RED.--Take twenty grains of cochineal, and fifteen grains of cream
of tartar finely powdered; add to them a piece of alum the size of a
cherry stone, and boil them with a jill of soft water, in an earthen
vessel, slowly, for half an hour. Then strain it through muslin, and
keep it tightly corked in a phial.
COCHINEAL FOR PRESENT USE.--Take two cents' worth of cochineal. Lay it
on a flat plate, and bruise it with the blade of a knife. Put it into
half a tea-cup of alcohol. Let it stand a quarter of an hour, and then
filter it through fine muslin.
YELLOW COLOURING.--Take a little saffron, put it into an earthen vessel
with a very small quantity of cold soft water, and let it steep till
the colour of the infusion is a bright yellow. Then strain it. The
yellow seeds of lilies will answer nearly the same purpose.
GREEN.--Take fresh spinach or beet leaves, and pound them in a marble
mortar. If you want it for immediate use, take off the green froth as
it rises, and mix it with the article you intend to colour. If you
wish to keep it a few days, take the juice when you have pressed out a
tea-cup full, and adding to it a piece of alum the size of a pea, give
it a boil in a saucepan.
WHITE.--Blanch some almonds, soak them in cold water, and then pound
them to a smooth paste in a marble mortar; adding at intervals a little
rose water.
Thick cream will communicate a white colour.
These preparations may be used for jellies, ice creams, blanc-mange,
syllabubs, icing for cakes; and for various articles of confectionary.