Get the recipe: Lemon Posset.
I discovered in regards to the British recipe whereas working as a pastry prepare dinner in Paris. The primary time I used to be tasked with making it, I used to be nearly certain somebody was taking part in a trick on me. All I needed to do was boil cream and sugar, combine in some lemon juice, pour it into glasses and put these within the fridge? I attempted to query the chef, however he waved me away. Nervously, I made the recipe as instructed. I went again to examine on the possets just a few hours later. To my shock, they have been not liquid and had taken on the feel of a baked custard.
Later, I discovered extra about this chemical magic trick. Anybody who has made cheese is aware of that while you add acid to dairy, it begins to clump. The fats in heavy cream prevents the casein proteins within the dairy from forming curds, so it merely thickens. Sugar, dissolved into the cream earlier than the acid is added, encourages the cream to thicken evenly.
Posset recipes don’t fluctuate a lot, as a result of an excessive amount of sugar will throw the ratio of acid to dairy off. Including an excessive amount of sugar makes a very candy posset, however when you don’t add sufficient it’s going to style like cream that’s gone bitter. You may assume extra lemon juice would assist the posset set sooner, however lemon juice comprises numerous water, and that may really impede thickening.
In the present day’s posset bears solely a passing resemblance to these made of their heyday within the sixteenth century. Again then, possets have been heat, boozy drinks. “A well-made posset separated into three layers: a frothy cream known as the ‘grace’ floated on prime, a clean custard occupied the center tier and heat ale or spirits lay beneath,” writes Jeri Quinzio in “Dessert: A Story of Comfortable Endings.” Potters even made particular posset cups, which featured a ingesting spout so {that a} diner might sip the liquid on the backside whereas spooning out the cream and custard from above.
On this recipe, tailored from one I used after I labored in eating places, I counsel you add somewhat crème fraîche in with the heavy cream and sugar. It’s not essential, however I just like the density it provides the completed puddings. The longer you let the posset sit within the fridge, the firmer it will get. Numerous recipes counsel serving it with cookies, however I like my posset with contemporary, macerated or jammy berries on prime.
Get the recipe: Lemon Posset.
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