Flummery is a type of pudding that originated in the UK, often made with cornstarch and oatmeal. It can range from bland to vibrant, with modern recipes dropping oatmeal for more savory methods. Traditional Irish flummery includes heavy cream, toasted almonds, honey, lemon juice, berries, and Irish whiskey. Flummery can also be made with gelatin and sugar, and has become a term of derision for something meaningless or bland.
Flummery is, broadly speaking, a type of pudding that originated in the United Kingdom (UK) hundreds of years ago and exists to this day in several forms. Often made using cornstarch as a thickener, the dish can use a variety of ingredients, though fresh berries, heavy cream, and oatmeal are quite common. It was once regarded as a very special treat, though it eventually came to be ridiculed as a bland and less satisfying dessert than others made available through new cooking techniques. Flummery is typically as flavorful as the ingredients used to create it, and can range from a boring flan to a much more vibrant and unique pudding.
Many traditional flummery recipes call for the use of oatmeal as both a thickener and a filling ingredient. Similar in many ways to how oatmeal can be used in ground beef dishes like meatloaf and meatballs, oatmeal is an inexpensive way to enlarge your plate to feed more people. This, however, typically doesn’t introduce much flavor into the dish, and many modern flummery recipes will drop the oatmeal entirely in favor of more savory preparation methods.
A popular form of Irish flummery keeps the oatmeal in the dish, but adds enough other ingredients to keep the final product from looking like something bland. The heavy cream is whipped until soft peaks form, at which point it is combined with slices of toasted almonds and oatmeal, warmed honey, lemon juice, berries such as raspberries or blueberries, and Irish whiskey. The resulting flummery is smooth, creamy, and almost bursting with flavor.
A simple flummery can be made by combining gelatin, cream and sugar. Flavored gelatin can be used to add some flavor or unflavored gelatin can be used with vanilla. The gelatin is made with boiling water and then allowed to cool before being mixed with cream. This combination is blended until smooth and slightly airy, before letting it cool for several hours to thicken properly. Fresh berries can also be added to create a simple yet flavorful dessert.
Flummery has also become a term of derision outside culinary contexts. Due to the tendency of early versions to be mostly oatmeal and cream, with little other flavor or texture, the dish often lacked much real content. The name has been extended beyond the realm of cooking and is often used to describe something that is meaningless or generally bland.
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