NINTH COURSE
HOT DESSERTS—COLD DESSERTS—PIES—TARTS
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HOT DESSERTS
Farina Croquettes
Pudding, Huckleberry
Pudding, Chocolate Bread
Pudding, Cocoanut Bread
Pudding, Fig
Pudding, Green-Gage
Pudding, Tapioca, with Prunes
Bananas, Sautéd
Bananas, Baked, No. 1
Bananas, Baked, No. 2
Quinces, Baked
Strawberry Soufflé
Fruit and other Soufflés
Burning Peaches
Burning Cherries
COLD DESSERTS
Apples Richelieu
Apples, Stewed, No. 1
Apples, Stewed, No. 2
Apples, Baked
Figs, Compote of
Apricots, Compote of
Pears, Compote of
Bananas and Cream
Strawberries and Cream
Peaches and Cream
Bread and Jam Tartlets
Pine Cones
Pudding, Cornstarch, No. 1
Pudding, Cornstarch, No. 2
Pudding, Cornstarch, No. 3
Pudding, Cornstarch, No. 4
Pudding, Peach
Pudding, Tapioca
Pudding, Rice Prune
Pudding, Jellied Apple
Pudding, Pineapple
Savarins
Babas
Coffee Mousse
Peach Mousse
Chestnut Purée
Chestnut Bavarian
Charlotte Russe
Charlotte Russe, Strawberry, No. 1
Charlotte Russe, Strawberry, No. 2
Meringue Ring
Meringue Crown
Meringue Cream Tart, No. 1
Meringue Cream Tart, No. 2
Meringues filled with Whipped Cream or Ice Cream
Chocolate Cream
Chocolate Sponge
Sliced Bavarian Cream Garnished with Cream Cakes
PIES-TARTS
Jam Tart of Puff Paste
Strawberry Tartlets
Frangipane Tartlets
Frangipane Cream
Fruit Tartlets
Jalousies
Pie, Cranberry
Pie, Cocoanut
Pie, Currant
Pie, Lemon, No. 1
Pie, Lemon, No. 2
Strawberry Cake, No. 1
Strawberry Cake, No. 2
Currant Shortcake
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HOT DESSERTS
FARINA CROQUETTES
Put two cupfuls of milk and half a teaspoonful of salt into a double
boiler. When the milk is hot add half a cupful of farina, and moisten
with a little milk to make it smooth. Cook about twenty minutes, or
until it is well thickened, then add the yolk of an egg. When it is cold
mold it into small croquettes. Roll the croquettes in egg and white
bread crumbs, or cracker dust, and fry in smoking-hot fat to a bright
yellow color.
Serve with maple sugar scraped from the cake.
HUCKLEBERRY PUDDING
2 cupfuls of flour,
½ cupful of granulated sugar,
2 cupfuls of berries,
1 heaping teaspoonful of baking powder,
½ saltspoonful of salt,
1 teaspoonful of butter,
Milk.
Mix well the sugar, salt, and baking powder with the flour, then rub in
a teaspoonful of butter, and stir in quickly enough milk to make a
batter which will drop from the spoon. Add the berries well floured, and
turn the mixture into a greased quart pudding-mold. Steam or boil it for
half an hour.
It should be mixed quickly and the water should not be allowed to fall
below the boiling-point while the pudding is cooking. Serve with any
pudding sauce.
CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING
1 cupful of stale crumb of bread,
2 cupfuls of milk,
½ cupful of sugar,
3 squares of unsweetened chocolate,
½ teaspoonful of vanilla,
1 egg.
Scald the milk and turn it over the bread, broken into small pieces. Let
it soak until the bread is soft, then beat it with a fork to a smooth
pulp and add the chocolate, melted, the sugar, vanilla, and yolk of the
egg, also a dash of salt. Lastly fold in the white of the egg whipped to
a stiff froth.
Bake in a moderate oven for thirty minutes.
COCOANUT BREAD PUDDING
Pour a cupful of scalded milk over a cupful of broken bits of crumb of
bread. Let the bread soak until softened, then beat it to smoothness.
Add a cupful of grated cocoanut, half a cupful of sugar, a teaspoonful
of lemon juice, and the yolks of two eggs. Mix well, and then add the
whites of the eggs whipped to a stiff froth. Bake in a moderate oven for
thirty minutes. Serve hot or cold.
FIG PUDDING
Weigh three eggs; take the same weight of butter, sugar, figs, and of
crumb of bread. Chop the figs, put a little hot water on them, and cook
them to a pulp. Grate the bread to very fine crumbs. Mix together the
butter and sugar, add the yolks of the eggs, then the figs and the
crumbs, and lastly the whites of the eggs whipped to a stiff froth. Turn
the mixture into a covered quart mold, and steam for two and a half
hours; or put it into individual timbale molds, set them into a pan of
water, cover them with a greased paper, and cook in an oven for thirty
minutes, or until firm to the touch. At the moment of serving pour over
them a little rum or brandy and light it with a taper.
Serve with wine sauce, or with any other pudding sauce.
GREEN-GAGE PUDDING
Butter well a quart granite-ware basin. Arrange on the bottom a layer of
green-gage plums (California canned plums), then fill the dish heaping
full of the crumb of stale bread cut into dice. Beat two eggs enough to
break them, and mix them with two cupfuls of milk. Pour the egg and milk
mixture slowly over the bread with a spoon, so the bread will soak up
the liquid. Set the pudding-dish in a pan of water and bake in a
moderate oven for thirty minutes. Let it stand a few minutes, then
invert it on a dish and do not lift it off the tin for a few minutes
longer. Serve with a sauce made of a cupful of juice from the can, with
a heaping tablespoonful of sugar added to it and then boiled until
clear.
