1/2 pint.

TO MULL WINE.

(An excellent French Receipt.)

Boil in a wineglassful and a half of water, a quarter of an ounce of spice (cinnamon, ginger slightly bruised, and cloves), with three ounces of fine sugar, until they form a thick syrup, which must not on any account be allowed to burn. Pour in a pint of port wine, and stir it gently until it is on the point of boiling only: it should then be served immediately. The addition of a strip or two of orange-rind cut extremely thin, gives to this beverage the flavour of bishop. In France light claret takes the place of port wine in making it, and the better kinds of vin ordinaire are very palatable thus prepared.

Water, 1-1/2 wineglassful; spice, 1/4 oz., of which fine cloves, 24, and of remainder, rather more ginger than cinnamon; sugar 3 oz.: 15 to 20 minutes. Port wine or claret, 1 pint; orange-rind, if used, to be boiled with the spice.

Obs.—Sherry, or very fine raisin or ginger wine, prepared as above, and stirred hot to the yolks of four fresh eggs, will make good egg-wine.

A BIRTHDAY SYLLABUB.

Put into a large bowl half a pound of sugar broken small, and pour on it the strained juice of a couple of fresh lemons; stir these well together, and add to them a pint of port wine, a pint of sherry, and half a pint of brandy; grate in a fine nutmeg, place the bowl under the cow, and milk it full. In serving it put a portion of the curd into each glass, fill it up with whey, and pour a little rich cream on the top. The rind of a lemon may be rasped on part of the sugar when the flavour is liked, but it is not usually added.

Juice of lemons, 2; sugar, 1/2 lb. or more; port wine, 1 pint; sherry 1 pint; brandy, 1/2 pint; nutmeg, 1; milk from the cow, 2 quarts.

Obs.—We can testify to the excellence of this receipt.

AN ADMIRABLE COOL CUP.

Weigh six ounces of sugar in lumps, and extract the essence from the rind of a large fresh lemon by rubbing them upon it; then put them into a deep jug, and add the strained juice of one lemon and a half. When the sugar is dissolved, pour in a bottle of good cider, and three large wineglassesful of sherry; add nearly half a small nutmeg lightly grated, and serve the cup with or without some sprigs of fresh balm or borage in it. Brandy is sometimes added to it, but is, we think, no improvement. If closely covered down, and placed on ice for a short time, it will be more agreeable as a summer beverage.

THE REGENT’S, OR GEORGE THE FOURTH’S, PUNCH.

Pare as thin as possible the rinds of two China oranges, of two lemons, and of one Seville orange, and infuse them for an hour in half a pint of thin cold syrup; then add to them the juice of the fruit. Make a pint of strong green tea, sweeten it well with fine sugar, and when it is quite cold, add it to the fruit and syrup, with a glass of the best old Jamaica rum, a glass of brandy, one of arrack, one of pine-apple syrup, and two bottles of champagne; pass the whole through a fine lawn sieve until it is perfectly clear, then bottle, and put it into ice until dinner is served. We are indebted for this receipt to a person who made the punch daily for the prince’s table, at Carlton palace, for six months; it has been in our possession some years, and may be relied on.

Rinds and juice of 2 China oranges, 2 lemons, and of 1 Seville orange; syrup, 1/2 pint; strong green tea, sweetened, 1 pint; best old Jamaica rum, arrack, French brandy (vieux cognac), and pine-apple syrup, each 1 glassful; champagne, 2 bottles. In ice for a couple of hours.

MINT JULEP, AN AMERICAN RECEIPT.

“Strip the tender leaves of mint into a tumbler, and add to them as much wine, brandy, or any other spirit, as you wish to take. Put some pounded ice into a second tumbler; pour this on the mint and brandy, and continue to pour the mixture from one tumbler to the other until the whole is sufficiently impregnated with the flavour of the mint, which is extracted by the particles of the ice coming into brisk contact when changed from one vessel to the other. Now place the glass in a larger one, containing pounded ice: on taking it out of which it will be covered with frost-work.”

Obs.—We apprehend that this preparation is, like most other iced American beverages, to be imbibed through a reed: the receipt, which was contributed by an American gentleman, is somewhat vague.

DELICIOUS MILK LEMONADE.

