Hawthorn Jelly

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 440

1 lb ripe hawthorn berries
1/2 pint, plus, water
(optional: red apple parings)
Sugar (see recipe for quantity)

1. NOTE: recipe can be easily adjusted to fit the quantity of fruit you have.
2. Wash the fruit. Simmer in the water until the fruit becomes soft. Mash them down often during the cooking.
3. When all the fruit is completely soft, hang in a jelly bag overnight to drip.
4. Measure the juice and for every pint of juice, add 1 lb of sugar.
5. Simmer slowly in a preserving pan until the sugar has dissolved completely, then bring to a rapid boil until the jelly sets (use the frozen plate test or candy thermometre).
6. Put in pots and preserve as usual.

Hawthorn Flower Liqueur

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 440

'The strong almond-scented may blossom makes a good liqueur. Gather the flowers when in full scent, using scissors, and taking the flower heads only, not the tiny stems. Pack them into a bottle with a wide mouth, shaking them down loosely, but do not bruise them or ram them in hard. Shade a very little crushed sugar candy over the flowers (2 Tbsps to a pint bottle would be ample). Fill up with brandy, and cork lightly. Put the bottle into full sunshine till warmed through, then store in a dark, warm cupboard, and shake it up and down gently, several times, during the first few weeks (so that the candy is evenly dissolved and distributed). After that, let it stand unmoved for at least three months. Decant very gently into a small flask and cork securely, sealing closely.'

My first attemp will be with two batches, one with brandy, one with vodka. Since brandy already has its own flavour, I'm curious to taste a liqueur that is only the flavoured with the hawthorn flower.

Egg-and-Apple Soufflé

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, p. 215

Dorothy is of the opinion that this is a holdover of the Anglo-Norman coffer pastries, which are like the cookie pie crust, but stretched over a mold and baked upside-down. Once baked, they are removed and the inside filled with ... whatever.

The serving suggestion is with "glass custard" which, as far as I can tell, is just baked custard. Here I'm suggesting a Crème Anglaise instead.

1-2 Tbsps melted butter
+ 4 Tbsps+ butter
1 lb baked apple, pulp of
1-2 Tbsps brown sugar
1 tsp finely diced lemon peel
4 egg whites
Pinch of salt
4-6 Tbsps sugar
1 tsp candied lemon zest (optional, for decoration)
Candied angelica (optional, for decoration)
1 recipe Crème Anglaise lightly flavoured with orange flower water or rose or elderflower water (the flavouring is in the aroma so a little goes a long way)

Blind-baked pie crust (not sure if it should be regular cookie-crust or try some sort of coffer-pastry type recipe - undecided)

'Butter the outside of a cake-tin (or baking jar) and cover with a thin short crust. Bake it upside-down, and when cool slip out the tin.' (BUT how to prevent the crust from shrinking?) 'Brush over the inside with melted butter. Have ready some baked apple pulp.

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F and bake cored apples each stuffed with 1 Tbsp butter (cinnamon?). Bake for about 15 minutes or until the apple is soft and fluffy.
2. Mix sugar, lemon peel and apple pulp together.
3. Dump into the pie shell to fill about half-way.
4. With the pinch of salt, whip the eggs whites into soft peaks. continue whipping and, only a Tbsps at-a-time, add the sugar and beat until the egg whites become glossy and stiff. Adding the sugar too quickly will knock out air from the whites.
5. Gently spread the meringue over the apple mash, making sure it firmly touches the pastry casing - this will prevent the meringue from shrinking away from the edges while baking.