TAPIOCA PUDDING WITH PRUNES
Soak three tablespoonfuls of tapioca in cold water for two hours. Use
two and a half cupfuls of water. Stew dried prunes until they begin to
swell. Add to the soaked tapioca (there should be four heaping
tablespoonfuls of it) three tablespoonfuls of sugar, one teaspoonful of
butter, and two cupfuls of milk or water. Spread a layer of prunes over
the bottom of a quart pudding-dish, then fill the dish with the tapioca
mixture and bake it twenty-five to thirty-five minutes in a slow oven.
SAUTÉD BANANAS
Select bananas that are not quite ripe. Peel and cut them in two
lengthwise. Put a tablespoonful of butter in a sauté-pan; when it
bubbles add a tablespoonful of sugar and lay in the bananas. When the
bananas are tender take them out carefully and lay them in an even row
on a hot dish. Add half a cupful of cream to the pan and mix it well
with the butter and sugar. The sugar should be cooked enough to give a
caramel flavor. Add two or three tablespoonfuls of sherry, or just
enough to take away the very sweet taste. Pour this sauce over the
bananas.
BAKED BANANAS, No. 1
Select bananas that are not quite ripe, detach the skins. Bake the
bananas in the skins for twenty to thirty minutes, or until tender but
not soft. Turn them out of the skins, lay them in an even row on a hot
dish, and pour over them some melted currant jelly.
BAKED BANANAS, No. 2
Mix two tablespoonfuls of butter with three tablespoonfuls of sugar and
two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice, and place it on the fire to melt the
butter. Peel bananas and lay them uncut in a baking-pan; pour over them
the buttered mixture and bake them until tender, basting them
frequently. Place them in an even row on a flat dish and pour over them
the liquor from the pan.
BAKED QUINCES
Peel and core the quinces, then cut them in halves and bake them in a
pan with a very little water until tender.
[Illustration: NO. 116. GREEN-GAGE PUDDING.]
[Illustration: NO. 117. BAKED QUINCES.]
[Illustration: NO. 118. STEWED APPLES, NO. 1, WITH JAM AND ALMONDS.]
When they are cooked, spread the tops with butter and a plentiful amount
of sugar. Serve hot. Pass butter and sugar.
SOUFFLÉS
Soufflés are one of the most elegant dessert dishes. They are esteemed
for their delicacy rather than their richness, and the difficulty in
making them gives them distinction, as they are usually presented only
from the hand of an expert cook. There is no reason, however, that any
one should not succeed in making a perfect soufflé, though it is one of
the popular delusions that they are very difficult to make. With
intelligent care about the heat of the oven, a soufflé can be made with
less trouble than is given to many other simple desserts. The whites of
eggs must be beaten until filled with air. They are then placed in a
moderate oven, where the heated air expands and puffs up the whole mass.
The baking is continued until the air-cells are enough hardened to
support the weight, and the dish must be served at once and before the
imprisoned air cools and the mass collapses.
STRAWBERRY SOUFFLÉ
Beat to a stiff, dry froth the whites of as many eggs as needed,
allowing one white for each person and one for the dish, then fold in
lightly enough strawberry jam to sweeten it; or use strawberry pulp and
sugar. Turn it into a pudding-dish and bake in a moderate oven for
twenty minutes. Serve at once. The soufflé must go directly from the
oven to the table.
FRUIT AND OTHER SOUFFLÉS
To the whipped whites of eggs may be added half the number of yolks and
powdered sugar enough to sweeten, or chocolate, or any jam, or softened
jelly, or fruit juice, or the pulp of any fruit with the juice drained
off. Fruit must be pressed through a purée sieve to make the pulp fine
and soft.
BURNING PEACHES
Place California canned whole peaches and the juice in a deep dish. Just
before serving pour over them some brandy or rum and light it with a
taper.
BURNING CHERRIES
Serve California white cherries in the same way as directed above for
peaches.
COLD DESSERTS
APPLES RICHELIEU
Take out the cores of well-flavored apples and cut them crosswise into
halves. Simmer them in sugar and water until tender. Let them cool. Lay
several pieces of sliced blanched almonds straight, at regular
intervals, upon the flat sides of the apples. Sprinkle them with
powdered sugar and set them in the oven a minute to brown the sugar.
Place candied cherries cut in halves upon the apples between the
almonds. Just before serving put spoonfuls of whipped cream at intervals
on a flat dish and place the cold apples upon the cream; or press the
cream through a pastry-bag in circles around the apples.
STEWED APPLES, No. 1
Select apples of uniform size and shape. Remove the cores and peel them
carefully. Put them into hot water with sugar and lemon juice. Cook them
slowly until tender, but not so long that they lose shape. When they are
cold fill the centers with sweetened and flavored boiled rice and cover
them with apricot or any jam. Sprinkle them with blanched almonds cut in
strips.
STEWED APPLES, No. 2
Prepare the apples as for No. 1. Fill the centers with well-flavored
apple purée, or with apple jelly mixed with chopped raisins. Sprinkle
them with granulated sugar and stick into them blanched almonds cut into
strips and slightly browned.
Serve with cream, if convenient.
Apple purée and apple jelly can be made from the parings and cores of
the apples. Put these trimmings in a saucepan with a little water and
cook them to a pulp. Press the pulp through a sieve for the purée, or
strain it through a cloth for the juice. Return the juice to the fire,
let it boil a minute, then add half a pound of hot sugar to a cupful of
juice. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, and boil until a few drops put
on a cold plate jelly. Turn it into glasses to set.
