Syllabub

Whipped double cream, white wine and lemon — assembled in twenty minutes and set in the glass

The Recipe

Syllabub is one of the oldest cold desserts in the British repertoire, yet it needs almost nothing from a cook: a bowl, a whisk, six wine glasses and twenty minutes. The result is a cold, aerated cream, sharp with lemon and lightly alcoholic, served once it has chilled and set in the glass.

For six glasses, combine 75 ml of dry white wine with the finely grated zest and juice of one unwaxed lemon and 40 g of caster sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then pour in 300 ml of double cream. Whisk — by hand or with a hand-held electric whisk — until the mixture forms soft, billowing peaks that hold their shape without collapsing. This takes roughly four to five minutes by hand. Spoon or pipe into glasses and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Double cream is the cream that holds this whip best. Double cream must contain a minimum of 48% butterfat under the Cream Regulations 1995; it is that fat content which allows the liquid to trap air and set into a stable foam. Single cream, at around 18% fat, contains too little fat to structure itself around air bubbles — it will remain poured liquid no matter how long the whisk is applied. Whipping cream, at 35%, lies on the boundary and will whip, but the foam is noticeably less stable and begins to weep sooner.

The lemon does two things. Its acid gently thickens the cream even before the whisk touches it, and its zest gives a bitter brightness that cuts the richness. The wine keeps the mixture from being merely sweet. Choose something dry — a Muscadet or unoaked white Burgundy is ideal — and avoid anything too aromatic, which would fight the lemon rather than support it.

Syllabub keeps for up to four hours in the refrigerator before it begins to separate. Serve it as it is; it needs nothing beside.