How to Make Gertrude à la Crème - The Victorian Way

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It's the festive season, which means lots of entertaining at Audley End House. For her latest recipe, Mrs Crocombe is preparing a Gertrude à la Crème, a great way to use up stale sponge cake and produce a decorative sweet centrepiece for the Christmas table.
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INGREDIENTS (makes 1 x 15 cm/ 6 inch cake)
1 slightly stale sponge cake, approx 15 cm/6 inches across
1 1⁄2 tbsp each raspberry, cherry, apricot, greengage and strawberry jam (jelly), or any others you like
4 egg whites
170 g/6 oz / 3⁄4 cup caster sugar
1⁄4 tsp cream of tartar
green food colouring powder
red food colouring powder
100 g / 3 1⁄2 oz / 1⁄2 cup white marzipan (almond paste)
1 tbsp icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar), plus extra for dusting
350 ml / 12 oz / 1 1⁄2 cups whipping cream
for the sugar syrup 11⁄2 tbsp water
1 1⁄2 tbsp sugar
to decorate
edible flowers (optional)
METHOD (from the Victorian Way cookery book)
• Slice the cake horizontally into 6 discs (or fewer, if necessary). With a 5 cm/2 inch round cutter, remove the centre of each disc (if you have a deep enough cutter, you can do this before you slice it), so that when you reassemble the cake it has one deep hole in the middle. The discards can be eaten or used for trifle (see p87).
• Spread each cake slice with a different thin layer of jam and rebuild the cake, carefully lining up the slices. It is helpful if the top layer is less full of jam than the rest. Preheat the oven to 140°C/275°F.
• Whisk the egg whites with the sugar and cream of tartar to make a thick meringue (the consistency should be somewhere between meringue and royal icing); at this point you can add a little powdered food colouring, if desired. The original recipe suggests green or rose are appropriate colours, but you can also leave it white. Using a palette knife, spread the meringue over the whole surface of the cake, including the sides of the central hole.
• Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes until the meringue is hardened but not brown. Remove and allow to cool.
• Make a sugar syrup by boiling the measured water and sugar in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool.
• Colour about two thirds of the marzipan green and the rest red.
• Roll out the green marzipan on an icing sugar-dusted surface to
3-4 mm/1/8 inch thick and cut out to form leaves, marking them lightly to form veins. Stick these to the cake with a little sugar syrup. With the red marzipan, make berries or other leaves. The decoration should resemble a leafy garland, so arranging it to look like sprays around the cake is the aim.
• Just before serving, whip the cream and icing sugar together to form stiff peaks, and fill an icing bag fitted with a star nozzle. Pipe the cream into the central hole in the guirlande, top with edible flowers, if using, and serve.
00:00 Intro
00:54 For this recipe, you will need...
01:28 Slicing the sponges
02:53 Hollowing out the layers
03:29 Spreading and reassembling
05:35 Making the icing
06:53 Icing the cake
08:26 Drying in the oven
08:45 Decorating the cake
10:40 Filling the centre
11:21 Final decorations
12:04 There you are...
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[@jonirnmomba4130]

Nothing says tolerating the inconvenience of being an unexpected guest better then a stale cake with old jam…. But presented beautifully. She’s the best. Can I request a 12 Days of Crocombe series?

[@Sabatuar]

Iunno, trifles are stale cake and leftover jam with cream, and those things are better than some of the fancier dishes out there.

[@gaslitworldf.melissab2897]

Stale cake absorbs those flavors better though. And I'm sure you'll get a nice ale or decent wine to go along. After that, everything looks pretty good. Heck, if you're there, you're obviously not a peasant.

[@debsteinshouer4746]

One couldn't make this *except* with stale cake. "Fresh" sponge would simply fall apart! 🤣 Of course, it's dried out further still in low temp oven. And "old jam"? Do you use the whole jar every time you open one? lol

[@giovana4121]

But I think she mentioned in a video that jam is better after a year, so maybe this is a fine dessert.