Dissolve six ounces of loaf sugar in a pint of boiling water, and mix with them a quarter of a pint of lemon-juice, and the same quantity of sherry; then add three-quarters of a pint of cold milk, stir the whole well together, and pass it through a jelly-bag till clear.

EXCELLENT PORTABLE LEMONADE.

Rasp, with a quarter-pound of sugar, the rind of a very fine juicy lemon, reduce it to powder, and pour on it the strained juice of the fruit. Press the mixture into a jar, and when wanted for use dissolve a tablespoonful of it in a glass of water. It will keep a considerable time. If too sweet for the taste of the drinker, a very small portion of citric acid may be added when it is taken.

EXCELLENT BARLEY WATER. (Poor Xury’s receipt.)

Wipe very clean, by rolling it in a soft cloth, two tablespoonsful of pearl barley; put it into a quart jug, with a lump or two of sugar, a grain or two of salt, and a strip of lemon-peel, cut thin; fill up the jug with boiling water and keep the mixture gently stirred for some minutes; then cover it down, and let it stand until perfectly cold. In twelve hours, or less, it will be fit for use; but it is better when made over night. If these directions be followed, the barley-water will be comparatively clear, and very soft and pleasant to drink.

A glass of calf’s feet jelly added to the barley is an infinite improvement; but as lemon-rind is often extremely unpalatable to invalids, their taste should be consulted before that ingredient is added, as it should be also for the degree of sweetness that is desired. After the barley-water has been poured off once, the jug may be filled with boiling water a second time, and even a third time with advantage.

RAISIN WINE, WHICH, IF LONG KEPT, REALLY RESEMBLES FOREIGN.

First boil the water which is to be used for the wine, and let it again become perfectly cold; then put into a sound sweet cask eight pounds of fine Malaga raisins for each gallon that is to be used, taking out only the quite large stalks; the fruit and water may be put in alternately until the cask is full, the raisins being well pressed down in it; lay the bung lightly over, stir the wine every day or two, and keep it full by the addition of water that has, like the first, been boiled, but which must always be quite cold when it is used.

So soon as the fermentation has entirely ceased, which may be in from six to seven weeks, press in the bung, and leave the wine untouched for twelve months; draw it off then into a clean cask, and fine it, if necessary, with isinglass, tied in a muslin and suspended in it. We have not ourselves had this receipt tried; but we have tasted wine made by it which had been five years kept, and which so much resembled a rich foreign wine that we could with difficulty believe it was English-made.

To each gallon of water (boiled and left till cold) 8 lbs. of fine Malaga raisins; to stand 12 months; then to be drawn off and fined.

Obs.—The refuse raisins make admirable vinegar if fresh water be poured to them, and the cask placed in the sun. March is the best time for making the wine.

VERY GOOD ELDERBERRY WINE.

Strip the berries, which should be ripe and fresh, and gathered on a dry day, clean from the stalks, and measure them into a tub or large earthen pan. Pour boiling water on them, in the proportion of two gallons to three of berries, press them down into the liquor, cover them closely, and let them remain until the following day; then strain the juice from the fruit through a sieve or cloth, and, when this is done, squeeze from the berries the greater part of the remaining juice; mix it with that which was first poured off, measure the whole, add to it three pounds of sugar, three-quarters of an ounce of cloves, and one ounce of ginger, for every gallon, and boil it twenty minutes, keeping it thoroughly skimmed. Put it, when something more than milk-warm, into a perfectly dry and sweet cask (or if but a very small quantity of wine be made, into large stone bottles, which answer for the purpose quite well), fill this entirely, and pour very gently into the bung hole a large spoonful of new yeast mixed with a very small quantity of the wine.

VERY GOOD GINGER WINE.

Boil together, for half an hour, fourteen quarts of water, twelve pounds of sugar, a quarter of a pound of the best ginger bruised, and the thin rinds of six large lemons. Put the whole, when milk-warm, into a clean dry cask, with the juice of the lemons, and half a pound of sun raisins; add one large spoonful of thick yeast, and stir the wine every day for ten days. When it has ceased to ferment, add an ounce of isinglass, and a pint of brandy; bung the wine close, and in two months it will be fit to bottle, but must remain longer in the cask should it be too sweet. When it can be obtained, substitute for the water in this receipt cider fresh from the press, which will give a very superior wine.

