Whitepot

Whitepot

The writer Gervase Markham, who died in 1637, was nothing if not prolific. He wrote poetry and plays, books containing instructions on how to catch birds and animals in order to provide food, translated works from other languages, and, umm… recipes.

In his book “The English Huswife” Markham wrote – or collected – various recipes, including this one which looks rather nicer than the rice pudding which I enjoyed at primary school.

Whitepot seems to be associated with Devon and South-West England, according to most writers, with various examples coming from sources such as the National Trust and websites such as The Old Foodie. Some versions add bread, rather than rice, making it an early version of a bread-and-butter pudding, but with this one, I’m sticking with rice, which was certainly in use in England at the time of Markham’s writing.

This version of his recipe is rather more precise than he was – so there are actual quantities, rather than his somewhat vague list including a “good store of sugar” and “clean picked rice, but not so much as to make it thick”. The comfits (think, if you’re of my generation, of the liquorice comfits we used to get in childhood sweet shops, except that these are made of nuts and more like the honey-roasted almonds one sees on street corners in winter) add a great crunch to the texture, and finish off the pudding really well.

What you'll need

  • 1 litre Single Cream
  • 6 Egg yolks
  • 120 grams Pudding rice
  • 150 grams Granulated sugar
  • 100 grams Currants
  • 0.5 teaspoon Rosewater
  • 1 pinch Sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons Caster sugar
  • 50 grams Whole almonds

About this recipe…

  • Region: Devon
  • Vegan? No
  • Vegetarian? Yes
  • Prep time:
  • Cooking time: 1 hour and 30 mins

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
  2. In a heavy bottomed, medium-sized saucepan heat the cream and let it simmer for 4 – 5 minutes on a low heat. Then, with a balloon whisk, mix in the rose water, cinnamon and salt, mixing until the cream has a frothy surface.
  3. Stop whisking, and simmer gently for another 4 minutes, then turn off the heat, and stir in the rice. Leave to cool, untouched, for 20 minutes.
  4. Whilst the mixture is cooling, use an electric whisk to beat the eggs and once they’re beginning to foam, whisk in the granulated sugar until it’s completely integrated into the eggs.
  5. Once the cream mixture is cool enough to avoid scrambling the eggs, slowly pour it into the eggs and sugar mixture, whisking constantly.
  6. Stir in the currants, and then decant the mixture into an oven-proof bowl.
  7. Bake for an hour, but every 20 minutes or so, stir gently to avoid the pudding sticking to the bowl. Before putting the bowl back in for the last 20 minutes, scatter the remaining granulated sugar over the surface to caramelize whilst the pudding finishes cooking.
  8. Whilst the pudding is cooking, make the comfits. First, toast the almonds in a dry pan over a medium heat. Once they’re golden, gather them together, and add the caster sugar to the pile stirring the nuts until they’re covered reasonably evenly.
  9. Once the sugar is melting, add the teaspoon of water, which will turn the sugar into a syrup. Ensure that the nuts are covered with the syrup, then transfer them to a plate, onto which you have put a square of non-stick greaseproof paper.
  10. Once the nuts have cooled, you’ll have a form of nut brittle. When the pudding comes out of the oven, leave it to cool for half an hour or so, then break the nuts apart and sprinkle over the bowl, ready to serve.

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