[@brucetidwell7715]

LOL!!! You just drink more tea. ; )

[@Bibibibi12334]

Let's be honest: It's not like anyone of us is going to recreat this...Mrs. Crocombe is just our emotional support person🥰

[@rhyfelwrDuw]

That is so true lol

[@scraperindustry]

I've tried some of the recipes actually. I really liked the kedgeree

[@ItsJustLisa]

I’d give this a go.

[@Secretcrushonglam]

Speak for yourself =p Yesterday I spent 8 hours recreating her Christmas Cake recipe from 2017. Yes, 8 hours...

[@Bibibibi12334]

@@Secretcrushonglam and I support you wholeheartedly 🥰

[@Patrick_Knowlton]

Lord & Lady Braybrooke: Mmm i sure hope we can have some lovely fresh sponge cake in our dessert! Mrs. Crocombe (remembering the time they had the nerve to say they were having 10 guests for dinner when they were really having 14): So you have chosen Stale

[@ESCL2004]

The Crocombe way of shading her employers

[@elanorglf]

😂🤣😂🤣 love the LOTR reference ..

[@julilla1]

This could not be more timely. I was wondering what in the world I was going to do with that stale spongecake I had laying around.

[@ilsebill1678]

So was I.

[@michala818]

😂

[@djmoch1001]

I'm still dying at the comment someone wrote in the video for the recipe for the pigeon pie: "Oh good, I have breadcrumbs."

[@paynemelinda]

😂🤣

[@LadyEng]

AND the assorted jellies, marzipan and fruit.

[@rochelleb973]

I crack my daughter up when we try a new recipe,and of course I say, " for this recipe ,you will need..."

[@glittery_cucumber]

That is so cute!

[@CarDiddleLee]

Me too! And I always pronounce “almonds” as “armonds”!

[@CarDiddleLee]

…oh yeah! And “angeliker”!

[@patrykkozubik6051]

TURBOT

[@maciejrataj4255]

Ever since the parody by Novympia, Mrs Crocombe has been less generous with rhoticity (rrr after vowels), don't you think?

[@danny1959]

Who doesn't get excited when Mauve arrives? She's the life of any party.

[@FarhanAmin1994]

Hahahahahaha. Nice one!

[@SEELE-ONE]

Unlike Paris! He's SO toxic!

[@patrickmccurry1563]

@@SEELE-ONE Always green with envy.

[@brucetidwell7715]

Mauve (a shade of purple) was the first of the chemical dyes, invented by accident.

[@annmariemittag706]

A rather macabre fact about colorings of that time is that most of them were at least mildly poisonous. Those green leaves on the cake probably got the color from an arsenic derivative. Its a Great way to deal with uninvited guests indeed.

[@jacquelyn_hagen]

For a moment, I worried that ‘Gertrude’ was one of the unexpected guests and got turned into a sponge cake as punishment.

[@None.of.ya.business666]

You never know...

[@imageez]

Mrs. Braybrookes: " Well Mrs. Crocombe. If somehow my brother in law came in unannounced, I would understand if you are to use the 'green food colouring',"

[@elanorglf]

🤣😂🤣😂

[@missrose1983]

But she has Lot's wife stashed in the pantry for salt.

[@varoonnone7159]

I don't know what drug you are having...

[@amyharding4208]

I have 2 cats- Penelope and Gertrude. Every time you say Gertrude she comes running 😂

[@giovana4121]

I like how Mrs. Crocombe cares about her girls' culinary education even though at Audley End they don't have to resort to these old-fashioned methods - unlike us, peasants, who may not have access to these new food colorings.

[@warreneckels4945]

Count your blessings, peasants. That food coloring could have contained arsenic.

[@HeraldHealer]

And of course those old fashioned food colorings have become posh again.

[@andreabartels3176]

There was a very popular shade of green in the Victorian aera, that contained arsenic. This colour was used to create green wallpaper. Since this green was considered fashionable, it was used in many well-to-do households. Unfortunately, the wallpaper emitted arsenic fumes, and some maladies for high-society women are simply symptons of arsenic poisoning.

