Aunty Audrey loved sweets and desserts., she definitely had a very sweet tooth! She cooked savoury items as well, for lunch or an early evening meal, but “puds” were her favourite to make and to eat. She wasn’t fond of meat particularly, she always liked it very well cooked and with out too much “bite” – my dad always secretly called her favourite dish of chicken in a creamy sauce “boiled baby”, because he preferred less bland, less soft, less “pappy” as he called it! When she went to her cookery class – for many. many years, she would cook what ever was on the syllabus, but no doubt she was excited and delighted when dessert was on the menu.
I have no idea when she made this, her typed out recipe has no date, only the title:
Creme Asphodèle
(no cooking)
3 Lemons (try two)
6 oz Castor sugar
3 Eggs (or can use 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks left over from the Almond Biscuit recipe)
1/2 oz Gelatine (i.e. one packet of Davis Sparkling Granulated Gelatine)
2 – 3 tablespoons of water
1. separate egg whites and yolks.
2. put egg yolks in mixing bowl, add sugar, whisk,
3. grate in rind of lemon. Add lemon juice and whisk until creamy and light
4. put gelatine in another basin, add 2 – 3 tbsp hot water, mix, stand in saucepan of hot water on stove and allow to melt
5. add gelatine to mixture in bowl, put in cool place until nearly set
6. stir once or twice while nearly setting to make sure the mixture is even
7. when the gelatine is nearly set, fold in whisked egg whites and mix well
(don’t add whisked egg whites if the mixture is set: ‘de-set’ by standing in bowl of warm water until necessary consistency is reached.)
8. put mixture in large mould or individual ones
Can decorate by sprinkling flaked drinking chocolate powder.
I can imagine her taking such care, and following the instructions precisely, and being very pleased with the resulting dessert. There is no date on this recipe, but no doubt if she made it after she was married (when she was forty-three) she and her husband would have both enjoyed it as a dessert after their lunch. Apparently this dessert is/was well known, and I found this: a classic French dessert recipe made with egg yolks, castor sugar, lemon zest and juice, dissolved gelatine, whipped egg whites, and double cream.
The internet also explains: asphodel plants are hardy herbaceous perennials with narrow grass-like leaves and an elongated stem bearing a handsome spike of white, pink, or yellow flowers. I’m sure Aunty Audrey didn’t know that “Asphodel Meadows or Asphodel Fields … are a section of the ancient Greek underworld where most ordinary souls are sent to live after death.”
My featured image shows six eggs, no doubt she would make this dessert for her famous Christmas parties in which case she would double the recipe.