Water, 14 quarts; sugar, 12 pounds; lemon-rinds, 6: ginger, 1/4 lb.: 1/2 hour. Juice of lemons, 6; raisins, 1/2 lb.; yeast, 1 spoonful; isinglass, 1 oz.; brandy, 1 pint.

EXCELLENT ORANGE WINE.

Take half a chest of Seville oranges, pare off the rinds as thin as possible, put two-thirds of them into six gallons of water, and let them remain for twenty-four hours. Squeeze the oranges (which ought to yield seven or eight quarts of juice) through a sieve into a pan, and as they are done throw them into six gallons more of water; let them be washed well in it with the hands, and then put into another six gallons of water and left until the following day. For each gallon of wine, put into the cask three pounds and a quarter of loaf sugar, and the liquor strained clear from the rinds and pulp. Wash these again and again, should more liquor be required to fill the cask; but do not at any time add raw water. Stir the wine daily until the sugar is perfectly dissolved, and let it ferment from four to five weeks; add to it two bottles of brandy, stop it down, and in twelve months it will be fit to bottle.

Obs.—The excellence of all wine depends so much upon the fermentation being properly conducted, that unless the mode of regulating this be understood by the maker, there will always be great danger of failure in the operation. There is, we believe, an excellent work upon the subject by Mr. McCulloch, which the reader who needs information upon it will do well to consult: our own experience is too slight to enable us to multiply our receipts.

THE COUNSELLOR’S CUP.

Rub a quarter of a pound of sugar upon the rinds of two fine China oranges, put it into an enamelled stewpan, and pour on it a pint of water; let these boil gently for two or three minutes, then pour in half a pint of China orange-juice mixed with that of one lemon, and previously strained through muslin; the moment this begins to boil, pour it into a hot jug, and stir to it half a pint of the best Cognac brandy. Serve it immediately. When preferred cold, prepare the syrup with the juice of the fruit, cover it down in the jug, set it into ice, or into a very cool place, and add the spirit only just before the cup is wanted for table. Should the fruit be very acid, increase the proportion of sugar. A few slight strips of the 586rind of a Seville orange cut very thin, would to many tastes be an agreeable addition to the beverage; which should be made always with fresh sound fruit.

Sugar, 4 oz. (6 if needed); rasped rinds of China oranges, 2; water, 1 pint: 3 minutes. Strained juice of China oranges mixed with that of 1 large lemon, 1/2 pint; best Cognac brandy, 1/2 pint.

Obs.—For a large cup these proportions must be doubled. Sherry or Madeira substituted for the brandy, will make a pleasant cool cup of this kind; and equal parts of well made lemonade, and of any good light white wine, thoroughly cooled down, will give another agreeable beverage for warm weather; but a much smaller proportion of wine would better adapt it to many tastes.

COFFEE.

There is no beverage which is held in more universal esteem than good coffee, and none in this country at least, which is obtained with greater difficulty (unless indeed it be purewine).

We hear constant and well-founded complaints both from foreigners and English people, of the wretched compounds so commonly served up here under its name, especially in many lodging houses, hotels, and railway refreshment rooms;[182] yet nothing can well be easier than to prepare it properly.

Some elaborate and various fanciful modes of making it have been suggested at different times by writers fond of novelty, but they have in general nothing to recommend them beyond the more simple processes which follow, and of which we believe the result will seldom prove unsatisfactory to our readers, unless it be to such of them as may have been accustomed to the spiced or other peculiar Oriental preparations of the fragrant berry, or simply to the exquisite quality of it, which would appear to be obtainable only in the East; or which, at all events, is beyond the reach of the mass of English consumers, and of their near Continental neighbours.

182.  At some of the principal stations on lines connected with the coast, by which an immense number of strangers pass and repass, the coffee is so bad, that great as the refreshment of it would be to them, particularly in night travelling, in very cold weather, they reject it as too nauseous to be swallowed.

A little national pride ought surely to prevent this, if no higher principle interfered to do so; for to exact the full price of a good commodity, and habitually to supply only trash for it, is a commercial disgrace.

TO ROAST COFFEE.

