Regency-era Walnut Pudding

As we've been inundated with chilly rain down under for weeks now, Christmas desserts have been on my mind. In fact England has been on my mind - perhaps it's all this rain in what is usually one of the warmest times of the year down here. So, as usual, I went researching...

Walnut Pudding was often made for Christmas during the Regency era, but it was also a fairly well-known 'special occasion' dessert. One might serve it at a prestigious ball at any time of the year really.

The version below comes from an unsigned manuscript dated in 1811. It's similar to how I make my plum pudding.

Receipt for Walnut Pudding

4 egg yolks ½ cup sugar 3 cups cream 1 cup ground walnuts 1 tsp cinnamon 2 Naples biscuits (grated) (This reference means hard Italian biscuit, somewhat like biscotti.)

Method: Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Heat the cream and stir it in, pouring it slowly in a stream, beating all the while. Add the ground walnuts, cinnamon and the grated biscuits. Stir the mixture over simmering water until thickened. Pour the mixture into a bowl and chill.

Presumably the pudding was placed in the cellar to cool, or outside in frozen winter weather. Let me know how your pudding turns out?