inch thick and rather smaller than the mould you intend to use for the
pudding; lay the slices of cake to soak in brandy flavored with noyau;
decorate the bottom and sides of the mould with candied fruits, split
cherries, angelica rings, the same of green oranges, and little diamonds
of ginger, with a few whole ratafias, dipping them in jelly to make
them adhere; lay in one slice of cake, then cherries and ratafias,
another slice of cake, and so on, until the mould is three parts full.
Make a quart of custard with six yolks of eggs, three tablespoonfuls of
sugar, and an ounce of gelatine; when this is cold pour part into the
mould, which must close hermetically; pack it in salt and ice for at
least two hours; when you wish to turn it out, dip it a minute in
lukewarm water. Keep the remaining custard on ice, flavor it with sherry
or rum, beat it up, pour it around the pudding, and strew it with
chopped pistachio-nuts.
_Ice Pudding._--Make a custard with a pint and a half of milk, one whole
egg and the yolks of four others, and a quarter of a pound of sugar;
when cold, add half a glass of brandy, a glass of maraschino, an ounce
of citron cut fine, a quarter of a pound of dried fruits, and an ounce
of pistachio-nuts, the fruits cut up in small pieces, the pistachio-nuts
blanched and split; mix well; and lastly add half a pint of whipped
cream. When well frozen, pack into a pudding mould, and bury in ice and
salt till wanted.
_Bombay Ice Pudding._--Line a plain mould with Roman-punch ice an inch
thick, keeping it bedded nearly to the brim in ice and salt while you do
it; then fill the centre with the following mixture: a pint of cocoanut
grated very fine, mixed with a pint of ice-cream; take great care that
the cocoanut is ice-cold before you mix it in, or it will melt the
ice-cream. When the mould is filled within an inch of the top, cover it
with Roman punch, close the mould hermetically, and bury in ice. These
puddings, where two kinds of ice are used, must only be attempted after
one has learned to pack plain ice-cream with success.
_Iced Jelly Pudding._--Make a custard with a pint of boiling cream,
three ounces of sugar, and the yolks of four eggs beaten; pour the cream
to the eggs very carefully, stirring it in by degrees. Have ready a
quarter of an ounce of gelatine dissolved in very little milk, mix it
in, and put the vessel containing the custard in a stewpan of boiling
water, and stir till it just thickens; then whisk it until nearly cold.
Mask a quart mould with jelly an inch thick--any favorite _red_ jelly,
or a pale one tinted. Directions have already been given how the inside
of a mould is to be coated with jelly. There is an easier but
extravagant way, namely, to fill the mould with jelly, then scoop out
the centre neatly, leaving a shell of jelly an inch thick. The centre,
of course, might be made hot and bottled for another occasion, or to
make Bohemian cream jellies. When the mould is masked, fill it with the
custard, which must be half frozen; then cover securely, and pack in ice
and salt at least five hours before it is served.
XXVII.
ICED PUDDINGS.
_Filbert and Wine Iced Pudding._--To one pint of cream put four
tablespoonfuls of sugar and two glasses of fine sherry. The cream must
be perfectly sweet, but should be at least twenty-four hours old, and be
ice cold. Whip this solid; then freeze. Put a pint of filberts in a cool
oven till the skins will nearly all rub off; put them between two coarse
cloths, and rub as much as possible of the brown coating off them; pound
them to a paste with a little thick cream, mix four ounces of sugar with
the nuts, and then blend the whole with enough thick custard to make a
very thick batter; flavor with lemon or vanilla, or not, as you choose;
freeze. Line a plain mould with the frozen wine cream an inch thick;
then fill in the centre with the frozen filberts well pressed in; cover
tight, and pack in ice and salt for three hours, or until wanted. This
pudding can be made of walnuts and port-wine cream.
_Iced Custard with Fruit._--Flavor one pint of cream with any liqueur
you prefer; beat twelve eggs thoroughly; strain them; boil the cream
with five ounces of sugar, and when it is just off the boil pour it,
little by little, to the eggs; add a quarter of an ounce of gelatine
that has been dissolved in very little water and strained to the
custard; whisk until cold; have ready a mould masked with candied
fruits. To mask, set the mould in a pan of cracked ice, and dip each
piece of fruit in strong melted jelly; build up from the bottom of the
mould having all the fruits, cut about the thickness of a split candied
cherry and near the size, arranged with a view to a good effect when the
mould shall be turned out. Half freeze the custard, and pour it in the
mould three inches high; throw in some of the trimmings of candied
fruit chopped fine. When set, add more custard, then more fruit, until
the mould is full. Let it stand in ice at least five hours before it is
wanted.
_Rice a la Princesse._--Let some rice swell in water until quite tender;
proportion, one cup of rice to two (scant) of water; then butter a
saucepan; put the rice into it, with half a pint of milk; let it stew
gently till it will mash; the milk must have all been absorbed; sweeten
with three tablespoonfuls of sugar. Mix with this a gill of apricot jam,
a teaspoonful of vanilla, and half a pint of whipped cream; freeze; when
well frozen, pack in a mould and bury in ice and salt. Pound a dozen
macaroons; stir them into a pint of whipped cream; let the mixture be
put on ice. When the pudding is turned out of the mould, cover with the
macaroon cream, and decorate the dish with cubes of peach or apricot
jelly.
