‘Peel and quarter eight gold runnets, or twelve golden pippins; cast them into water, in which boil them as you do for Apple sauce; sweeten them with loaf sugar, squeeze in them two lemons, and grate in their peels; beat eight eggs, and beat them all well together; pour it into a dish, cover with puff-paste, and bake it an hour in a slow oven.’

It can be made with any cooking apples but is particularly good made with any of the orange-flavoured eating apples, such as Cox’s or Ellison’s. Use 2½ lb. (1¼ k.) and for present-day tastes, only one lemon. Sieve or blend well when cooked. Frozen puff pastry is excellent It is also very good with a rich short pastry. A large packet will be needed, as the finished pudding will.

All English fruit pies (which in America are called ‘deep-dish pies’), are made in the same way, the fruit being suitably prepared and extra sugar used if very sour, as in the case of gooseberries.