NATURAL FOOD: TANSY PUDDING
Posted on Apr 02, 2009 under Herbal | No CommentHere is the recipe. I have tried it, and am still not sure whether I like it. Unfortunately, no quantities were given to me in the original recipe which was a “throw-in” family one; so I have had to experiment.
Tansy Pudding
To a i lb. of ground almonds add flavouring essence such as lavender or rose, then add some soft breadcrumbs, grated nutmeg, a spoonful of brandy, a couple of tansy leaves, chopped, 3 oz. fresh butter and slices of lemon. Pour over it one pint of scalded milk (with a little sugar added to taste), and when cold mix all well together. Then add a few drops of lemon juice and 4 well-beaten eggs. Bake in a warm to moderate oven till set (about 1 hour).
Tansy flowers can be added to flour, about 1 dessertspoon to a pound, to give it an unusual tang, and a yellow colour. It is advisable to pulverize the flowers in the blender first. Grown under fruit-trees, tansy can repel the fruit moth, and it spreads and grows so fast that a green barricade can be put up in an orchard in one season.
To increase your supply of plants, dig the clump at the end of summer, separate the new growths from the root stem, and replant. Or leave it till the spring, and divide the clump as new growth starts from the base. This hardy herb will take to street-planting or anywhere you need an undemanding tenant of your soil. Insects will never attack it, but young snails like to hide in the leaves and may nibble new young growth if allowed to remain.
Don’t forget: always bruise or rub the leaves to release tansy’s insect-repelling oils.
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