- Joined
- Nov 26, 2016
- Location
- central NC
(Wikimedia Commons)
Junket first referred to cream cheese, but later became the name of a jelly-like dessert our Victorian friends really enjoyed. Basically, it's a sweetened flavored milk that has magically taken on a jelly consistency with the "magic" being courtesy of rennet - an enzyme that makes milk proteins coagulate. Rennet is used in many types of cheese and ice cream. Look it up if you dare. What you find may make you squirm a bit.
As for junket tablets, I was surprised to learn that this obscure product still has at least one manufacturer in the United States - Junket Desserts, with a factory in upstate New York. Founded by a Danish chemist in the 1870s, you can apparently still order junket tablets and dessert mixes on their web site.
Junket Recipe – Victorian Era
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tsp. rennet
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. lukewarm water
Heat the milk to lukewarm 99 F in a double boiler. Add sugar and flavoring and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add rennet dissolved in water and pour into dish from which custard is to be served. Let stand until cool and firm. Serve with cream, soft custard, fruit, or fruit syrup. Cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut, chocolate, cocoa, or other flavor may be substituted for vanilla. Serves 6.
Junket Recipe – 1930s
2 cupfuls of milk
1/4 cupful of sugar, honey, or syrup
1 junket tablet
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 few grains of nutmeg or cinnamon
Warm the milk to about the temperature of the body, crush the tablet, and add it with the other ingredients to the milk. Pour into one large or several smaller dishes and place in a warm (not hot) place to harden. Cool before serving.
Caramel Junket – Modern Spin on Victorian Junket
2 cups milk
Few grains salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup boiling water
Whipped cream, sweetened and flavored
1 junket tablet
Chopped nut meats
Heat milk until lukewarm. Caramelize sugar, add boiling water, and cook until syrup is reduced to one-third cup. Cool, and add milk slowly to syrup. Reduce junket tablet to powder, using a small mallet, add to mixture, with salt and vanilla. Turn into a glass dish, let stand in warm place until set, then chill. Cover with whipped cream and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Fruit or granola can also be used as a topping.
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Daddy used to have a place in Oxford so we got to know St. Michael's when we would get to visit there. 
Bringing the