[@juliegolick]

Wow. Four kitchen staff to serve the family *and* thirty servants, all four meals a day?! I'm in awe!

[@toneddef]

And different sets of meals for the Family, the Upper servants and the rest. Pretty amazing.

[@matasa7463]

The upper class was nothing to sneeze at. In the modern era our conveniences has made such staffing needless even for our extremely wealthy modern elites - we don’t need laundry maids, dishwashers, and the such, because we all have machines for that. Think about it: people used to have to go around the house lighting lanterns and candles, and refilling oil lamps! Today we just flip a switch and forget about it… Gone are the days of 30 servants for a manor. Now even large estates just need a few people.

[@RLucas3000]

She mentioned the indoor servants. Did the outdoor servants, the grooms, the tree trimmers and gardeners, those taking care of the masters hounds, have to kill and cook their own game to be fed??

[@RLucas3000]

She couldn’t have meant 4 total kitchen staff, she had to mean four cooks, who would be assisted by scullery. No way could one or two cooks have done that with one or two scullery. They probably had at least two plus scullery supporting the four chefs, plus at least one dairy maid, and she probably had an assistant.

[@Eowyn3Pride]

tuppence a day...

[@robertmorgenroth2254]

Gertrude á la Créme sounds like a fierce drag name...

[@lolwhat5993]

Gentlemen, start your engines and may the best woman...win! First up, Gertrude à la Crèmè!

[@robertmorgenroth2254]

@@lolwhat5993 Gertrude á la Créme, on the runway you served us cake but in the challenge you had a real recipe for disaster...

[@Orange-0511]

Jertrhude ah lah krheme

[@WhiteMadea]

“The time has come…for you to lip synch…FOR YOUR LIIIIIFE!” *Birthday Cake by Rihanna starts to play*

[@billydeeuk]

@@lolwhat5993they changed it to “Drag Queen”

[@Irulan10]

No cake ever managed to get stale in my house, unfortunately..

[@MikeEvansUK]

I hear you. I have a recipe which calls for "left over panetonne." This is an ingredient which is so scarce that I have never yet managed to make the recipe.

[@Irulan10]

@@MikeEvansUK He he he...

[@mariannepiiksi5317]

Lol

[@katec9893]

@@MikeEvansUK Go to tk maxx, they always have lots of reduced price panettones in December and January.

[@RuSosan]

*Recipe:* "Delicious chocolate crumble cake from leftover cookies and chocolate." "Leftover cookies and chocolate do not exist. Fake recipe."

[@KeeliaSilvis]

Now that Mrs. Crocombe has gifted us with a video, it's REALLY the Christmas season. 😊🎄❄️

[@FarhanAmin1994]

Yessss

[@MYSCENTEDLIFE]

I absolutely agree

[@gregmunro1137]

Absolutely correct !!

[@matthewedwards3550]

INDEED!!! GOD BLESS US ALL!!!

[@sunspot42]

“The upper servants and the lower servants have different meals…” Crocombe shade mode engaged.

[@OofusTwillip]

This kind of pecking order persists on TV and film shoots: stars, then crew & supporting actors, then extras at the very bottom.

[@2snowgirl520]

I was waiting for some shade!

[@elliottstevens8564]

😁😁🤔

[@JpopFanBoy]

Did we all just sit through a 12 min cake tutorial in stunned silence? Yes, yes we did.

[@Aaaaaaaabbbb0114]

Gertrude A La Creme would be a top tier drag name

[@terry94131]

You win Comments for today.

[@gaellehubert6060]

Gertrude is such an old fashion name here in France

[@viceramirez2563]

Ladies and gentlemen, let's bring to the stage Gertrude A La Creme!

[@zinzoline4990]

Mais tellement 😭

[@alexandrapedersen829]

​@@gaellehubert6060 It's a quite antiquated name in Denmark as well; my 71-year-old grandmother is named Gertrud, and it was old-fashioned even back then. She was named by her grandmother after a childhood friend who had passed.