Patent Percolator, with Spirit Lamp.

Persons who drink coffee habitually, and who are very particular about its flavour and quality, should purchase the best kind in a raw state, keep it for two or three years if they are not certain that it has been so long harvested—as when new it is greatly inferior to that which has been kept—and have it roasted at home. This can be cheaply done in small quantities by means of the inexpensive apparatus shown above; the cost of it not exceeding seven or eight shillings, and the supply of charcoal needed for it being very trifling indeed; or, with that inserted below, which is larger and about double the price.

The cylinder which contains the coffee should be only half filled, and it should be turned rather slowly over the fire, which should never be fierce, until a strong aromatic smell is emitted; the movement should then be quickened, as the grain is in that case quite heated, and it will become too highly coloured before it is roasted through, if slowly finished. When it is of a fine, light, equal brown, which must be ascertained, until some little experience has been acquired, by sliding back the door of the cylinder, and looking at it occasionally towards the end of the process, spread it quickly upon a large dish, and throw a thickly folded cloth over it. Let it remain thus until it is quite cold; then put it immediately into canisters or bottles, and exclude the air carefully from it.

A FEW GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING COFFEE.

When good coffee is desired, let it be procured if possible of a first-rate London house[183] which can be depended on; and we would recommend that it should be of the finest quality that can be obtained; for there is no real economy in using that which is nominally cheaper, as a larger quantity will be required to give the same amount of strength, and the flavour will be very inferior. It should always be freshly roasted; but when a constant and large demand for it exists, it will be easy to have it so.

When it has been stored for any length of time it will be much freshened and improved by being gently heated through, either in the oven or in a stewpan held high above the fire. It should be often turned while it is warming, and ground as soon as it is cold again. 

Never purchase it ready ground unless compelled to do so. When no proper mill for it is fitted up in the house, a small portable one, which may be had at a trifling expense, will answer tolerably well for grinding it, though it cannot be used with quite the same facility as those which are fastened firmly to a wall; but whatever form of mill may be used it should be arranged so as to reduce the berries to a moderately fine powder; for if it be too coarse the essence will be only partially extracted from it by filtering; and if it be extremely fine the water will not percolate through it, and it will not be clear.

183.  We could indicate several houses where unadulterated coffee may be procured, but it is not always to be had from them so choice in quality as it might be; and it is in general too highly roasted. By far the finest we have ever tasted we had on two occasions, some years since, from Mr. Cobbett, of Pall Mall. The fragrance of it was too remarkable to be easily forgotten, and the flavour was exquisite; but it was apparently an accidental sample which he had met with in the market, for though very good, that with which we were supplied afterwards never equalled it.

Messrs. Staniforth and Co., 138, Oxford-street, are deservedly noted for the excellence of their coffee. It is always ground at the instant of serving it to a customer; and they have the complaisance of roasting even so small a quantity as two pounds, to suit the taste of the purchaser: it may therefore be procured of them as pale-dried as it can be wished.

The house of Messrs. Decastro and Peach, next door to Hatchett’s Hotel, Piccadilly, may likewise, we think, be quite depended on for supplying genuine coffee to the public; and they have an immense demand for it.

We say nothing about mingling chicory with it. Our directions are for making pure coffee; which, when not taken in excess, is, we believe, a wholesome as well as a most agreeable beverage. The effect of chicory is, we believe, to impart a slight bitter flavour to the infusion, and to deepen its colour so much as to make it appear much stronger than it really is. True connoisseurs, however, do not attach any importance to the dark hue of coffee, the very choicest that can be tasted being sometimes of quite a pale tint.

Always serve hot milk or cream, or hot milk and cold cream, if preferred, with breakfast coffee. In the evening, when milk is served at all with it, it should likewise be boiling.

Do not, in any way, make use of the residue of one day’s coffee in preparing that of the next; you would but injure the purity of its flavour by doing so, and effect next to nothing in the matter of economy.[184]

184.  When the coffee has been filtered in a proper manner, water poured afterwards on the “grounds” as they are termed, will have scarcely any taste or colour; this is not the case when it has been boiled.

EXCELLENT BREAKFAST COFFEE.