BAKED APPLES
Peel and core good-flavored, tart apples. Put a small piece of butter in
each one and sprinkle them with sugar so they will brown well. Put them
in a pan with a little water and bake until tender, then remove and put
on each one two drops of almond extract. Add a little sugar to the water
in the pan and cook it down to a thick syrup, then strain it slowly over
the apples to glaze them; or stick three cloves into each apple before
baking them, and omit the almond extract; or fill the centers with the
sugar, lemon peel, and stick cinnamon before baking, or with blanched
almonds and raisins after baking.
[Illustration: NO. 119. COMPOTE OF FIGS.]
COMPOTE OF FIGS
Put a pound of pulled figs in a bowl and cover them with water. Let them
soak for several hours, or until they are softened and expanded, then
press each one into natural shape and pile them on a dish. Take the
water in which they were soaked, add enough sugar to sweeten it, and a
thick slice of lemon. Boil it until it is a good syrup, then pour it
over the figs. Let the figs cool before serving. Or to each cupful of
fig water add a cupful of sugar and boil it to the crack, then pour it
slowly over the figs. This will give them a coating of sugar. Serve with
whipped cream flavored with kirsch.
The figs, being very sweet, are improved by using a flavoring which is
sharp like lemon or kirsch. If lemon is used, pour the juice over the
figs, as it will curdle the cream if mixed with it.
[Illustration: NO. 120. COMPOTE OF APRICOTS.]
COMPOTE OF APRICOTS
Prepare dried apricots the same as directed for compote of pears. Place
half a blanched almond in the center of each piece to imitate a pit.
[Illustration: NO. 121. COMPOTE OF PEARS.]
COMPOTE OF PEARS
Soak dried California pears in water overnight, or for several hours
until they swell to natural shape. Arrange them symmetrically on a dish,
or around a form of rice, as in illustration. To the water in which the
pears were soaked add enough sugar to make it sweet, and boil it down to
a syrup, then add a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Pour the hot syrup over
the fruit. Serve cold.
[Illustration: NO. 122. BANANAS AND CREAM.]
BANANAS AND CREAM
Cut bananas into slices one quarter of an inch thick. Arrange them in a
pile in the center of the dish and place around them spoonfuls of
whipped cream. The cream may be flavored with sherry or vanilla, but use
no sugar, as the fruit is sweet enough without it.
STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM
Mix enough sugar with cream to sweeten it thoroughly, and then whip it
until it is stiff and dry. A half pint of cream is enough for a quart of
berries. When ready to serve, mix the berries in the cream and serve
them piled on a flat dish.
PEACHES AND CREAM
Cut peeled peaches into slices and put them in the ice-box. Add as much
sugar to a half pint of cream as will be needed to sweeten the peaches.
Whip the cream to a stiff froth. At the moment of serving, mix together
lightly the peaches and cream; or an hour or more before serving, mix
the cream and fruit, put it in a covered mold, and pack in ice and salt.
Use but little salt, for the object is to make the peaches very cold,
but not to freeze them.
[Illustration: NO. 123. BREAD AND JAM TARTLETS.]
BREAD AND JAM TARTLETS
Cut very light bread into slices one quarter of an inch thick. Stamp
these pieces into rounds with a biscuit-cutter. Put them in a sauté-pan
with a little butter, and brown them on both sides. When they are cool,
spread them with any kind of jam or preserved fruit, and just before
serving ornament them with whipped cream pressed through a pastry-bag
and star tube.
[Illustration: NO. 124. PINE CONES.]
PINE CONES
Cut quarter-inch slices of bread into rounds and moisten them with
sherry or maraschino. Pile chopped pineapple in cone shape on each round
of bread. Canned, fresh, or stewed pineapple may be used. Dilute the
juice strained from the fruit with a little water, and sweeten it to
taste. Add a teaspoonful of arrowroot moistened with cold water to a
cupful of pineapple liquor. Boil it until thickened, then with a spoon
pour it slowly over the cones. Serve hot or cold.
[Illustration: NO. 125. INDIVIDUAL CORNSTARCH PUDDINGS WITH CURRANT
JELLY.]
[Illustration: NO. 126. CORNSTARCH PUDDING IN RING MOLD, ORNAMENTED WITH
RAISINS. GARNISHED WITH WHIPPED CREAM.]
[Illustration: NO. 127. CORNSTARCH PUDDING ORNAMENTED WITH CANDIED
CHERRIES AND ANGELICA.]
[Illustration: NO. 128. CHOCOLATE CORNSTARCH PUDDING.]
CORNSTARCH PUDDINGS
Dissolve two heaping tablespoonfuls of cornstarch in a little cold water
or milk and turn it slowly, stirring all the time, into a pint of
scalding milk in a double boiler; add three tablespoonfuls of sugar and
a dash of salt. Stir until it is thickened, then let it cook for half an
hour, or until it has lost the raw taste of the starch, then add the
whipped whites of two eggs and a half teaspoonful of vanilla, and cook
it a few minutes longer to set the eggs.
No. 1. The cornstarch is molded in cups; when unmolded a piece is taken
out of the top of each one, and the holes are filled with currant
jelly, and jelly is placed on the dish around the individual
puddings. This gives a good sauce as well as a nice effect of
color. Any jelly, jam, or preserved fruits may be used in place of
the currant jelly.
No. 2. Lay a line of seeded raisins on the bottom of a ring-mold before
turning in the cornstarch; or mix with the cornstarch some chopped
citron, currants, and raisins. Fill the center of the ring with
whipped cream, or with plain boiled custard.
No. 3. Mold the cornstarch in a bowl. Decorate it with candied cherries
and angelica. Serve with it cream, sweetened milk, custard, or
preserved fruit.