[@moniquem783]

Perhaps Mrs Crocombe would be willing to share the recipe for those lemon and lime preserves with us next time she makes them. They look really interesting.

[@tracycarmack9714]

I know, right? I really want to know how to make that!

[@martynnotman3467]

Its basically orange marmelade but made with 60% lemons and 40% limes and about 25% more sugar than normal.

[@imageez]

I forgot which episode, but didn't she said Mrs. Warwick the housekeeper made some of the jams? Actually would love to meet her again, although I don't think she'll look kindly to our visit

[@InevitableVitare]

In the UK you can buy Lemon and Lime marmelade (which is almost certainly what that was in the video, I doubt they made the preserves on set) in most supermarkets. It's quite nice; sweet and nothing like as bitter as orange marmelade.

[@martynnotman3467]

@@InevitableVitare the real stuff tastes like marmalade though. The Robertsons brand store bought stuff is hideously sweet and nothing like the one you can make yourself.

[@TheDiplomancer]

Mrs. Crocombe: We rarely bake our own bread. Me: FINALLY! I have one-upped Mrs. Crocombe!

[@Delicate_Disaster]

I love that they had so many recipes specifically to make use of food that was a little too old to eat as is. It's a great way to prevent wasting food.

[@umitencho]

Fridge tech wasn't ready and ice box maintenance is hard in naturally warmer climes. Early food preservation is the mother of all gastronomy.

[@mynamejeff3545]

Never managed to have leftover cake that got too old to eat in my house though.

[@olivernaufal]

Gratins to begin with. Throw any old meat or cooked veggies in a dish, add some bechamel and bake.

[@cruncherblock3834]

@@olivernaufal Most Americans know that as Cream of Mushroom. 😭

[@nighthawk2k3rsx]

The color of the Lemon Lime Preserves is just wonderful

[@karengerber8390]

Agree!

[@TVHouseHistorian]

Definitely agree. That's the one I had my eye on.

[@DylanRomanov]

It’s fantastic

[@musicandfiction]

I know I'd love to get the recipe for that. :D

[@madabbafan]

Definately someting artificial about it. Arsnic perhaps?

[@jazziered142]

Now I would like a video on the difference between the upper and lower servants meals or menus... So curious.

[@radomanci37]

For this Christmas you will need: 1 new EH video 1 Mrs Crocombe 1 Gertrude à la crème

[@CS-tc4zy]

Thank you for putting the accent marks the right direction! 😅

[@canucknancy4257]

Thanks again to Kathy for bringing Mrs. Crocombe to life. A video by her always makes the day better.

[@djmoch1001]

She really brings the lady to life. The whole video feels just how a hi-definition Victorian cookery programme would look like if such technology existed during the era.

[@JunKurosu]

Long live our cooking queen

[@jennynicole7892]

There's nothing better than Mrs. Crocombe during christmas time ❤️🎄

[@Dead_in__side__]

Literally

[@Mzmissy215]

@@Dead_in__side__ figuratively

[@MissRnH]

I feel exhausted just thinking about all the different meal services in Audley End House; 3 main meals for the Lords and Ladies, the upper and lower servants, not to mention all the teas services and snacks and nightcaps... ohhh bless you, Mrs. Crocombe!

[@Ea-Nasir_Copper_Co]

FOUR meals!

[@MissRnH]

@@Ea-Nasir_Copper_Co my apologies!!!

[@raraavis7782]

And everything needed to be cleaned by hand (without gloves or modern detergents), the water first heated on the stove (after building and maintaining the fires, obviously). The mind boggles at the amount of physical labor. No mixer, no kitchen machine, no microwave for quick thawing or heating, either. They must have been absolutely exhausted at the end of the day. And then up again at the crack of dawn. And all of that for barely more than room and board, until you had worked your way through the ranks for years (if you ever did). And yet, those were sought after positions at the time. The mind boggles.

