History Bakers: Baked Apple Pudding

For the first month of our newly re-launched Cookery Club, now aptly renamed History Bakers, I chose a recipe for Baked Apple Pudding from the University’s Hotham Collection. 

The recipe is contained within a bundle of other loose papers consisting of cookery, medicinal, veterinary and other household recipes collected by the Countess of Stradbroke and can be found at reference number U DDHO/19/5. The recipe dates from c. 1820.

As you can see from the original recipe (above), there is limited advice for the modern cook on the exact method of preparation. Consequently, I did some further research and found other contemporary recipes for Baked Apple Pudding online which helped when it came to the cooking!

For the apples, as no particular type was specified, I decided on Granny Smiths for their sharp taste and also because I discovered that cooking apples hadn’t been developed by 1820. The number of eggs in the original recipe also alarmed me a little but when looking at similar recipes it seemed that 6 eggs was the standard amount, so I decided to use just the 6 eggs and not add a further 3 whites. For the dish, having seen that the other recipes suggested serving in a ‘pastry dish’, I chose to bake some of the mixture in a pastry case and some in a normal glass dish. Having also needed to estimate the oven temperature I was pleasantly surprised when both turned out rather well!

All in all, I had a great time cooking the pudding even if there were a lot of fingers crossed hoping it would turn out ok! Please find my colleagues comments on the end result below with a more detailed recipe if you would like to have a go yourself.

Christine        “Lovely crisp pastry that goes well with the filling. The lemon and apples really do go well together! Scrummy!”

Laura             “Delicious! The texture of the apples with the zing of the lemon works well together, lovely pastry base. Yum!”

Judy               “Yum! The appley/lemony filling was really light and fluffy and creamy”

Pete               “Very good pudding”

Elspeth           “Delicious pastry. Loved the texture of the apple with the smoother filling –      scrummy!”

Martin             “Absolutely lovely. Nice contrast between the apple and the custard filling”

Elaine             “Really good, the lemon is very tasty – a strong flavour”

Paul                “Appley texture with a zingy tang! Nice!”

Caoimhe         “Delicious – very zesty”

Ingredients

12 middling sized apples

¼ lb butter

Juice and rind of 1 lemon

6 eggs

¼ lb sugar

(Pastry case)

1)   Peel and core the apples. Place them in a pan with a little water and stew until soft.

2)   Mix in the sugar, butter and lemon whilst the mixture is still hot and leave to cool.

3)   Once cold, stir in the eggs.

4)   When combined thoroughly, the mixture can be placed in a pastry case or glass dish, depending on preference.

5)   Place in a preheated oven at 175C for 40 mins or until the filling is solid and does not wobble!

6)    Enjoy warm or cold

If you would like to leave any comments, please find our comment section below or comment on our Facebook post.

Verity Minniti
Archive Assistant