Georgiana Hill, on Making ‘Pommes à l’Impératrice’

"Take some apples, do not pare them, but score them lengthwise with a sharp knife ; cut a good piece of the stalk ends, and remove the cores ; fill the apples with quince, marmalade, apricot, or greengage jam, and put them, with the flat end downwards, into a baking dish, with a pint of Chablis, and two table-spoonfuls of sugar. Baste them frequently, and when done serve hot or cold in the syrup."

Georgiana Hill, How to Cook Apples, Shown in a Hundred Different Ways of Dressing that Fruit (1865)

Yes folks, Georgiana’s back, because I’m a bit short on time at the moment¹Pretty much all of my reading and writing time is going into the final part of my Norfolk Biffin research project, and the write-up is going to take me a while… and Mrs Hill is my go-to author for a quick and interesting apple recipe.

You have to admit though, it’s a good one. Georgiana has pulled out the stops for this fancy baked apple recipe, with a good dollop of jam in the middle and a pint of wine and plenty of sugar (no spices though, I’m not sure she was fond of spices) used to glaze the fruit as they slow-cook. Sounds like a sweet treat to me. My teeth are screaming for mercy already.

How about you? Do you feel inspired to bake a dish of ‘Empress²Due to the French in the name of the dish, we can assume that Georgiana is referring to Eugénie de Montijo, wife of Emperor Napoleon III of France who was in charge across the channel in 1865, rather than our own Queen Victoria, sovereign of the British Empire etc. Apples’? If you do, please do let me know how you get on, either by leaving a comment, below, or by emailing in a few notes and photos.

Footnotes

• 1
  Pretty much all of my reading and writing time is going into the final part of my Norfolk Biffin research project, and the write-up is going to take me a while…
• 2
  Due to the French in the name of the dish, we can assume that Georgiana is referring to Eugénie de Montijo, wife of Emperor Napoleon III of France who was in charge across the channel in 1865, rather than our own Queen Victoria, sovereign of the British Empire etc.