Over the last couple of days I have been sharing the suggested recipes for an October dinner party, which were on the month’s menu in my 1930’s Modern Practical Cookery. For dessert an apple meringue is served, perfect for a time when there’s still fruit gathered from apple trees. Of course these days we can have everything we want all year round – in the supermarkets there is no such things as seasons! In my other old cookery book from the same time, The National Mark Calendar of cooking apple meringue is on the December menu.
Here is Modern Practical Cookery’s version:
Apple Meringue
- 3 lbs cooking apples, peeled, cored, quartered, sliced
- 3 eggs, separated
- 3 tbsp castor sugar
- 1½ gills of water (1 gill = ¼ pint)
- 3 tbs granulated sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- a few glacé cherries
- stalks of angelica
- 2 oz glacé ginger, finely chopped
- 1 oz butter
- cream
- cook the apples in the water with the granulated sugar until tender then rub through a sieve
- add the ginger, zest, butter and well beaten egg yolks
- turn into oven-proof dish and cook gently for 20 mins, remove from oven and cool slighlty
- whisk the eg whites until stiff, gradually adding the castor sugar
- pipe the meringue onto the apple mixture and return to a cool oven to set and brown slightly
- serve cold, decorated with glacé cherries and stalks of angelica, accompanied by cream
Lois Elsden 