Syllabub; Outlander Style

Ever since my friend Iwona got me totally obsessed with Outlander, a full decade after my twin sister Cathy and my friend Laura tried to, I fell very hard into the arms of Claire and Jamie Fraser. After discovering a lovely local website called Outlander Kitchen (http://outlanderkitchen.com/) where the owner/creator has worked very hard to create recipes based on the food mentioned in the books, I got inspired to try one myself. By the way, I have made quite a few of the recipes from Theresa’s website and they were all great! I consulted with Theresa on a dessert mentioned in The Fiery Cross called Syllabub but she had not yet developed one. After searching around online for recipes, I found many but one in particular stood out to me. It is on a website called historicfood.com. This recipe is from 1674 and about as vague as you can get, but I figured if I cross-checked with some modern versions I could figure it out. Here is the original recipe:

To make a very fine Sillibub

Take one Quart of Cream, one Pint and an half of Wine or Sack, the Juice of two Limons with some of the Pill, and a Branch of Rosemary, sweeten it very well, then put a little of this Liquor, and a little of the Cream into a Basin, beat them till it froth, put that Froth into the Sillibub pot, and so do till the Cream and Wine be done, then cover it close, and set it in a cool Cellar for twelve hours, then eat it. ~ From Hannah Wooley The Queen-like Closet (London:1674)

It took some research to find out a few things, such as “what is sack?” Sack, as it turns out, is a fortified wine. I settled on using Lillet, a lovely French aperitif that is delicious and already somewhat “herbal”. Here is my version of the recipe:

• 1 quart/litre (approx. 4 cups) heavy/whipping cream (pick the freshest possible)
• 1.5 pints/700 ml (approx. 3 cups) Lillet Blanc aperitif wine
• 2 lemons, juiced
• Zest of half a lemon
• One sprig of Rosemary
• 4 - 6 tsp./20-30 ml powdered sugar (icing sugar)

I decided to infuse the wine for a few days in the absence of any real guidance. In a smoothie shaker bottle or jar, add the wine, Rosemary, lemon juice and zest and place in fridge. Over the next three to four days, shake the mixture gently when you think of it. Take the time to taste it to make sure the Rosemary does not overpower it.

The day before you require the dessert, place a metal or freezer safe ceramic bowl in the freezer for around 10-15 minutes. The dessert is made in small batches. Remove the wine mix from the fridge and discard the Rosemary. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or a bowl with a hand mixer, place 1 tsp. (5 ml) powdered sugar, 1/2 cup (125 ml) of the wine mixture and one cup (250 ml) of cream. Beat/whip until it is like regular whipped cream. Remove the bowl from the freezer and add mix to bowl. Place in the fridge, covered. Repeat this method three more times, incorporating each batch into the bowl with a gentle stir. (Out of curiosity, I decided to embrace the era and whip a bowl of it by hand to see how long it took. Answer: FOREVER) I started with 1 tsp. of powdered sugar per batch and then switched to 2. Taste it frequently to adjust sugar. Drink any left over wine mix - yum! Keep dessert in the fridge overnight and don’t serve until needed. Try not to eat it all before then!

This recipe yields about 12 cups, which is 12-24 servings depending upon size. Adjust as necessary.