The Book Rat: Eat Like Austen: Whipt Syllabub Recipe from Beth!

Now that we've all enjoyed our slices of Caraway Seed Cake (yum!), Beth is back to teach us how to make whipt "syllabub," a very funny word you've probably read in Austen and thought, 'what the heck is that?'

Take it away, Beth!

Whipt syllabub has been a popular dessert dish since the 1500s. It's referenced in one of Jane Austen's letter from 1792, and her sister-in-law and friend, Martha Lloyd, documented a recipe for it in her Household Book. It's a super easy dish to make, with a silken mousse-like texture and plenty of bright sweetness.

The historic version of the recipe found in almost every Georgian cookbook is essentially the same (some with egg whites, some without), but modern appliances mean you can whip this up in far less time, and chill it to the perfect consistency.

For a non-alcoholic version, substitute sweet grape juice for the cream sherry and apple cider for the white wine.

The original recipe, from Hannah Glasse's The Art of Cookery:

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup sugar
The juice and zest of one large lemon*
1 cup sweet white wine
1/2 cup cream sherry

*My lemon turned out to be a lemon, so I swapped for 3 Tblsp lemon juice and no zest. It turned out just fine, but if you have the option to use zest, it really adds to the recipe!

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the whipping cream, sugar, and lemon zest.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the lemon juice, white wine, and cream sherry.

3. Whip the cream mixture for about a minute. While it continues to whip, slowly pour in the wine mixture. If you pour too fast, it'll split.

4. Continue whipping for about 6-8 minutes total, until it looks more or less like whipped cream. The alcohol will keep it from reaching full whipped cream texture, but overwhipping will turn it to butter.

5. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight. Stir it a few times while it's chilling.

6. Serve in individual wine glasses, with a spoon. If you want to get fancy, garnish with a curl of lemon zest or a fresh raspberry.

This makes enough for about 6 servings.

It can sit in the fridge for several days, but it will separate (whipped cream on top, wine below), so gently fold it back together before serving. The more times you do this, of course, the less whipped and more cream the texture will become.

About the author of this post: I'm Beth: a bookwyrm, history geek, hobby baker, Austen fan, and collector of pastimes. Henry Tilney and Elizabeth Bennet are my Austen fictional crushes, which pretty much tells you everything you need to know about me. I can be found blogging at https://bethwyrm.blogspot.com/ and creating general nonsense at: https://www.instagram.com/goddessbeth/, https://www.tiktok.com/@artemishi, and https://twitter.com/ArtemisHi.

Find more posts from Beth here.