Whip Sauce is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic dessert sauce of egg yolks, sugar and sherry flavoured with lemon that's whipped until smooth, frothy and set and which is typically served with plum puddings, such as Christmas pudding. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Whip Sauce.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Whip Sauce that's derived from the chef, Charles Elmé'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. 99.—WHIP SAUCE.
Put four yolks of eggs into a small deep stewpan; add two ounces of sifted sugar, a glass of sherry, a little lemon-juice and grated peel, and a grain of salt; whisk the sauce over a moderate heat, taking care to set the stewpan which contains the whip sauce in another of somewhat larger size already containing a little hot water,—say an inch—and as soon as it presents the appearance of a well-set creamy froth, pour it over a plum pudding, or any other kind of steamed pudding, such as cabinet, soufflé, semolina &c. Note.—This sauce may also be flavoured with all kinds of liqueurs, essences, and syrups of various kinds of fruits. When an essence, or merely orange or lemon sugar, it used for the purpose of flavouring, instead of wine or any other liquid, a glass of milk must be added, to compensate for its absence.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
4 egg yolks
60g powdered sugar, sieved
200ml sherry
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp freshly-grated lemon zest
pinch of sea salt
Method:
Set up a bain-marie (double boiler) over hot (but not boiling) water. Add the egg yolks, sugar, sherry, lemon juice, lemon zest and salt. Whisk the sauce over moderate heat until it becomes a well-set creamy froth.
Take off the heat and serve poured over steamed pudding. In Victorian times, this was the classic sauce to accompany plum puddings (Christmas puddings)