No. 4. Add to the cornstarch two squares of melted chocolate and a
tablespoonful of sugar. Decorate the mold with split blanched
almonds. Dip the almonds in a little half-set gelatine to make
them adhere to the mold. Put the mold into hot water for a second
to soften the gelatine before unmolding the pudding. Serve with
whipped cream or sweetened milk.
PEACH PUDDING
Cover the bottom of a pudding-dish with canned peaches. Take half the
juice from the can, add to it two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and boil it
to a thick syrup.
Make a custard, using two cupfuls of milk, the yolks of two eggs, and a
heaping tablespoonful of cornstarch. Cook in a double boiler for half an
hour, or until it is quite thick and the raw taste of the cornstarch is
gone, then add a little of the peach syrup to sweeten it, and a few
drops of almond extract. Sprinkle the peaches with blanched almonds cut
in pieces, pour over them the syrup, then the custard. Cover the top
with meringue made of the whites of two eggs and three tablespoonfuls of
powdered sugar. Brown the meringue. Serve the pudding hot or cold.
TAPIOCA PUDDING
1 quart of milk,
½ cupful of tapioca,
4-5 eggs,
½ pint of cream,
4-5 tablespoonfuls of sugar,
½ cupful of sherry.
Soak the tapioca in cold water for several hours or overnight. Boil the
soaked tapioca in the milk until it is soft, then add the beaten yolks
of the eggs, the sugar, cream, and wine, and lastly the whipped whites
of the eggs.
Turn the mixture into a pudding-dish. Set the dish in a pan of water and
bake twenty to twenty-five minutes. Serve cold.
[Illustration: NO. 129. RICE PRUNE PUDDING.]
[Illustration: NO. 130. RICE PRUNE PUDDING.]
RICE PRUNE PUDDING
Spread stewed prunes over the bottom of a basin or mold, then fill the
mold with boiled rice. Press the rice in just hard enough to make it
hold its shape. Turn it out of the mold and serve it hot or cold, with
the sweetened juice of the prunes as sauce; or press the rice into a
bowl or mold, and arrange the prunes around the form after it is
unmolded, as in illustration No. 129; or arrange it as in illustration
No. 130.
JELLIED APPLE PUDDING
Add to one and a half cupfuls of strained stewed apples the juice of an
orange, the grated rind and juice of half a lemon, three tablespoonfuls
of sherry, three quarters of a cupful of sugar, and two tablespoonfuls
of granulated gelatine which has been soaked for an hour in half a
cupful of cold water and then dissolved in half a cupful of hot water.
Stir the mixture until it begins to thicken, then fold in the whites of
three eggs whipped to a stiff froth, or a half-pint of whipped cream.
Turn it into a mold.
Serve it with whipped cream.
PINEAPPLE PUDDING
Grate a pineapple fine. Mix well together a cupful of sugar and four
eggs, then mix them with the pineapple pulp. Turn the mixture into a
mold, set the mold into a pan of water and bake it slowly until
stiffened like a baked custard. When cold unmold it and decorate it with
whipped cream.
[Illustration: NO. 131. SAVARINS.]
SAVARINS
Take some brioche dough (page 209) and add enough milk to make it almost
soft enough to drop from the spoon. Add sugar, raisins, chopped citron,
and a little lemon juice. Work all well together.
Butter some earthen cups, sprinkle them with sliced blanched almonds,
half fill the cups with the savarin dough, and let it rise to double in
size. Bake in a hot oven.
Turn them out of the molds, and while they are warm dip them in a syrup
made of one cupful of sugar syrup, three tablespoonfuls each of kirsch,
maraschino, and curaçao, or flavor with any other liqueurs preferred.
When the savarins are well soaked place them on a sieve to drain.
[Illustration: NO. 132. BABAS.]
BABAS
Take brioche dough prepared as for savarins, and mix with it candied
fruits cut into small dice. Butter baba-molds, fill them half full of
the mixture, let them rise to double in size, and bake in a hot oven.
Soak the babas in sugar syrup flavored with rum and drain. Place a
candied cherry on each one.
Baba-molds are like large individual timbale cups.
COFFEE MOUSSE
½ ounce gelatine,
¼ cupful of cold water,
½ cupful of hot water,
1 cupful of coffee,
½ cupful of sugar,
1 cupful of cream, whipped.
Soak the gelatine in the cold water for an hour, then dissolve it in the
hot water and add the sugar. When the sugar is dissolved add a cupful of
cold, strong, clear coffee. Put the mixture on ice and whip it until it
becomes light and frothy and has begun to stiffen, then add the whipped
cream and turn it into a mold. The gelatine must be thoroughly whipped,
as for snow pudding, and the liquid drained from the whipped cream must
not go in. This will make about one and one half quarts of mousse.
[Illustration: NO. 133. PEACH MOUSSE GARNISHED WITH WHIPPED CREAM.]
PEACH MOUSSE
Use fresh or canned peaches. Mash and rub them through a colander. Add
to a cupful of peach pulp half a teaspoonful of lemon juice, a few drops
of almond extract, and enough sugar to sweeten it. Dissolve in quarter
of a cupful of hot peach juice one and three quarter tablespoonfuls of
granulated gelatine which has been soaked for an hour in half a cupful
of cold water. Add the gelatine to the peach mixture. When it begins to
set, mix it until smooth, then fold in a half pint of cream whipped to a
stiff froth, and turn it into a mold. Serve with whipped cream. The
cream can be used to decorate the dish by pressing it through a
pastry-bag.
[Illustration: NO. 137.CHESTNUT PURÉE.]
