Boston Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Take a box of shredded or granulated gelatin, 1/2 cup cold water, juice and rind of 1 lemon, 1/2 pint milk, and 1/2 cup sugar.
Soak the gelatin in 2 cups cold water until soft.
Make the mixture
Put the milk in a double boiler.
Set the double boiler on fire and boil.
Take the milk from the fire and add the gelatin.
Stir until the gelatin is dissolved, then set the mixture aside to cool.
Add the sugar and lemon to the cooled mixture and mix thoroughly.
Set and serve
Pour the mixture into a mould and set it aside to harden.
Serve with cream.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Gelatin (in the method)
- Sets the liquid mixture as it cools, giving it a firm, sliceable body.
- Milk (in the method)
- Provides richness and a creamy texture to the set dessert.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Adds sweetness that balances the tartness of the lemon.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and fresh aroma from its juice and rind.
The step that matters
Dissolving the gelatin fully. Gelatin must be completely dissolved in the warm milk before cooling. Undissolved granules do not set evenly, leaving grainy or weak spots in the finished dessert.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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