Pine nut and honey pudding, Apicius 7.11.5
from Cooking Apicius:
Roman Recipes for Today by
Sally Graiger
Also see Another Sweet - An Experiment where the author of the web page analyzes the recipe and several translations and thinks the recipe maybe for a bread pudding. If nothing else, the page is a good example of how difficult it is to determine exactly how to make one of Apicius’ recipes due to the uncertainty of translations, ingredients and method.
300 ml goats’, sheep’s or cows’ milk
40 g pine kernels
1 tsp freshly chopped rue
1 tbsp passum
1 dessert spoon honey
generous freshly ground black pepper
1½ discs of tracta
2 eggs
Put the milk on to heat and add the lightly pounded pine kernels, the rue, passum, honey and pepper. Crumble the tracta into very small pieces and sprinkle them into the hot milk while stirring. It will take time to thicken and you may not need to use all the crumbled tracta. Keep stirring to prevent it sticking. When it is the consistency of custard, tip it into a bowl and cool slightly. Beat the eggs and whisk them into the pudding once the intense heat has reduced. Pour into individual ramekins or one large dish and place this in a larger oven dish with water in it. Bake in a cool oven (300°F, 150°C, gas 2) until the mixture sets. Serve at room temperature. If you need to store them overnight in the fridge, bring them back to room temperature before bringing them to table.