A simple, well-made English filter, or percolator, as it is called, will answer perfectly for making coffee; but from amongst the many of more recent invention which are on sale, the reader who prefers one of ornamental appearance, and of novel construction, will easily be suited. The size of the filter must be adapted to the number of persons for whom the coffee is to be prepared; for if a large quantity of the powder be heaped into an insufficient space for it, there will not be room for it to swell, and the water will not pass through.

Put three ounces of coffee into one which will contain in the lower compartment two pints and a half; shake the powder quite level and press it closely down; remove the presser, put on the top strainer, and pour round and round, so as to wet the coffee equally, about the third part of a measured pint of fast boiling water. Let this drain quite through before more is added; then pour in—still quite boiling—in the same manner as much more water, and when it has passed through, add the remainder; let it drain entirely through, then remove the top of the filter, put the cover on the part which contains the coffee, and serve it immediately. It will be very strong, and perfectly clear. Fill the breakfast cups two parts full of new boiling milk, and add as much of the infusion as will give it the degree of strength which is agreeable to those for whom it is prepared. When it is liked extremely strong, the proportion of milk must be diminished, or less water be poured to the coffee.

If nearly an additional half pint of water be added before the top of the percolator is taken off, it will still be very good, provided that the coffee used be really of first-rate quality.

To make cheaper breakfast coffee to be served in the usual English mode, the same process should be followed, but the proportion of water must be considerably increased: it should always, however, be added by slow degrees.

Good breakfast coffee (for three persons). Best Mocha, in moderately fine powder, ground at the instant of using it, 3 oz.; boiling water added by degrees, 1 pint; (more at pleasure). Boiling milk served with it, 1-1/2 pint to 1 quart. Common English coffee: coffee-powder, 3 oz.; water, 1 quart, to be slowly filtered; hot milk, half to whole pint. Cream in addition to either of the above, at choice.

TO BOIL COFFEE.

To boil coffee and refine it, put the necessary quantity of water into a pot which it will not fill by some inches; when it boils stir in the coffee; for unless this be at once moistened, it will remain on the top and be liable to fly over.

Give it one or two strong boils, then raise it from the fire, and simmer it for ten minutes only; pour out a large cupful twice, hold it high over the coffee pot and pour it in again, then set it on the stove where it will keep hot without simmering or moving in the least, for ten minutes longer. It will be perfectly clear, unless mismanaged, without any other fining.

Should more, however, be deemed necessary, a very small pinch of isinglass, or a clean egg-shell, with a little of the white adhering to it, is the best that can be used. Never use mustard to fine coffee with. It is a barbarous custom of which we have heard foreigners who have been in England vehemently complain.

Coffee, 2 oz.; water, 1 pint to 1 quart, according to the strength required. Boiled 10 minutes; left to clear 10 minutes.

Remark.—Filtering is, we should say, a far more economical, and in every way a superior mode of making coffee to boiling it; but as some persons still prefer the old method, we insert the receipt for it.

CAFÉ NOIR.

This is the very essence of coffee, and is served in nearly all French families, as well in those of many other countries, immediately after the rice-crust. About two-thirds of a small cupful—not more—sweetened almost to syrup with highly refined sugar in lumps, is usually taken by each person; in families of moderate rank, generally before they leave the table; in more refined life, it is served in the drawing-room the instant dinner is ended; commonly with liqueurs after it, but not invariably.

To make it, proceed exactly as for the breakfast-coffee, but add only so much water as is required to make the strongest possible infusion. White sugar-candy in powder may be served with it in addition to the sugar in lumps.

BURNT COFFEE, OR COFFEE À LA MILITAIRE. (In France vulgarly called Gloria.)

Make some coffee as strong and as clear as possible, sweeten it in the cup with white sugar almost to syrup, then pour the brandy on the top gently over a spoon, set fire to it with a lighted paper, and when the spirit is in part consumed, blow out the flame, and drink the gloria quite hot.

TO MAKE CHOCOLATE.

An ounce of chocolate, if good, will be sufficient for one person. Rasp, and then boil it from five to ten minutes with about four tablespoonsful of water; when it is extremely smooth add nearly a pint of new milk, give it another boil, stir it well, or mill it, and serve it directly. For water-chocolate use three-quarters of a pint of water instead of the milk, and send rich hot cream to table with it. The taste must decide whether it shall be made thicker or thinner.