[@nunyabiznes33]

@@raraavis7782 sure beats sweeping chimneys

[@machickenjoy3202]

"i like to have a few things in the store cupboard that i can turn into dishes for dinner... To make life easier". Never thought ms crocombe would say such thing

[@martynnotman3467]

The "store cupboard" is up 7 flights of stairs and she makes Mary Anne get them though

[@gerriebell2128]

I bet in those days, cooking more to have leftovers to use later WOULD be a big timesaver instead of having to cook so many meals.

[@thomasmoss9042]

01) When I heard Mrs. Crocombe mention “trifle”, I was thinking the adjective, not the noun (then I remembered that trifle is an English dessert). 02) When she was ready to fill the center I half-expected her to bring out the brandy. 🙂

[@veggiequeen2738]

I thought for sure she’d put some in this cake?!😊

[@gerriebell2128]

Me too! I was looking for a bottle!

[@brittneyhartman3174]

I have binged so many of these while I sit here on bed rest that my son may come out with an English accent, and I wouldn’t be mad about that 😂

[@niseplank4527]

"For this baby, you will need ..."

[@woofawoof7616]

Hope your son is doing wonderfully!! May you both have such happy, healthy, long lives!!! ❤❤❤

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Mrs. Crocombe has taught me that in a world of Greens and Reds, be a Mauve.

[@atrophyqueen6168]

I love the bits of history she gives as she demonstrates, very interesting.

[@5MinutePsychology]

I love the idea of using stale sponge cake! If only I could let them go stale… 😜

[@GammyHog]

Me too 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

Much like the hacks for keeping “leftover crisps”, or “leftover wine”

[@ragnkja]

She’s mentioned deliberately making two sponge caking each time so that one can be set aside for dishes that require stale sponge cake.

[@censusgary]

It’s amazing that Mrs. Crocombe and her crew didn’t just make four meals a day for dozens of people; they made several different menus for each meal.

[@FarhanAmin1994]

When the world is such a pain and so pathetic, cometh the hour, cometh the lady! Avis Crocombe, thou makest the day an innnnfinitely better one indeed 🥺♥️ This is truly therapeutic 😭😭😭 The cooking, the kitchen, the Christmassy music... Greetings from India 🇮🇳🙏

[@Sakural7865]

You took the words right out of my mouth my friend, with me none the wiser!

[@FarhanAmin1994]

@@Sakural7865 :')

[@dmckim3174]

Well said!

[@FarhanAmin1994]

@@dmckim3174 :) hehe

[@Alexandra-dd1su]

As my own cook, I am too lazy and distracted to make anything fancy this holiday season. But how relaxing these videos are.

[@annnbear]

Same, do make her cheese and macaroni. It’s divine.

[@PanjiAditya90]

Here I am, a sales person that still need to close the 2021 target, cleansing my soul with good 'ol english shade.

[@alcoholikosnaftis]

I could hear her give me instructions on Victorian cooking and generally cooking for ever. Idk how she does this she's so much in the role, I sometimes forget she's an actress and always gives so familiar and cozy aesthetics.

[@whiterosebabie]

I want an episode showing us how she makes the candied fruit and preserves! ❤️

[@PLuMUK54]

I think that was the housekeeper's job. In an earlier video Mrs C referred to the housekeeper's jam making.

[@mwfscarbo]

Is anyone else impressed that Mrs. Crocombe whipped those egg whites to stiff peaks BY HAND? I wouldn't want to arm wrestle her.

[@auntielaura5]

She did have the help of an unlined copper bowl, but I agree. The real Mrs. Crocombe must have had arms of steel. 😳

[@mariagordanier3404]

@@auntielaura5 To go with her backbone. I love her.

[@imageez]

You should see the girl from the butter episode. I do not envy the hours of butter churning

[@ragnkja]

Making whipped cream by hand is harder.

[@opheliadarkthorn]

The guy over at Townsends whips egg whites up with twigs... O_o

[@Tabbyclaw]

Gertrude was the name of my first sourdough starter, so I think it's a perfectly fine thing to call a cake!