CHESTNUT PURÉE
Boil for five minutes a pound of French chestnuts, drain off the water
and remove the shells and skins. Return the chestnuts to the fire and
boil them until tender. Put the boiled chestnuts in a mortar, and pound
them to a paste, then add a teaspoonful of vanilla and a teaspoonful of
lemon juice. Make a thick sugar syrup, and beat it into the paste, using
enough to sweeten to taste. Grease a ring-mold with oil, and put into it
a lining half an inch thick of the chestnut paste pressed through a
pastry-bag with a tube of small opening so it will come out
vermicelli-like in form. Fill the rest of the mold with plain paste.
Turn it on to a layer of sponge-cake. Just before serving fill the
center of the ring with whipped cream flavored with almond.
[Illustration: NO. 135. CHESTNUT BAVARIAN.]
CHESTNUT BAVARIAN
Prepare chestnuts as directed for chestnut purée. To two cupfuls of the
purée add one ounce of gelatine which has been soaked for an hour in
half a cupful of cold water and then dissolved in half a cupful of hot
water. Mix well, and when it begins to stiffen add a pint of cream
whipped to a stiff froth, and turn the mixture into a ring-mold to
harden. Fill the center with whipped cream, or with chestnuts boiled in
sugar and water until they look clear.
CHARLOTTE RUSSE
1 pint of milk,
1 pint of cream,
Yolks of four eggs,
½ cupful of sugar,
¼ boxful of gelatine,
1 teaspoonful of vanilla.
Mix the sugar with the yolks of the eggs. Scald the milk and pour it
over them. Place it on the fire and stir until the eggs are cooked, but
not thickened like a custard, then add the gelatine, which has been
soaked for an hour in half a cupful of cold water. When the gelatine is
dissolved remove it from the fire, add the vanilla, and let it get cold.
When the mixture begins to thicken add the cream whipped to a stiff
froth, and turn it into a mold lined with lady-fingers or with slices of
sponge-cake.
[Illustration: NO. 136. STRAWBERRY CHARLOTTE RUSSE GARNISHED WITH
STRAWBERRIES.]
STRAWBERRY CHARLOTTE RUSSE, No. 1
⅓ box of gelatine,
¼ cupful of cold water,
1½ cupfuls of powdered sugar,
1½ teaspoonfuls of lemon juice,
1 quart of berries, crushed and pressed
through a purée sieve,
½ pint of cream, whipped.
Soak the gelatine in the water for an hour, then set it in a pan of hot
water to dissolve. Add to the crushed berries the powdered sugar, lemon
juice, and gelatine. Put it aside for a while. When it begins to
stiffen, beat it until it is light and spongy, then mix in the whipped
cream, being careful not to pour in any of the liquid cream that may
have drained to the bottom of the dish. Turn the mixture into a
charlotte-mold lined with lady-fingers. When it is unmolded garnish it
with whole strawberries.
[Illustration: NO. 134. STRAWBERRY CHARLOTTE RUSSE, No. 2]
STRAWBERRY CHARLOTTE RUSSE, No. 2
Line a china or earthen bowl or mold with strawberries cut in halves,
and with the flat side of the berries placed close together against the
mold. Arrange one or two rows at a time, and then turn in the mixture to
keep them in place. Fill the mold with the same mixture used in No. 1;
or fill the mold with plain charlotte-russe filling, or with Bavarian
cream.
HOW TO MAKE MERINGUES
Put a dash of salt into the whites of five or six eggs and whip them
until very stiff and dry, then add slowly a quarter of a cupful of
sifted powdered sugar for each egg. The sugar should be placed, a little
at a time, at the end of the platter, and gradually whipped in. Continue
to whip until the mixture is firm enough to stand without spreading, and
any little point left by the beater remains erect. Success depends on
the eggs being sufficiently beaten.
The mixture can be made into various shapes with a spoon, but is better
molded by being pressed through a pastry-bag. The tops can be smoothed
and any irregularities effaced with a clean wet knife. The shapes should
be arranged on paper placed on inverted baking-tins, and set in a
moderate oven to form a thin crust, and to color lightly the tops, and
then placed on the hot shelf of the range to dry. If the meringues stick
to the paper, they can be easily removed by wetting the paper slightly.
[Illustration: NO. 138. MERINGUE RING WITH WHIPPED CREAM.]
[Illustration: NO. 139. MERINGUE CROWN.]
MERINGUE RING
Place meringue mixture (see above) in a pastry-bag with star-tube. Draw
on heavy paper two rings four to six inches in diameter, according to
size desired. Any round utensil of right size can be used for guide.
Press the meringue through the tube, following the circles marked on the
paper. One of the rings—the top one—should be made more ornamental than
the other. This is easily done by moving the tube while the mixture is
passing through it. With a wet knife make a narrow, smooth, flat surface
on the top of the under ring. Lay the papers holding the rings on
inverted baking-tins, and put them in a moderate oven for a few minutes
to color them and form a crust. Watch carefully that they do not get too
brown. When lightly colored, remove them to the hot shelf to dry. When
they are sufficiently firm take them carefully off the paper, turn them
over, break in the bottoms, then return them to the shelf to continue
the drying. Place one ring on top of the other, and just before serving
fill the center with whipped cream.
Meringues may be kept for some time, but in that case should be
freshened by heating before being used.
If preferred, the upper piece can be made into a cover as in
illustration No. 139.
[Illustration: NO. 140. MERINGUE CREAM TART, NO. 1.]
MERINGUE CREAM TART, No. 1
Make meringues (see page 150) of oblong shape, three inches long and two
inches wide. After the tops are firm, break in the bottoms in order to
dry the insides.
Trim the edges of a round layer of sponge-cake, spread it with jam of
any kind, arrange the meringues around it, and at the moment of serving
fill the center of the tart with whipped cream. Flavor the cream, if
desired. It will take a dozen meringues to make the crown.