Chocolate, 2 oz.; water, quarter-pint, or rather more; milk, 1-3/4: 1/2 minute.

Obs.—The general reader will understand the use of the chocolate-mill shown in the engraving with the pot; but to the uninitiated it may be as well to observe, that it is worked quickly round between both hands to give a fine froth to the chocolate. It also serves in lieu of a whisk for working creams, or jellies, to a froth or whip.

A SPANISH RECIPE FOR MAKING AND SERVING CHOCOLATE.

Take of the best chocolate an ounce for each person, and half a pint of cold water; rasp or break it small in a mortar, set it over a slow fire, and stir or mill it gently until it has become quite smooth like custard; pour it immediately into deep cups, and serve it with a glass of sugar and water, or with iced water only[185] to each cup; and with plates of very delicate dried toast cut in narrow strips, or with the cakes called “ladies’ fingers.” Should the chocolate appear too thick, a little water must be added. Milk is sometimes substituted for it altogether.

185.  Sometimes with a water ice, which should be of an appropriate character.

TO MAKE COCOA.

Directions for making it are usually sold with the prepared, or best quality of cocoa, which is merely mixed with boiling water in the proportions indicated on the packets. That which is prepared from the nibs requires several hours’ boiling, and should be left until it is quite cold, that the oil which will be found on the surface may be cleared from it before it is again heated for table: this is particularly needful when it is to be served to persons in delicate health.

THE LADY’S OWN COOKERY BOOK, AND NEW DINNER-TABLE DIRECTORY; [1844]

Coffee, to roast.

For this purpose you must have a roaster with a spit. Put in no more coffee than will have room enough to work about well. Set it down to a good fire; put in every now and then a little fresh butter, and mix it well with a spoon. It will take five or six hours to roast. When done, turn it out into a large dish or a dripping-pan, till it is quite dry.

Another way.

Take two pounds of coffee, and put it into a roaster. Roast it one hour before a brisk fire; add two ounces of butter, and let it roast till it becomes of a fine brown. Watch, that it does not burn. Two hours and a half will do it. Take half a pound for eight cups.

Coffee to make the foreign way.

Take Demarara—Bean Dutch coffee—in preference to Mocha coffee; wash it well. When it is very clean, put it in an earthen vessel, and cover it close, taking great care that no air gets to it; then grind it very thoroughly. Put a good half pint of coffee into a large coffee-pot, that holds three quarts, with a large table-spoonful of mustard; then pour upon it boiling water. It is of great consequence that the water should boil; but do not fill the coffee-pot too full, for fear of its boiling over, and losing the aromatic oil. Then pour the whole contents backwards and forwards several times into a clean cup or basin, wiping the basin or cup each time—this will clear it sufficiently. Let it then stand ten minutes, after which, when cool, pour it clear off the grounds steadily, into clean bottles, and lay them down on their sides, well corked. Do not throw away your coffee grounds, but add another table-spoonful of mustard to them, and fill up the vessel with boiling water, doing as before directed. Be sure to cork the bottles well; lay them down on one side, and before you want to use them set them up for a couple of hours, in case any sediment should remain. Let it come to the boil, always taking care that it is neither smoked nor boils over. All coffee should be kept on a lamp while you are using it.

By following this receipt as much coffee will be obtained for threepence as you would otherwise get for a shilling; and it is the best possible coffee.

Lemon Caudle.

Take a pint of water, the juice of two lemons, the rind of half a lemon pared as thin as possible from the white, a blade of mace, and some bread shred very small; sweeten to your taste. Set the whole on the fire to boil; when boiled enough, which you will perceive by the bread being soft, beat three or four eggs well together till they are as thin as water; then take a little out of the skillet and put to the eggs, and so proceed till the eggs are hot; then put them to the rest, stirring well to prevent curdling.

Cocoa.

Take three table-spoonfuls of cocoa and one dessert spoonful of flour; beat them well together, and boil in a pint and a half of spring water, upon a slow fire, for two or three hours, and then strain it for use.

Gloucester Jelly.

