White Melted Butter is a traditional British recipe, based on Eliza Acton's recipe of 1845, for a classic Victorian rich sauce of milk thickened with flour that's enriched with butter and which is served as a white sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: White Melted Butter.
(click this button to prevent the screen from sleeping so Cook Mode is 'ON')
This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Eliza Acton's 1845 volume Modern Cookery, the first classic Victorian cookbook.
Original Recipe
WHITE MELTED BUTTER.
Thicken half a pint of new milk with rather less flour than is directed for the common melted butter, or with a little arrowroot, and stir into it by degrees after it has boiled, a couple of ounces of fresh butter cut small; do not cease to stir the sauce until this is entirely dissolved, or it may become oiled, and float upon the top. Thin cream, substituted for the milk, and flavoured with a few strips of lemon-rind cut extremely thin, some salt, and a small quantity of pounded mace, if mixed with rather less flour, and the same proportion of butter, will make an excellent sauce to serve with fowls or other dishes, when no gravy is at hand to make white sauce in the usual way.
Modern Redaction
The melted butter sauce, typically simply known as 'melted butter' was the commonest Victorian sauce of all and which was served with every kind of fish, meat and vegetable dishes. The base sauce could be flavoured with lemon juice and lemon zest or with parsley, though the plain sauce (in one of its many incarnations) was by far the commonest. This is the sauce called for in any Victorian recipe calling for 'melted butter'. This is a classic twist where milk is thickened with flour and is enriched with butter. This is served as a white sauce.
Sift the flour into a bowl then add a little of the milk to make a smooth paste. Now whisk in the remaining milk and pour the mixture into a saucepan. Whilst stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, bring the mixture to a boil.
Add the butter, a small portion of the time and keep stirring constantly. When all the butter has been incorporated, take off the heat and keep stirring until the sauce is thick and glossy.
