For dessert — Ghostly Compote of Apples (serves 8)
These themed recipes are for dishes cooked in England and Continental Europe during the late 1800s.
- 8 medium ripe apples
- 1 lemon
- 1/2 lb (226 g) of lump sugar
- 3/4 pint (426 ml) of water
Method: Select apples of a moderate size, peel them, cut them in halves, remove the cores, and rub each piece over with a little lemon. Put the sugar and water together into a lined saucepan, and let them boil until forming a thickish syrup. Then lay in the apples with the rind of the lemon cut thinly, and the juice of the same. Let the apples simmer till tender; then take them out very carefully, drain them on a sieve, and reduce the syrup by boiling it quickly for a few minutes. When both are cold, arrange the apples neatly on a glass dish, pour over the syrup.
This recipe is in the public domain and may be used freely.