Of rice, sago, pearl barley, candied eringo root, of each one ounce; add two quarts of water; simmer it over the fire till it is reduced to one quart; strain it. This will produce a strong jelly; a little to be dissolved in white wine or warm milk, and to be taken three or four times a day.

Another way.

Pearl barley, whole rice, sago, and candied eringo root, of each one ounce, and half an ounce of hartshorn shavings, put into two quarts of spring water; simmer very gently till reduced to one quart, and then rub it through a fine sieve. Half a coffee-cup to be taken with an equal quantity of milk in a morning fasting, and lie an hour after it, and to be taken twice more in the day. You may then put a small quantity of wine or brandy instead of milk.

Restorative Jelly.

Take two pounds of knuckle of veal and a pound and a half of lean beef; set it over the fire with four pints of water; cover it close, and stew it till reduced to half. While stewing, put in half an ounce of fine isinglass, picked small, a little salt, and mace. Strain it off clear, and when cold take off every particle of fat. Warm it in hot water, and not in a pan. Take a tea-cupful twice a day.

Posset.

Take a quart of white wine and a quart of water; boil whole spice in them; then take twelve eggs, and put away half the whites; beat them very well, and take the wine from the fire; then put your eggs, being thoroughly beaten, to the wine. Stir the whole together; then set it on a very slow fire, stirring it the whole time, till it is thick. Sweeten it with sugar, and sprinkle on it beaten spice, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Another way, richer.

Take two quarts of cream, and boil it with whole spice; then take twelve eggs, well beaten and strained; take the cream from the fire, and stir in the eggs, and as much sugar as will sweeten it according to the taste of those who are to drink it; then a pint of wine, or more—sack, sherry, or Lisbon. Set it on the fire again, and let it stand awhile; then take a ladle, and raise it up gently from the bottom of the skillet you make it in, and break it as little as you can, and do so till you see that it is thick enough. Then put it into a basin with a ladle gently. If you do it too much or too quickly it will whey, and that is not good.

Sack Posset.

To twelve eggs, beaten very much, put a pint of sack, or any other strong rich white wine. Stir them well, that they may not curd; put to them three pints of cream and half a pound of fine sugar, stirring them well together. When hot over the fire, put the posset into a basin, and set it over a boiling pot of water until it is like a custard; then take it off, and, when it is cool enough to eat, serve it with beaten spice, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg, strewed over it very thick.

Sack Posset, without milk.

Take thirteen eggs; beat them very well, and, while they are beating, take a quart of sack, half a pound of fine sugar, and a pint of ale, and let them boil a very little while; then put the eggs to them, and stir them till they are hot. Take it from the fire, and keep it stirring awhile; then put it into a fit basin, and cover it close with a dish. Set it over the fire again till it rises to a curd; serve it with beaten spice.

Sack Posset, or Jelly.

Take three pints of good cream and three quarters of a pound of fine sugar pounded, twenty eggs, leaving out eight of the whites; beat them very well and light. Add to them rather more than a pint of sack; beat them again well; then set it on a stove; make it so hot that you can just endure your finger at the bottom of the pan, and not hotter; stir it all one way; put the cream on the fire just to boil up, and be ready at the time the sack is so. Boil in it a blade of mace, and put it boiling hot to the eggs and sack, which is to be only scalding hot. When the cream is put in, just stir it round twice; take it off the fire; cover it up close when it is put into the mould or dish you intend it for, and it will jelly. Pour the cream to the eggs, holding it as high from them as possible.

The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined By John Mollard, Cook, [1802]

Milk Punch.

To a gallon of milk add a little cinnamon, cloves, mace, lemon and orange peel, a pint of brandy, a pint of rum, plenty of orange and lemon juice, and sweeten to the palate. Then whisk with it the yolks and whites of eight eggs, put it over a brisk fire, and when it boils let it simmer ten minutes; run it through a jelly bag till quite clear, put it into bottles, and cork it close.

N. B. The rum and brandy should be added when the milk is cleared.

Lemonade or Orangeade.

To a gallon of spring water add some cinnamon and cloves, plenty of orange and lemon juices, with a bit of each peel; sweeten well with loaf sugar, and whisk with it the whites of six eggs and one yolk. Put it over a brisk fire, and when it boils let it simmer ten minutes; then run it through a jelly bag, and let it stand till cold before it is drunk. This mode is recommended, the liquor having been boiled.

