I don’t usually reblog on Saturdays, but I can’t resist. Great post by Travels and travails.
Syllabub (or sillabub, and other variants) had been known in England since the sixteenth century, but by the eighteenth century this alcoholic dessert had become particularly popular, especially in its whipped variety.
Mrs Raikes’ ‘Everlasting sylabubs’ is a typical recipe:
a pint & ½ a Gill of cream a Gill of Rhenish ½ a Gill of Sack 2 Lemons half a pd of loaf sugar; sift the sugar, put it to the cream, put in the rinds of the Lemons grated, squeeze the juice into the wine, and put that to the cream. Whip it with a whisk just half an hour. (British Library, Add MS 69409)
Notice that deceptive ‘just half an hour’; another recipe suggests ‘beat it with a spoone an houer’ (Wellcome Collection, MS 8002), which must have been an arm-aching task.
And here is a recipe for ‘whipt syllabubes’, which makes it clear that it was…
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Ella Quinn ~ Author 
sounds yummy!
It does.
love the recipe. it’s interesting to read old recipes from decades and centuries ago. my mom’s old cookie cookbook poses some challenges when i come across ingredients which are no longer on the market. 😀
I’ve got a few books with old recipes. I love to use them. The Food Substitution Bible helps a lot.
thanks. i’ll look into it, add it to my paperback swap wish list. 😀
This sounds like something I’d like to make for Christmas! How much is a gill? I too love to read old recipes. This one sounds dandy.
A gill is equal to four oz.
An act of the Continental Congress, Nov. 4, 1775, directed that there should be issued daily to each soldier a pint of milk and a quart of spruce beer or cider, but no spirit ration was prescribed. April 30, 1790, it was enacted that every man should have half a gill of rum, brandy or whiskey daily. In 1794 the President was authorized to increase the quantity to a gill for troops on the frontiers. In 1795 a uniform ration of half a gill was ordered. In 1799 commanding officers were given discretionary powers, the ration to be, as before, half a gill. In 1802 this was increased to a gill. In 1804 it was provided that an equivalent of malt liquors or wine might be substituted for spirits at such seasons of the year as, in the opinion of the President, it might be desirable to make the change, in order to promote the health of the soldiers. In 1812 a gill of rum, whiskey or brandy was made a part of the regular daily ration. In 1818 power was given the President to make such changes in the component parts of the ration as he should think for the best, with due regard for health, comfort and economy. In 1832 soldiers were given the right to draw, instead of the spirit ration, coffee and sugar; and in 1838, coffee and sugar, or the money equivalent. An act of 1861 allowed a gill of whiskey dally to each man in cases of excessive fatigue and exposure, but in 1865 the ration was discontinued and it was ordered that the supply on hand should be sold.