18^th century

Almond Flummery

The original flummery was made by steeping oats or bran in water overnight and then straining the liquid to use. In the eighteenth century blancmange became known as flummery and it became more common to make it using a combination of sweet almonds – which are regular almonds – and bitter almonds, which come from a different type of almond tree and contain the poisonous substance cyanide. To prevent poisoning, the skins of the bitter almonds had to be completely removed. Because bitter almonds can be dangerous, apricot kernels are usually used to re-create these dishes today. They have a nearly identical flavour and you won’t accidentally make yourself ill.

The almonds are blanched and have their skins removed, then they are crushed with rosewater using a mortar and pestle to keep the nuts from going rancid. When you crush bitter almonds or apricot kernels with rosewater you will immediately notice the marzipan scent. This is a chemical reaction and the substance you can smell is called benzaldehyde. You can also find it in the Italian liqueur amaretto and in amaretti biscuits; however, almond extract is usually used these days to work around using bitter almonds or apricot kernels, but unless you find an all-natural version, you are dealing with a chemical flavouring. Buy apricot kernels at a health food store, because those kernels have been checked for levels of harmful substances.

Mrs Raffald really loved her flummery: she was responsible for giving us the recipe for fancy flummeries such as the Hen’s Nest, but also a flummery fish pond, flummery playing cards, eggs and bacon in flummery and much more of this extravagance. I’ve seen her flummery Solomon’s Temple made by food historian Ivan Day, and it looked quite splendid.

To make Flummery

Put one ounce of bitter and one of sweet almonds into a bason, pour over them some boiling water to make the skins come off, which is called blanching, strip off the skins and throw the kernels into cold water, then take them out, and beat them in a marble mortar, with a little rosewater to keep them from oiling. When they are beat, put them into a pint of calf’s foot stock, set it over the fire and sweeten it to your taste with loaf sugar, as soon as it boils strain it through a piece of muslin or gauze, when a little cold put it into a pint of thick cream, and keep stirring it often till it grows thick and cold, wet your moulds in cold water, and pour in the flummery, let it stand five or six hours at least before you turn them out; if you make the flummery stiff and wet the moulds, it will turn out without putting it into warm water, for water takes off the figures of the mould and makes the flummery look dull.

Elizabeth Raffald, The Experienced English Housekeeper, 1782

Mrs Raffald gives a recipe for almond flummery, which is used for all the elaborate creations, using a pint of calves foot jelly to a pint of cream. But she also gives a recipe for oatmeal flummery which is more an oatmeal porridge than it is a jelly.