Arrange the crown as follows: Put half a cupful of sugar and a quarter
cupful of hot water into a saucepan and stir until the sugar dissolves,
then let it cook, without stirring, until a little dropped into cold
water is brittle; it is then boiled to the crack. Draw the saucepan to
the side of the range, so the sugar will be kept hot without cooking any
more.
Dip the end of a meringue into the sugar and place it on the cake; hold
it in place while you dip a second meringue and place it under the first
one. Proceed in this way until all are placed, then put a drop of the
boiled sugar on the top of each one where it touches the next one. The
whole will then be held firmly in place.
[Illustration: NO. 141. MERINGUE CREAM TART, NO. 2.]
MERINGUE CREAM TART, No. 2
Make meringue mixture into small kisses, leaving the point left by the
tube erect.
Spread a layer of cake with jam as in No. 1. Stick a candied cherry on
the point of each kiss and arrange them as shown in illustration. Fill
the center with whipped cream.
[Illustration: NO. 142. MERINGUES FILLED WITH WHIPPED CREAM OR WITH ICE
CREAM.]
MERINGUES FILLED WITH WHIPPED CREAM OR WITH ICE CREAM
Make oblong-shaped meringues, as for cream tart No. 1. Just before
serving, fill them with whipped cream, or with ice cream, and press two
together. If necessary, use a little white of egg on the edges to make
them adhere.
CHOCOLATE CREAM
Scald two cupfuls of milk. Melt on a dry pan two squares of unsweetened
chocolate, add the hot milk slowly to the chocolate, stirring all the
time. Let it come to the boiling-point. Beat two whole eggs and two
yolks with four tablespoonfuls of sugar, stir the milk and chocolate
into the eggs, add half a teaspoonful of vanilla and a dash of salt.
Turn the mixture into a mold, set it into a pan of hot water, and cook
in a slow oven until it is firm. In order to have it smooth and solid it
must bake slowly. Test it by running in the point of a knife; if it is
not cooked, it will coat the knife with milk.
Unmold when cold and serve with whipped cream.
CHOCOLATE SPONGE
Make the same mixture as for chocolate cream. Instead of cooking it
slowly, put it into a hot oven and cook it until the whey appears. By
cooking in a hot oven it will be full of holes and have a sponge-like
appearance. When cold, unmold it and let the whey escape. Serve with
whipped cream.
[Illustration: NO. 143. BAVARIAN CREAM GARNISHED WITH CREAM CAKES.]
BAVARIAN CREAM GARNISHED WITH CREAM-CAKES
Make a Bavarian cream (see “Century Cook Book,” page 400), and turn it
into a flat tin to harden. Have it about half an inch thick. When it is
set, cut it into pieces two and a half to three inches square, and
arrange them, overlapping, in the center of a dish. Place around them
small cream-cakes of one inch in diameter.
Cornstarch pudding, jelly, or any mixture firm enough to be sliced can
be served in this way. Left-over jelly can be melted and molded again in
a layer, or it may be combined with custard, cream, crumbed cake, or
anything suitable that may be at hand, and turned into a layer-tin to
stiffen; then cut and serve as above. Any small cakes or sliced cake cut
into rounds may be substituted for the cream-cakes.
Chocolate Bavarian garnished with small cakes covered with white icing
makes a good combination.
PIES AND TARTS
PUFF-PASTE
Puff-paste is made of equal weights of butter and flour. The flour is
made into a paste, the butter is worked until it is flexible, and they
are then rolled together and folded several times so that many distinct
layers of butter and paste are obtained. During the rolling air is
imprisoned, and in baking the air-cells expand, separate the layers, and
so inflate the pastry.
In order to effect this result, it is necessary to keep the pastry dry
and cold, and the butter cold, so that they will not mix in rolling, but
be pressed into thin sheets. Careful handling is necessary. Many
failures are the result of pressing the paste in spots with the fingers,
which prevents its rising evenly, if at all. A marble slab is desirable
for rolling the paste on, as it helps to keep it cold.
Either of the following mixtures may be used:
No. 1. 1 pound of butter,
1 pound of flour (pastry flour preferred),
About 1 pound of cold water.
No. 2. 1 pound of butter,
1 cupful of flour,
1 cupful of water,
White of one egg.
Cut one sixth of the butter into the flour for the paste.
No salt is needed if salted butter is used.
Put the flour on the slab, chop into it, using a knife, one sixth of the
butter, then moisten it with the water into which has been stirred the
beaten white of one egg. The exact amount of water cannot be given, as
that depends upon the dryness of the flour, but care must be taken to
have the paste of the right consistency. It should be neither too hard
to roll easily, nor so soft that it will stick, but have a flexible, dry
consistency. Work it for a few minutes with the hands to a perfect
smoothness. Roll it to a rectangular shape (a little longer than broad),
and about a half inch in thickness. The paste can be handled with
impunity at this stage, and care should be taken to roll it to an even
thickness and to have the edges straight and the corners square. When
just right, fold it over, wrap it in a napkin, put it in a pan, and
place the pan upon ice.
Work the butter with a spoon or a pat until it is smooth and flexible,
and press out as much of the water it contains as possible, as this wets
the paste and may make it sticky. Mold the butter into a smooth,
flattened square cake and set it on ice.
