OR

How to eat Cream and Sugar before Ice Cream was part of  Summer  – or any other Season

Possets:

Using lemon or lime to curdle cream, which is like custard without the fuss – or egg.

Bon Apetit July 2017  which is “Posset” in the magazine – BUT

“Egg-less custard” on the web site.

They’ve been around since the 16th and 17th century, and are cousins of  syllabubs. Some are made with wine, which make them milkshakes for grown-ups.

Darling little two handled posset cup. The heading image is a posset cup with a spout.

But here’s the link: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/eggless-lime-custards-with-lychees

And some 17th century recipes….

To make a Compound Posset of Sack, Claret, White-Wine, Ale, Beer, or Juyce of Oranges, &c.

Take twenty yolks of eggs with a little cream, strain them, and set them by; then have a clean scowred skillet, and put into it a pottle of good sweet cream, and a good quantity of whole cinamon, set it a boiling on a soft charcoal fire, and stir it continually; the cream having a good taste of the cinamon, put in the strained eggs and cream into your skillet, stir them together, and give them a warm, then have some sack in a deep bason or posset-pot, good store of fine sugar, and some sliced 425 nutmeg; the sack and sugar being warm, take out the cinamon, and pour your eggs and cream very high in to the bason, that it may spatter in it, then strow on loaf sugar.

To make a Posset simple.

Boil your milk in a clean scowred skillet, and when it boils take it off, and warm in the pot, bowl, or bason some sack, claret, beer, ale, or juyce of orange; pour it into the drink, but let not your milk be too hot, for it will make the curd hard, then sugar it.

Otherways.

Beat a good quantity of sorrel, and strain it with any of the foresaid liquors, or simply of it self, then boil some milk in a clean scowred skillet, being boil’d, take it off and let it cool, then put it to your drink, but not too hot, for it will make the curd tuff.

Possets of Herbs otherways.

Take a fair scowred skillet, put in some milk into it, and some rosemary, the rosemary being well boil’d in it, take it out and have some ale or beer in a pot, put to it the milk and sugar, (or none.)

Robert May. The Accomplist Cook.

No need for specialty serving ware.

But seriously – if you have an Iced Tea Spoon, why Not a Posset Pot?

As for Fools:

AN ORANGE FOOL

Take the juice of six Oranges and six Eggs well beaten, a Pint of Cream, a quarter of a Pound of Sugar, a little Cinnamon and Nutmeg; mix all together, and keep stirring over a slow Fire, till it is thick, then put in a little Piece of Butter, and keep stirring till cold, then dish it up.

• Glasse, Hannah. The Art of Cookery, made Plain and Easy. 1747. Prospect Books ed. 1995, p. 79.

But since

Orange Fool

aired on the Fourth of July, some thought it was…

political, not food at all.

SO this:

There are other fools….

Robert May again:

To make a Norfolk Fool.
Take a quart of good thick sweet cream, and set it a boiling in a clean scoured skillet, with some large mace and whole cinamon; then having boil’d a warm or two take the yolks of five or six eggs dissolved and put to it, being taken from the fire, then take out the cinamon and mace; the cream being pretty thick, slice a fine manchet into thin slices, as much as will cover the bottom of the dish, pour on the cream on them, and more bread, some two or three times till the dish be full, then trim the dish side with fine carved sippets, and stick it with slic’t dates, scrape on sugar, and cast on red and white biskets.

Which leaves

TRIFLES

To make a Trifle.
Take a pinte of thicke Creame, and season it with Suger and Ginger, and
Rosewater, so stirre it as you would then haue it, and make it luke warme in a dish
on a Chafingdishe and coales, and after put it into a siluer peece or a bowle, and so serue it to the boorde.

Section XII.

To make all manner of Creams, Sack-Possets, Sillabubs, Blamangers, White-Pots, Fools, Wassels, &c.

To make a Triffel.

Take a quart of the best and thickest cream, set it on the fire in a clean skillet, and put to it whole mace, cinamon, and sugar, boil it well in the cream before you put in the sugar; then your cream being well boiled, pour it into a fine silver piece or dish, and take out the spices, let it cool till it be no more than blood-warm, then put in a spoonful of good runnet, and set it well together being cold scrape sugar on it, and trim the dish sides finely.