Required: One quart of clear soup. For the garnish of savoury custard. One egg and two extra yolks. Salt and pepper. Quarter of a pint of stock.

First prepare the savoury custard.

Beat up the egg and yolks until they are well blended together without being frothy, add the stock and salt and pepper to taste. Thickly butter a small jar, strain the custard into it, twist a piece of buttered paper over the jar and put it in a saucepan with boiling water barely half way up the jar. Put the lid on the pan and let it cook gently for about twenty minutes or until the custard is set.

See that the water does not actually boil, or the custard will be full of holes instead of being solid all through. Turn it carefully out of the jar, cut it into slices about one-eighth of an inch thick, then stamp these out into any fancy shapes with a cutter; if, however, you have no small cutters, it is quite easy to cut out squares and diamonds with a knife.

Heat the clear soup, pour it into a hot tureen, and slip the custard shapes gently into it.