When the paste and the butter are perfectly cold lay the paste on the
slab, place the cake of butter in the center, and fold the paste over
it, first on the sides, and then the ends. The paste should be long
enough to fold the end pieces entirely across the cake of butter. Roll
it out into a strip three times longer than broad. Rolling is made
easier by lightly pounding as well as rolling the paste. Keep the edges
even, and finish by having the corners square and the whole of uniform
thickness. Fold the strip twice, making three even layers, and place it
on the ice again, wrapped in a napkin, to prevent it from gathering
moisture. When it is entirely cold, roll it out again and fold it in the
same way. Strike the edges to keep the folds from separating, and turn
the paste so as to roll it in the opposite direction from the previous
time. Endeavor to keep the edges straight and corners square, so the
layers will be even. After each folding and rolling, it is said to have
one “turn,” and the pastry is not finished until it has had six to eight
turns. The rolling becomes more difficult as the layers get thinner, and
great care must be used not to let the butter break through. This will
happen if it is not kept very cold; so, unless the rolling is done in a
very cold room, it is safer to put it on the ice after each turn. If the
butter shows signs of coming through, cover the spot with flour, and set
it away at once.
The paste should also be very cold when cut into shapes, so that the
edges will not stick together; and again, it should be very cold before
being put into the oven.
The oven should be hot. A simple test of the heat is to place a piece of
writing-paper in the oven for ten minutes. If at the end of that time
the paper is a light yellow, the heat is right for vol-au-vent and large
pieces. If it is a light-brown color, it is about the heat used for
baking bread, and is right for patty-shells.
After a little practice the making of puff-paste becomes an easy matter.
The rolling need not be done all in one day, for if the paste is kept
dry and cold, and not allowed to form a crust, it will keep for several
days. So many high-class dishes can be made of puff-paste, it is
desirable to accomplish the art of making it.
JAM TART
Tart cases may be prepared the same as vol-au-vent cases, page 71,
except that the paste should be rolled not more than half an inch thick
when ready to be cut; or, instead of cutting the border in the paste, as
for vol-au-vents, a strip of paste one inch wide may be laid around the
edge. The strips should be cut diagonally on the ends, and these edges
moistened so they will stick together where joined. Lay the strip
carefully around the slightly moistened border of the bottom piece,
paint the top with egg, and bake in a hot oven for thirty minutes.
Remove carefully the top of the center, and take out any uncooked paste,
return it to the oven to dry the inside.
Before using, heat the tart again to make it crisp, and when cool spread
the inside with a layer of any kind of jam or preserved fruit, put on
the center piece, which was taken off to get out the uncooked paste, and
cover the entire center with jam. Serve it on a lace paper.
TARTLET SHELLS
Use puff-paste trimmings. Roll the paste thin, shape it to the pans,
being careful to press the paste as little as possible. Trim the edges
with a sharp knife. Put a piece of paper in the bottom of each one, and
fill the tartlet cases with dried peas, beans, or rice, and bake in a
hot oven ten to fifteen minutes. When well browned, remove the filling,
being particularly careful, if rice is used, that every grain is picked
off the crusts. Return the shells to the oven for a minute to dry the
insides.
These shells can be kept for some time, but should be freshened before
using by being heated again. Fill them, just before serving, with any
kind of jam or preserve, or with any freshly stewed fruits, or with
creamed minced meat.
[Illustration: NO. 144. TART OF PUFF-PASTE WITH STRAWBERRY JAM.]
STRAWBERRY TARTLETS
Use tartlet shells made of any good pastry, puff-paste trimmings
preferred. Just before serving, freshen the shells by heating them, if
they have been kept some time, and fill with stewed fresh strawberries.
Serve the juice separately in a sauce-dish.
To prepare the strawberries, put them in a saucepan and cover them with
enough sugar to sweeten them. Let them stand in a warm place until the
juice moistens the sugar. Cook them slowly until the berries are
softened, but not so long that they lose their shape.
[Illustration: NO. 146. FRANGIPANE TARTLETS.]
FRANGIPANE TARTLETS
Line patty-pans with puff-paste rolled one quarter of an inch thick. Cut
the paste an inch larger than the pans, and fit it as carefully as
possible, pressing it lightly with the broad finger into the flutings.
Prick the bottom crust and lay on it a slice of bread cut to the size of
the bottom of the pan. This is to prevent the bottom crust from rising
and to leave the sides to puff, as the light pastry is an important part
of these tartlets. Bake in a hot oven about fifteen minutes. When done
remove any uncooked paste and fill with frangipane cream. Cover the
whole top with meringue, piling it high in the center, and smooth it
with a wet knife. Make a border one half an inch wide of chopped almonds
which have been blanched and browned. Place in the center a half cherry
and two pieces of angelica to imitate a flower.
FRANGIPANE CREAM
¼ cupful of cream,
1 tablespoonful of flour,
4 tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar,
1 tablespoonful of sherry,
1 tablespoonful of brandy,
1 teaspoonful of orange-flower water,
1 grated lemon rind,
1 tablespoonful of chopped citron,
4 egg yolks.
Put the cream and flour in a small saucepan and stir until smooth, place
on the fire a few minutes to cook the flour, stirring all the time.
Remove from the fire, and when it is a little cooled add all the other
ingredients. Set the saucepan in a second saucepan containing hot water
and cook, stirring all the time, until the mixture has become a thick
cream.
[Illustration: NO. 145. STRAWBERRY TARTLETS.]
FRUIT TARTLETS
Prepare tartlet shells as for frangipane tartlets. Half fill the shells
with frangipane cream, cover each one with half a California canned
peach or apricot, and decorate around the outside of the fruit with
meringue pressed through a pastry-bag.
[Illustration: NO. 147. JALOUSIES.]
JALOUSIES
Roll puff-paste trimmings into a sheet one eighth of an inch thick. Cut
it into strips three inches wide. Lay half of the strips on a
baking-sheet and spread them with a layer of well-seasoned and quite dry
apple sauce. Cover them with the remaining strips, which have been
slashed into triangular openings by being folded over and cut on the
folded side an inch deep in diagonal lines. Egg the tops and bake in a
hot oven. When done, sprinkle with sugar and return them to the oven for
a minute to glaze. Cut the strips after they are baked into pieces three
inches long.
