Syllabub (or solybubbe, sullabub, sullibib, sullybub, sullibub; there is no certain etymology and considerable variation in spelling) has been known in England at least since
Nicholas Udall's
Thersytes of 1537: "You and I... Muste walke to him and eate a solybubbe." The word occurs repeatedly, including in
Samuel Pepys's
diary for 12 July 1663; "Then to Comissioner Petts and had a good Sullybub" and in
Thomas Hughes's
Tom Brown at Oxford of 1861; "We retire to tea or syllabub beneath the shade of some great oak."
Hannah Glasse, in the 18th century, published the recipe for whipt syllabubs in
The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. The recipe's ingredients were: a quart of thick cream, and half a pint of
sack, the juice of two
Seville oranges or lemons, grate in the peel of two lemons, half a pound of double refined sugar. These were whipped together and poured into glasses. The curdled cream separated and floated to the top. The milk and cream used in those days would have been thicker and modern recipes require adjustments to achieve the desired effect. ==See also==