CREAMS, CUSTARDS, AND CHEESE-CAKES.
CREAMS.--Creams may be divided into two classes--whipped cream, flavoured
in a variety of ways, and the solid moulds of cream, which when turned out
look extremely elegant, but which when tasted are somewhat disappointing.
These latter moulds owe their firmness and consistency to the addition of
isinglass, and, as this substance is not allowed in vegetarian cookery, we
shall be able to dispense with cream served in this form, nor are we losers
by so doing. The ordinary mould of cream is too apt to taste like spongy
liver, and, so far as palate is concerned, is incomparably inferior to the
more delicate whipped creams. Just in the same way a good rich custard
made with yolks of eggs is spoilt by being turned into a solid custard by
the addition of gelatine. In order to have good whipped cream, the first
essential is to obtain pure cream. This greatly depends upon the
neighbourhood in which we live. In country houses, away from large towns,
there is as a rule no trouble, whereas in London really good cream can only
be obtained with great difficulty. There is a well-known old story of the
London milkman telling the cook who complained of the quality of the cream
to stir it up, as the cream settled at the bottom. We will not enter into
the subject of the adulteration of cream in big cities, as probably many of
these stories are gross exaggerations, though it is said that pigs' brains
and even horses' brains have been used for the purpose of giving the cream
a consistency, while undoubtedly turmeric has been used to give it a
colour.
We will suppose that we have, say, a quart of really good thick cream. All
that is necessary is to beat up the cream with a whisk till it becomes a
froth. This is much more easily done in cold weather than in hot, and, if
the weather be very warm, it is best to put the tin or pan containing the
cream into ice an hour or two before it is used. Old French cookery-books
recommend the addition of a little powdered gum, not bigger than a pea, and
the gum recommended is that known as tragacanth. Others again beat up the
white of an egg to a stiff froth, and add this to the cream. It is a good
plan when the cream fails to froth completely to take off the top froth and
drain it on a sieve placed upside down. The cream that drains through can
be added to what is left and re-whipped. It is also a good plan to make
whipped cream some time before it is wanted, and, indeed, it can be
prepared with advantage the day before. When the cream is drained (we are
supposing a quart to have been used) it should be mixed with three or four
ounces of very finely powdered sugar, as well as the particular kind of
flavouring that will give the cream its name. For instance, we can have,
if liqueurs are allowed--
MARASCHINO CREAM.--This is simply made by mixing a small glass of
maraschino with some whipped cream, properly sweetened.
COFFEE CREAM.--Make a very strong infusion of pure coffee that has been
roasted a high colour. It will be found best to re-roast coffee berries in
the oven if you have not got a proper coffee-roaster. Pound the berries in
a pestle and mortar, or grind them very coarsely; then make a strong
infusion with a very small quantity of water, and strain it till it is
quite bright. This is mixed with the whipped sweetened cream.
CHOCOLATE CREAM.--Take about two ounces of the very best chocolate and
dissolve it in a little boiling water; let it get cold, and then mix with
the whipped sweetened cream.
VANILLA CREAM.--Vanilla cream is nicest when a fresh vanilla pod is used
for the purpose, but a more simple process is to use a little essence of
vanilla.
ORANGE CREAM.--Rub some lumps of sugar on the outside of an orange, and
pound this sugar very finely, and then mix it with the whipped cream.
LEMON CREAM.--Proceed exactly as in making orange cream, only substituting
lemon for orange.
STRAWBERRY CREAM.--The juice only of the strawberry should be used. This
juice should be mixed with the powdered sugar and then used for mixing with
the whipped cream. It is a mistake, in making creams, to have too much
flavouring. The juice of a quarter of a pound of ripe red strawberries
would be sufficient for a quart of cream.
PISTACHIO CREAM.--Take about half a pound of pistachio kernels, throw them
for a minute or two into boiling water, and then rub off the skins,
throwing them into cold water like you do in blanching almonds. Pound
these in a mortar with a tablespoonful of orange-flower water, and mix a
little spinach extract to give it a colour. Now mix this with the whipped
sweetened cream very thoroughly. This bright green cream makes a very
elegant dish.
CUSTARDS.--Good custard forms, perhaps, the best cold sweet sauce known.
It can be made very cheaply, and, on the other hand, it may be made in such
a manner as to be very expensive. We will first describe how to make the
most expensive kind of custard, as very often we can gather ideas from a
high-class model and carry them out in an inexpensive way. The highest
class custard is made by only using yolks of eggs instead of whole eggs,
and we can use cream in addition to milk. The great art in making custard
is to take care it does not curdle. Six yolks of eggs, half a pint of
milk, half a pint of cream, sweetened, would, of course, form a very
expensive custard. An ordinary custard can be made as follows:--Take four
large or five small eggs, beat them up very thoroughly, and add them
gradually to a pint of sweetened milk that has been boiled separately. In
order to thicken the custard, it is a good plan to put it in a jug and
stand the jug in a saucepan of boiling water, and stir the custard till it
is sufficiently thick. Custard can be flavoured in various ways. One of
the cheapest and perhaps nicest is to boil one or two bay-leaves in the
milk. Custard can also be flavoured by the addition of a small quantity of
the essence of vanilla; if you use a fresh pod vanilla, tie it up in a
little piece of muslin and have a string to it. This can be boiled in the
milk till the milk is sufficiently flavoured, and this pod can be used over
and over again. Of course, as it loses its flavour, it will have to remain
in the milk longer.
