Recipe: Queen of Puddings

What's in a name?

This week's recipe is a true British classic. Some old sources refer to it simply as Queen's Pudding while others use what I think is a better name: Queen of Puddings. Refer to the comments at the bottom of this post for my theory on why the latter is a better name.

Description

I like easy recipes. Modern recipe books seem to like to make things over-complicated. Perhaps their authors think they need to innovate to sell their book. Well I disagree. I believe simplicity is key. After all, that is what this blog is all about - preserving old British recipes.

Queen of Puddings is easy to make and uses very basic ingredients, but the result is very tasty. This recipe should provide four servings.

Ingredients

• 1 bag of Ruskoline Crumb Dressing (there are 2 bags in a pack - just use one of them). Ok, substitute half a cup of regular bread crumbs if you must; I suppose my business will recover eventually.
• 2 cups of milk
• 3 eggs
• Sugar
• Vanilla Essence
• Robertson's, Hartley's or Stute brand imported British jam (hey, come on I have to make a living you know)

Preparation

• Empty the Ruskoline into a large mixing bowl, boil the milk and pour over the Ruskoline
• Add a few drops of vanilla essence and some sugar. Stir, cover and leave for a few minutes
• Separate the eggs, beat the yolks and stir them into the Ruskoline/milk mixture
• Grease a baking dish, melt some jam and pour it into the dish
• Add the Ruskoline mix to the baking dish and place in an oven at 350F for 30 minutes
• Whisk the eggs whites with a little sugar until stiff peaks appear
• When the pudding has nearly finished baking remove it from the oven and spread the egg white meringue over the top of the pudding.
• Turn up the heat to 400F and bake until the tips of the meringue peaks start to turn brown
• Serve immediately to a grateful family who will worship you but expect the same quality of food for dinner every evening thereafter. You have been warned.

Blatant advertising:

And why not? You can buy the Ruskoline and the Jam at Blighty's Tuck Store but I'm afraid you'll have to mug a farmer for the milk and eggs.

All the best,
John Corby, Owner/Manager
Blighty's Tuck Store Inc
Orangeville, Ontario, Canada