German Schpeischlitz is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic starter of a milk, butter, egg and cornflour dough flavoured with spices that's shaped into quenelles and poached in salted milk until cooked through. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: German Schpeischlitz.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of German Schpeischlitz that's derived from the chef, Charles Elmé Francatelli's 1861 volume, The Cook's Guide and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
Original Recipe
No. 355.—GERMAN SCHPEISCHLITZ.
Put about three gills of milk to boil with four ounces of butter in a stewpan, and as the milk rises, stir quickly into it six ounces of maize-f1our ; continue stirring the paste over the fire until it ceases to adhere to the sides of the stew pan ; it must then be removed from the fire, and three whole eggs, grated nutmeg, pepper and salt, a little sugar, and some chopped parsley are to be vigorously worked in with the paste.
Next, poach the schpeischlitz in boiling milk with a little salt, in the form of teaspoon quenelles ; they will be done in about ten minutes ; they must be drained Immediately, and tossed lightly in some fried bread crumbs, fried for the purpose of a light colour, and served quite hot, with either grated Gruere cheese, or else cinnamon-sugar, separately, to gratify different tastes. Different sorts of preserves are also fit accompaniments to this dish, which may thus be served either as a sweet in the second course, or as a savoury to be handed round between the courses of fish and entrées.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
420ml milk
120g butter
180g cornflour (cornstarch)
3 eggs
freshly-grated nutmeg, to taste
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
sugar, to taste
1 tsp parsley, chopped
Method:
Combine the milk and butter in a pan and bring to a boil. As soon as the milk rises quickly stir in he cornflour. Continue stirring the mixture vigourously over the fire until it stops adhering to the sides of the pan. Take off the heat and beat in the eggs, nutmeg, salt, black pepper, a little sugar and the parsley.
In the meantime, bring a pan of lightly-salted milk to a boil. For the schpeishlitz dough into quenelles with teaspoons, drop into the boiling milk and poach for about 10 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Toss with some breadcrumbs that have been fried golden brown in butter and serve hot accompanied by freshly-grated Gruyere cheese.