CRANBERRY PIE
Add to half a cupful of hot water a cupful of sugar and a tablespoonful
of cornstarch diluted with a little water. Stir until the water boils,
then add half a cupful of molasses, half a tablespoonful of butter, a
saltspoonful of salt, and a pint of chopped cranberries. Cook for a few
minutes, then turn it into the pastry and bake with or without an upper
crust.
[Illustration: NO. 148. COCOANUT PIE.]
COCOANUT PIE
Grate a cocoanut. Mix it with an equal weight of sugar and the beaten
yolks of four eggs. Mix together and scald a cupful of milk and the milk
of the cocoanut. Add a tablespoonful of cornstarch diluted with a little
water, and stir it until it is a little thickened. Remove it from the
fire, add the cocoanut mixture, and lastly the whipped whites of four
eggs. Turn it into a deep pie-paste and bake very slowly for half an
hour, or until firm to the touch. Serve cold.
The cocoanut filling should be one and a half or one and three quarter
inches thick. A kitchen basin may be used for the baking-dish, or the
crust can be built up around a pie-dish to make it deeper.
[Illustration: NO. 149. HUCKLEBERRY PIE.]
CURRANT PIE
Add to a cupful of mashed currants a cupful of sugar, half a teaspoonful
of butter, the yolk of an egg, and if there is much juice a
tablespoonful of flour. Bake with an under-crust only, and cover the top
with meringue.
LEMON PIE, No. 1
3 eggs,
2 cupfuls of milk,
2 tablespoonfuls of flour, scant,
1 tablespoonful of butter,
5 tablespoonfuls of sugar, or to taste,
Juice and grated rind of one and a half lemons.
Beat together the yolks of three eggs and the white of one egg, then
add, in the following order, the sugar, the flour, the butter, and the
milk. Lastly, add very slowly the juice and grated rind of lemon. Turn
the mixture into a pie-dish lined with a bottom crust and bake it slowly
until it is set like a custard. Do not let it cook too long, or, like
custard, it will become watery.
Make a meringue of the whites of two eggs. Beat them to a stiff froth,
then add slowly two tablespoonfuls of sugar. Spread the meringue roughly
over the pie when it is taken from the oven, and return it to the oven
for a minute to color the meringue. The top may be made more ornamental
by pressing the meringue through a pastry-bag on to the pie.
LEMON PIE, No. 2
Put into a saucepan on the fire one cupful of sugar and one cupful of
water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then add two cupfuls of grated
crumb of bread and the juice and grated rind of two lemons. Stir until
the mixture is smooth, then add the beaten yolks of two eggs and remove
it from the fire. Turn the mixture into a baked under-crust, and bake
the pie for ten to fifteen minutes.
Cover the top with meringue made of the whites of three eggs and three
tablespoonfuls of sugar.
[Illustration: NO. 150. STRAWBERRY CAKE.]
[Illustration: NO. 151. STRAWBERRY-CAKE WITH WHIPPED CREAM.]
[Illustration: NO. 152. STRAWBERRY-CAKE WITH MERINGUE.]
[Illustration: NO. 153. STRAWBERRY-CAKE WITH MERINGUE.]
STRAWBERRY CAKES
Make two layers of sponge-cake, trim the edges, cover them with
well-selected strawberries set close together, sprinkle with sugar, and
place one layer on the other. Pass cream in a pitcher.
Prepare the cake as in No. 1, but cover the top with whipped cream
pressed through a pastry-bag.
Use a single layer of cake, cover it with meringue, then with
strawberries placed close together, and decorate with meringue pressed
through a pastry-bag with star-tube, making a border, or a border and
stars between the berries.
For the meringue use the whites of three eggs and four tablespoonfuls of
sugar. Flavor it with a few drops of vanilla. Prepare the cake just
before serving it.
[Illustration: NO. 154. CURRANT-SHORTCAKE.]
[Illustration: NO. 155. CURRANT-SHORTCAKE CUT.]
CURRANT SHORTCAKE
This shortcake will be liked as well as, if not better than, one made of
strawberries. The latter has an established reputation, which is based
largely upon its attractive appearance, but, as a rule, it is
disappointing to the taste. Shortcake can be made quite as inviting with
currants as with strawberries, and the tartness of the fruit gives it a
flavor which is especially grateful in hot weather, when currants are in
season.
Receipt for one currant shortcake which is enough to serve to six
persons:
Make a biscuit dough as follows: Sift together twice two cupfuls of
flour, one and a half teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, and a half
teaspoonful of salt (they must be thoroughly mixed). When this is done,
rub in one rounded teaspoonful of butter or lard or cottolene, then add
enough milk to make a soft dough. Use a fork to stir in the milk. Mix it
lightly and quickly together, making the paste a little too soft to
roll. Turn it into a well-greased pie-tin, smooth the top with a wet
knife, and put it at once into a hot oven to bake for thirty minutes.
When it is taken from the oven trim the edges and split the biscuit in
two, using two forks so as to tear, not cut, it apart. Spread each half
with butter while it is still hot.
Stem a box of currants. Reserve a few of the finest ones to decorate the
top of the shortcake. Put the rest of the currants into a bowl and mash
them, add enough sugar to sweeten to taste, and let them stand an hour
or more before using them.
Spread the mashed currants over one half of the buttered biscuit, lay
the other half on it. Cover the top with meringue made of the whipped
whites of two eggs sweetened with two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar.
Decorate with whole currants as shown in illustration.
It can be more elaborately decorated by pressing the meringue through a
pastry-bag and tube into ornamental shapes, and placing currants on it
as the fancy dictates.
Serve very fresh.
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