[@jonesnori]

Have you read The Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, by T. Kingfisher? There's a sentient sourdough starter named Bob.

[@Tabbyclaw]

@@jonesnori I have! I've been a fan of hers from way back. :)

[@brat46]

I love reading the cookbook, haven't made anything yet. This cake is telling me I need to make a Boston cake. Pound cake sliced like this, French vanilla pudding as the filling and covered in a chocolate gauche.

[@tkretchman1701]

Pastry cream holds up better than pudding.

[@brucetidwell7715]

That's "ganache" : ) (pronounced gahn-ash)

[@deendrew36]

Wait….there is a cookbook??

[@Tams1978]

@@deendrew36 Yes, it’s by Eliza Acton. 😊

[@deendrew36]

@@Tams1978 ohhh,I misunderstood. I thought there was a book to go with this series. I have been lucky enough to see Ms Acton’s book in the library! Thank you for the clarification. ☺️

[@agimagi2158]

I love that the cake is rainbow inside! So pretty with all those different jams!

[@christinalydia]

This green foodcolouring bottle surely makes me anxious for the servants who will later on eat the cake lol...

[@Absintheskiss]

An early Christmas present. A visit from our culinary queen.

[@foodforagingaustralia4274]

Could we perhaps have mrs crocombe teach us how to make the old fashioned food colorings? Would be a shame not to share that valuable old world knowledge. ❤️

[@JeanNana2601]

Mrs Crocombe herself is the world's best christmas gift during pandemic. ❤

[@monsterhighstopmotion]

Ah yes, arsenic green leaves decorating a cake are indeed a great way to deal with unexpected guests!

[@MonikaCisek]

You'll just need to use many enough of them for all the guests to get AT LEAST one leaf. So that nobody is left alive... I mean, without a nice leaf (or more) on their piece!😂

[@mattgpdx1123]

"Everyone is eating like kings and queens except the servant's... they get literal dirt for supper." - Mrs. Crocombe probably.

[@annjones3672]

I kept thinking that the candied red flowers looked like ground beef! Couldn't think how ground beef was going to be in the cake! Just keep seeing Rachel Green from Friends with her beef and peas in the Trifle!

[@villagesteader3552]

🤣

[@nessagirl1911]

Mince pies used to have meat in them back in the day so ground beef in a cake doesn't sound all that weird.

[@EmAino4]

Oh, good. I thought that I was the only one. LOL

[@mrsspanner14]

Haha, same! I was wondering why raw beef mince would be needed!

[@imageez]

Considering the infamous PIGEON PIE, I think you have every right to be concerned

[@anakelly76512]

Over 12 minutes long. What did we do to deserve such kindness, Mrs. Crocombe?

[@gaslitworldf.melissab2897]

*_Ms. Crocombe. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and the Entire Staff at English Heritage._* You always brighten my day. (In the sense that a country house could be a wonderful machinery of efficiency, frugality, practicality _and_ elegance translates to "good old days," not _perfect_ old days. The most efficient people know when they need help. Bravo.

[@oliviad6561]

NEED more Mrs. Crocombe in my life. What I would give for weekly cooking videos

[@PrincessSophie83]

no Christmas season is complete without a recipe from Mrs. Crocombe🥰❤ It's official... HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

It’s Merry Christmas

[@barbsimpson9615]

Kyle - Happy Holidays! is also a correct phrase. Holidays is from Holy Days celebrated by churches, so you are wishing "Happy Holy Days!" Christmas is a Holy Day.

[@kazuoyumeno1759]

"And, the upper servants and the lower servants have different meals. But for Mr. Lincoln, the butler, I instruct Maryann to just leave a bottle of brandy on his door and quickly back away."

[@thumpercomet3856]

"I always make a second sponge cake whenever I make one" Me too Mrs Crocombe.

[@purplealice]

You could assemble the little round pieces the same way as the main cake, and serve them as treats.

[@Sabatuar]

Been experimenting with making my own glacé fruits and preserves lately. Might try this recipe out just to use them on something different.

