Baked or Boiled Arrowroot Pudding is a traditional British recipe (from the Victorian era) for a classic pudding of milk flavoured with lemon and nutmeg that's set with arowroot and baked in a shortcrust pastry case. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Baked or Boiled Arrowroot Pudding.
(click this button to prevent the screen from sleeping so Cook Mode is 'ON')
In Victorian times Arrowroot was a considered suitable for children and invalids. As a result it was made into a number of jellies (jellos) and puddings. This is a classic Victorian arrowroot baked pudding that's somewhat reminiscent of Elizabethan Quaking Pudding. This recipe is based on a classic recipe BAKED or BOILED ARROWROOT PUDDING from Mrs Beeton's 1861 Beeton's Book of Household Management.
Original Recipe
1240. INGREDIENTS - 2 tablespoonfuls of arrowroot, 1–1/2 pint of milk, 1 oz. of butter, the rind of 1/2 lemon, 2 heaped tablespoonfuls of moist sugar, a little grated nutmeg.
Mode.—Mix the arrowroot with as much cold milk as will make it into a smooth batter, moderately thick; put the remainder of the milk into a stewpan with the lemon-peel, and let it infuse for about 1/2 hour; when it boils, strain it gently to the batter, stirring it all the time to keep it smooth; then add the butter; beat this well in until thoroughly mixed, and sweeten with moist sugar. Put the mixture into a pie-dish, round which has been placed a border of paste, grate a little nutmeg over the top, and bake the pudding from 1 to 1–1/4 hour, in a moderate oven, or boil it the same length of time in a well-buttered basin. To enrich this pudding, stir to the other ingredients, just before it is put in the oven, 3 well-whisked eggs, and add a tablespoonful of brandy. For a nursery pudding, the addition of the latter ingredients will be found quite superfluous, as also the paste round the edge of the dish.
Time.—1 to 1–1/4 hour, baked or boiled. Average cost, 7d.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons. Seasonable at any time.
ARROWROOT.—In India, and in the colonies, by the process of rasping, they extract from a vegetable (Maranta arundinacea) a sediment nearly resembling tapioca. The grated pulp is sifted into a quantity of water, from which it is afterwards strained and dried, and the sediment thus produced is called arrowroot. Its qualities closely resemble those of tapioca.
Mix the arrowroot with an equal volume of cold milk to form a smooth paste. Add the remining milk and lemon zest to a pan and allow to simmer very gently for 20 minutes (so the lemon infuses) then bring to a boil. Transfer the arrowroot slurry to a heat-proof bowl and strain the milk into this, stirring all the while. Add the butter and beat into the mix before adding the sugar.
Pour the resultant mix into an oven-proof pie dish around which a border of shortcrust pastry has been placed. Grate nutmeg quite liberally over the top then either place in an oven pre-heated to 170°C (325°F/Gas Mark 3) and bake for 75 minutes or boil for the same length of time in a well-buttered basin.
The original recipe tells us that the pudding can be enriched by the addition of 3 well-whisked eggs and a generous tablespoon of brandy just before it's placed in the oven.