The Country Housewife and Lady’s Director in the Management of a House, and the Delights and Profits of a Farm, by Richard Bradley [1727]

To make Mead, from Lady G.

Take eight Gallons of Water, and as much Honey as will make it bear an Egg; add to this the Rind of six Lemmons, and boil it well, scumming it carefully as it rises. When ’tis off the Fire, put to it the Juice of the six Lemmons, and pour it into a clean Tub, or open earthen Vessel, if you have one large enough, to work three Days; then scum it well, and pour off the clear into the Cask, and let it stand open till it has done making a hissing Noise; after which, stop it up close, and in three Months time it will be fine, and fit for bottling.

To make Hydromel, or Mead.

Take eight Gallons of Water, and as much Honey as will make the Water bear an Egg; put to this a quarter of a pound of Cloves tied in three or four pieces of Muslin or Linnen Cloth, and set it to boil till the Scum has done rising, scumming it as it rises; then take it off the Fire, and take out the Cloves, which may be wash’d and dry’d for other Uses, and pour your Mead into an open Tub to ferment for about three days, till the Violence of the Working is over; after which, scum it very well, and pour the clear into a Vessel, leaving the Bung open till it has done hissing, which you may know by holding your Ear close to it, for at a distance you can hardly discover it. When this hissing is over, stop it close, and let it stand three Months till it is fine, before you bottle it; remember in bottling this, as well as all other Liquors, that the Bottles must be clean, and perfectly dry, and that every Bottle be well cork’d. This will keep good several Years.

Besides this way of making Mead, there is another which I have approved to be very good, which, in all particulars, except the Water, is the same with this; and instead of the Water, put the like Quantity of small Ale-Wort, brew’d with pale Malt: but this will require less Honey than the former, and will require more time in the Vessel before it is fine and fit to bottle; but it will last many Years good, and will drink like Cyprus Wine when it is a Year old. In this Liquor, take particular care that your Cloves are fresh and sound, for else you must add a Quantity in proportion.

N.B. We may make these Meads in the Spring of the Year, as well as at this Season; only the advantage of making it now, is, that you have an opportunity of washing the Honey-Combs after the Honey is run off, and thereby will save Expence in Honey.

The Queen-like Closet or Rich Cabinet by Hannah Woolley Stored with all manner of RARE RECEIPTS For Preserving, Candying and Cookery. Very Pleasant and Beneficial to all Ingenious Persons of the FEMALE SEX. [1670] 2nd Edition

To make the Cordial Orange-Water.

Take one dozen and a half of the highest coloured and thick rin’d Oranges, slice them thin, and put them into two Pints of Malago Sack, and one Pint of the best Brandy, of Cinamon, Nutmegs, Ginger, Cloves, and Mace, of each one quarter of an Ounce bruised, of Spear-mint and Balm one handful of each, put them into an ordinary Still all night, pasted up with Rye Paste; the next day draw them with a slow fire, and keep a wet Cloth upon the Neck of the Still; put in some Loaf Sugar into the Glass where it dropeth.

To make Spirit of Oranges or of Limons.

Take of the thickest rin’d Oranges or Limons, and chip off the Rinds very thin, put these Chips into a Glass-bottle, and put in as many as the Glass will hold, then put in as much Malago Sack as the Glass will hold besides; stop the bottle close that no Air get in, and when you use it, take about half a spoonful in a Glass of Sack; it is very good for the Wind in the Stomach.

To make Limon Water.

Take twelve of the fairest Limons, slice them, and put them into two Pints of white Wine, and put to them of Cinamon and Galingale, of each, one quarter of an Ounce, of Red Rose Leaves, Burrage and Bugloss Flowers, of each one handful, of yellow Sanders one Dram, steep all these together 12 hours, then distil them gently in a Glass Still, put into the Glass where it droppeth, three Ounces of Sugar, and one Grain of Amber-Greece.

To make Rosemary Water.

Take a Quart of Sack or white Wine with as many Rosemary Flowers as will make it very thick, two Nutmegs, and two Races of Ginger sliced thin into it; let it infuse all night, then distil it in an ordinary Still as your other waters.

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