[@spacewolfcub]

Oooh, now I know what else I should look up videos for! Thanks.

[@clairenoon4070]

Chopped up glacé fruits scattered over a pavlova with whatever fresh fruits you're using is lovely.

[@laurarosas5899]

But but but, Dr Annie Gray, the ole music is comfort to my soullllll. Awwww. Merry Christmas to you, Ms Kathie and the rest of the staff, may God continue to bless you.

[@splishsplashuropinionistrash]

does anyone want to talk about how clean and even her cake cuts were?

[@jonirnmomba4130]

And just like that……. My day was made. Side note- just goes to show that if you irritate Mrs Crocombe with your lackluster vegetable gardening skills… you, the stable boy, and all the other outside servants are S.O.L.

[@AngelOnMyShoulderProductions]

Mrs. Crocombe out here giving us that sweet, sweet serotonin.

[@Sabatuar]

Hail to the Queen, she has returned.

[@Delicate_Disaster]

The frosting looks like slightly warmed Fluff 😍

[@raeray2235]

Raw eggs.

[@Delicate_Disaster]

@@raeray2235 I know that.

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

@@raeray2235 and ?

[@julianhermanubis6800]

It's good to see Mrs. Crocombe this time of the year. It's been a bit gloomy this year, so it's nice to see someone who's so reassuring.

[@brandonmorate143]

Hi there

[@woofawoof7616]

❤❤❤

[@alexdavis5766]

This is going to be so super sweet with all that jam and decoration! Wow!!

[@MailaDR]

That’s where a good spot of hot tea or Irish coffee comes in 😉

[@softpretzel9860]

English cake sponges are not that sweet by them mostly

[@deaconfoster5255]

Mrs. Crocombe needs her own cookery KZbin channel

[@CovenantOfSaltArt]

Can you do a video on how to make the old fashioned food dyes like from spinach and carrots?! I'd love to learn and try them out myself 🙂 I am allergic to the artificial dyes anyway.

[@yahiaess178]

Yes it will be good

[@cestmoikim6514]

Thank you for your great channel! (Note from this French teacher: the 2 accents need to go the other way--accent grave and not aigu: à la crème; accent aigu goes over an e to create a long a sound--sauté)

[@CS-tc4zy]

As another French teacher, this is driving me nuts, too! 😆

[@xr6lad]

Nope. She won’t. And I’m not saying that because I disagree with you. But because she is acting a role. And that is a 19th century working class cook who will have met few foreigners and most certainly have never left the country like most working class in that age and in an age where education was basic. So her pronunciation is of someone pretty much looking at a word phonetically for a rural working class background. Not accurately.

[@Lottieloves287]

Mrs Crocombe is fierce as ever during Christmas time🎄❤️

[@phreetobe6200]

It’s not the holidays without Mrs. Crobombe. We love you!!! ❤️🎄✨❄️☃️

[@jessicajustinetabah400]

Mrs. Crocombe 🌱 Thanks to whoever chose the actress to play Mrs.Crocombe perfect ❤

[@rcmaniac25]

I just want to enjoy the fact that this is the longest video with Mrs. Crocombe to date.

[@rhyfelwrDuw]

It's wonderful to be transported back in time to Audley End and Mrs Crocombe! Christmas has truly arrived when Mrs C bakes something Christmassy!

[@djmoch1001]

Thank you once again Mrs. Crocombe for gracing us with your intimidating presence. This humble peon wishes you and your Lord and Lady a very happy Christmas season. All the best from here in the British colony of Canada. ;-)

[@spacewolfcub]

Oh, you’re good.

[@jadedavis822]

We need another hour long Xmas cooking just her and her maids lol and tons of shade!!

[@glittery_cucumber]

I always love the little bits of knowlegde, like about food coloring in this video

[@ilsebill1678]

Could not agree more!

[@spacewolfcub]

That was really great! I’d really like a special episode showing “outdated” skills that Mrs Crocombe might have learned as a trainee, like making food dye the old fashioned way.