CHEAP CUSTARD.--A very cheap custard can be made by adding to one pint of
boiled milk one well-beaten-up egg and one good-sized teaspoonful of
corn-flour. The milk should be first sweetened, and can be flavoured very
cheaply by rubbing a few lumps of sugar on the outside of a lemon, or by
having a few bay-leaves boiled in it. A rich yellow colour can be obtained
by using a small quantity of yellow vegetable colouring extract, which,
like the green colouring, is sold in bottles by all grocers. These bottles
are very cheap, as they last a long time. They simply give any kind of
pudding a rich colouring without imparting any flavour whatever, and in
this respect are very superior to saffron.
APPLE CUSTARD.--Good apple custard can only be made by using apples of a
good flavour. When apples are in season, this dish can be made fairly
cheaply, but it does not do to use those high-priced imported apples. Peel
and take out the cores of about four pounds of apples, and let these simmer
till they are quite tender in rather more than a pint of water. Add about
one pound of sugar, or rather less if the apples are sweet; add a little
powdered cinnamon, and mix all this with eight eggs, well beaten up; stir
the mixture very carefully in a saucepan, or better still in a good-sized
jug placed in a saucepan, till it begins to thicken. This custard is best
served in glasses, and a little cinnamon sugar can be shaken over the top.
Nutmeg may be used instead of cinnamon, and by many is thought superior.
CHEESE-CAKES.--Cheese-cakes can be sent to table in two forms, the one some
rich kind of custard or cream placed in little round pieces of pastry, or
we can have a so-called cheese-cake baked in a pie-dish, the edges only of
which are lined with puff paste. We can also have cheese-cakes very rich
and cheese-cakes very plain. The origin of the name cheese-cake is that
originally they were made from curds used in making cheese. Probably most
people consider that the cheese-cakes made from curds are superior, and in
the North of England, and especially in Yorkshire, where curds are exposed
for sale in the windows at so much a pound, very delicious cheese-cakes can
be made, but considerable difficulty will be experienced if we attempt to
make home-made curds from London milk. Curds are made by taking any
quantity of milk and letting it nearly boil, then throw in a little rennet
or a glass of sherry. The curds must be well strained.
CHEESE-CAKES FROM CURDS.--Take half a pound of curds and press the curds in
a napkin to extract the moisture. Take also six ounces of lump sugar, and
rub the sugar on the outside of a couple of oranges or lemons. Dissolve
this sugar in two ounces of butter made hot in a tin in the oven; mix this
with the curds, with two ounces of powdered ratafias and a little grated
nutmeg--about half a nutmeg to this quantity will be required; add also six
yolks of eggs. Mix this well together, and fill the tartlet cases, made
from puff paste, and bake them in the oven. It is often customary to place
in the centre of each cheese-cake a thin strip of candied peel. As soon as
the cheese-cakes are done, take them out of the oven, and if the mixture be
of a bad colour finish it off with a salamander, but do not let them remain
in the oven too long, so that the pastry becomes brittle and dried up.
These cheese-cakes can be made on a larger scale than the ordinary one so
familiar to all who have looked into a pastry-cook's window. Suppose we
make them of the size of a breakfast saucer, a very rich and delicious
cheese-cake can be made by adding some chopped dried cherries to the
mixture. Sometimes ordinary grocer's currants are added and the ratafias
omitted. Sultana raisins can be used instead of currants, and by many are
much preferred.
This mixture can be baked in a shallow pie-dish and time edge of the dish
lined with puff paste, but cheese-cakes made from curds are undoubtedly
expensive.
CHEESE-CAKES FROM POTATOES.--Exceedingly nice cheese-cakes can be made from
remains of cold potatoes, and can be made very cheap by increasing the
quantity of potatoes used. Take a quarter of a pound of butter, four eggs,
two fresh lemons, and half a pound of lump sugar. First of all rub off all
the outsides of two lemons on to the sugar; oil the butter in a tin in the
oven and melt the sugar in it; squeeze the juice of the two lemons, and
take care that the sugar is thoroughly dissolved before you begin to mix
all the ingredients together. Now beat up the eggs very thoroughly and mix
the whole in a basin. This now forms a very rich mixture indeed, a
good-sized teaspoonful of which would be sufficient for the interior of an
ordinary-sized cheese-cake, but a far better plan is to make a large
cheese-cake, or rather cheese-cake pudding, in a pie-dish by adding cold
boiled potatoes. The plainness or richness of the pudding depends entirely
upon the amount of potatoes added. The pie-dish can be lined with a little
puff paste round the edge, if preferred, or the pudding can be sent to
table plain. It should be baked in the oven till the top is nicely
browned. It can be served either hot or cold, but, in our opinion, is
nicer cold. If the lemons are very fresh and green--if the pudding is sent
to table _hot_--you will often detect the smell of turpentine. If a _large
quantity_ of potatoes is added more sugar will be required.
ORANGE CHEESE-CAKE.--Proceed exactly as above, only substituting two
oranges for two lemons.
ALMOND CHEESE-CAKES.--Proceed exactly as above, only instead of rubbing the
sugar on the outside of lemons add a small quantity of essence of almonds.
APPLE CHEESE-CAKES.--Apple cheese-cakes can be made in a similar manner to
apple custard, the only difference being that the mixture is baked till it
sets.