[@denisehuston2573]

The old fashioned dye would have been significantly less toxic.

[@christinal1728]

@@denisehuston2573 I was just about to say that. Like uhm.... Mrs. Crocombe is gonna poison everyone with those green decorations.....

[@ragnkja]

@@christinal1728 By 1881, Scheele’s green had been superseded by aniline dyes, thank goodness!

[@kshaw2307]

Yessss it's Mrs Crocombe!

[@mrsspanner14]

I was sad when no Vaniller was needed, but at least the Elizer Acton recipe needed Armond Paste.

[@sandokero]

All hail Her Majesty Queen Avis of the House Crocombe, Protector of the Realm, Queen of Shade, Mistress of Christmas and Mary Anne.

[@hollybyrd6186]

I love her voice and face every time she says unexpected guests.

[@brandonmorate143]

Hi there...

[@19koffing]

"Here are some food coloring" Me: Arsen and Lead

[@saifullee4288]

Mrs. Crocombe is so organised, even the preserved spoons are aligned. Love her.

[@rhythmictiger]

Tempted to make a budget version of this. I definitely have the partly dry cake and preserves. Might skimp on the decorations but whipped cream sure sounds good!

[@user-oj5bw7sl8p]

She is back! Merry Christmas, dear Mrs. Crocombe!

[@Erik_Emer]

“Things are a bit busy,” she said, reading a book.

[@Tsukiya005]

There is no Holidays without a Mrs. Crocombe video. 🎄

[@gregfeneis609]

Beautiful work! I'm struggling with the concept of sponge cake being left over long enough to go stale, but go on.

[@phineas117]

EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT!!! our Queen!!!! thank you! I was a BIT afraid when she said "now to fill the middle".......mayonnaise? pigeon feet? LOL.....thank heavens whipped cream!!!

[@karenm.2185]

That cake looks so tasty!! I love watching English Heritage and Mrs. Crocombe.

[@gaslitworldf.melissab2897]

And to *fellow English Heritage Lovers*: ***_Merry Christmas and Happy New Year._* Be safe. Hope you find reason for gratitude as I have this year.

[@OfficialRyanx]

I never get tired of the faux surprise at the viewer in the kitchen.

[@AKayfabe]

it’s fun how they can make stale cake with a lot of sugar, sound so delicious and fancy!

[@whitecinnamon]

My mind went directly to the arsenic green jokes. Lovely episode.

[@Galifay]

Yup, that was my first thought. 19th-century artificial food coloring? From the *coal* industry? Noooooo thank you.

[@thekingsdaughter4233]

Hmmm... now I shall take advantage of the next angel food cake "marked down for quick sale". ;-) :-)

[@spacewolfcub]

Genius! I will follow your example.

[@katharinafeuerbaum]

Gertrude is a very old-fashioned name here in Germany btw☝🏼🤓

[@None.of.ya.business666]

Und in der nächsten Folge sehen wir dann Mechthild alla carbonara und Hildegard en croute.

[@clairenoon4070]

Same in the UK. I think the name's popularity started to fall away by about the 1920s/30s. A couple of well-known British Gertrudes would be the actress Gertrude Lawrence and the garden designer Gertrude Jekyll.

[@Person1865]

The only Gertrude I can think of is Stein.

[@afriendabroad2083]

Mrs Crocombe, can you make a video about upper vs lower servant meals please?

[@terry94131]

I believe the lower servant meals are served in a trough.

[@saoirsemorridanes]

I want another collab with Townsends 😃😃

[@wassent82]

Love love love Mrs. Crocombe and all the recipes she shares with us. The music is fun and festive, but I do miss the other intro music.

[@christinemeleg4535]

Happy Christmas Mrs. Crocombe! Those tasty bits of sponge cake are better served gently toasted then dipped in blackberry jam, perfect for a special treat for you and your staff with a proper cup of tea.

[@dhseo9379]

Best birthday gift ever. Hope to see more Holiday special dishes since christmas is just around the corner