_Chocolate Cream Pudding._--Boil a quarter of a pound of the finest
vanilla chocolate in half a pint of milk, whisking it well till it
boils; dissolve in it two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Beat three
half-pints of cream and three tablespoonfuls of sugar solid while the
chocolate cools; when it is _ice_ cold mix in one half the beaten cream,
and freeze. Line a plain mould with the frozen chocolate (the remainder
of the whipped cream should have been kept in cracked ice and salt, so
as to be ice cold); fill up the centre of the mould with the cream,
cover tight, and bury in salt and ice.
_Ice-Creams and Ices._--There are so many ways of making ice-cream, that
all one can do is to indicate the one or two best, and certainly the
_very_ best is the simplest, and there is no dessert so easy to prepare
in hot weather as this, since there is no work over the fire. The only
trouble is breaking the ice and turning the machine for some twenty
minutes, which can be done by a child.
_Simplest Fruit Ice-Cream._--Mash two pounds of strawberries or
raspberries, put to them half a pound of powdered sugar, and let them
remain in a cold place two or three hours, so that the juice may run;
then, strain the juice to a quart of thick sweet cream and another half
pound of sugar, with the juice of half a lemon; stir, and pour cream and
fruit juice into the freezer, which must be packed with ice and
rock-salt in about equal quantities, the ice being broken quite small.
Let the cream remain standing in the freezer a few minutes before you
begin to turn; then freeze, letting off the water, and filling anew with
ice and salt if necessary. Stir the cream down as it forms, and keep on
turning five or ten minutes after it is actually necessary. This extra
working insures that extreme smoothness characteristic of Italian and
French ice-cream. If you are not expert in freezing, be satisfied not to
pack your cream in a mould for the first few times. Take out the paddle
of the freezer, press the ice compactly down in the freezer, cover, and
see that the ice and salt are sufficient and free from water. In two
hours you can turn the ice out of the freezer in a round column or loaf
that will be quite as sightly as the oblong square one frequently gets
from the caterer. Many people think that simply freezing the pure cream
produces the loose, frothy cream found at inferior confectioners', but
this is not the case; pure cream frozen results in a firm smooth mass
which cuts like butter.
I have given the formula for raspberry and strawberry cream only, but
any fruit juice may be substituted, varying the quantity of sugar as
required.
When it is desirable to freeze the fruit in the cream instead of the
juice, it must not be added until the cream is frozen. Stir in
raspberries, strawberries, chopped pineapple, banana, or peaches just
before the ice is ready to pack down; otherwise the fruit, being full of
water, will freeze into hard knots.
_Tutti-frutti Ice-Cream_ being made from chopped candied fruit, this
precaution is not necessary; the fruit may be added at any time during
the freezing, or stirred in last, as you please.
I have given the simplest and best method of making ice-cream, yet the
way most in use is to add custard; and French cooks always use "meringue
paste," claiming that it insures a smoothness and lightness nothing else
can give.
_Custard for Ice-Cream._--This is made as any other custard, except that
double the amount of sugar is allowed for everything that is to be
frozen. It may be made of from three to six eggs to a pint of milk, as
you prefer. This must be ice cold before you put it in the freezer.
_Ice-Cream with Eggs._--One pint of milk, three eggs, leaving out one
white, half a pound of sugar (if acid fruit is to be added, it may
require more for some tastes). Make a custard of these materials, and
half freeze it; then add a pint of cream whipped solid. Stir in well and
finish freezing, turning the handle some few minutes after it gets
pretty stiff, if there is a strong enough hand near to do it.
In making varieties of ice-cream you have only to consider the fitness
of the articles you use; for instance, any sort of fruit may be added,
with the exception of lemons. Fleshy fruits, such as pineapple, peaches,
pears, etc., are usually mixed with the cream uncooked in this country;
abroad this is only done with soft fruits, such as raspberries,
blackberries, oranges, and such as will mash through a colander. Others
are very slightly stewed in rich syrup (as nearly their own juice as
possible), then pulped and mixed through when the cream is nearly
frozen.
In winter, fruit jams, and especially jellies, are very pleasant in
ice-cream; they always require a little lemon juice to restore some of
the natural sharpness of fresh fruit. A tumbler of red currant jelly
turned into a pint of ice-cream is delicious, and gives a pretty, faint
pink tint. The method is just the same whether for custard and cream or
cream alone.
The meringue paste alluded to as used by foreign confectioners is made
by beating the white of an egg with a tablespoonful of powdered sugar
until stiff.
_Grilled Almond Ice-Cream._--Make a quart of ice-cream; grill some
almonds in the following way: Blanch four ounces of almonds, dry them in
a hot spot till they are brittle; then put in a thick saucepan or saute
pan four ounces of sugar and a gill of water; let them boil five
minutes; throw in the almonds; stir them till part of the sugar adheres
and they begin to turn yellow. Take them up, chop them, and when quite
cold stir them into the ice-cream, which should be flavored with
vanilla.
XXVIII.
ICE-CREAMS AND WATER-ICES.
To those very fond of tea, ice-cream made with it is very acceptable,
and is very much used at English garden parties.
_Tea Ice-Cream._--To one pound of granulated sugar put a pint of strong
green tea, a pint and a half of cream, and two quarts of rich milk, and
a very little cinnamon water. Let the whole simmer one minute, not
stirring, but keeping the mixture in motion by gently swinging the
saucepan. Freeze as usual. This recipe may be used for coffee and
chocolate; it will make a large quantity, and for a medium-sized family
one quarter will suffice.
_Chinese Ice._--Beat the yolks of fifteen eggs with three quarters of a
pound of powdered sugar; pound four ounces of pistachio-nuts (blanched)
with the white of an egg; put to it three gills of water; stir it over
the fire in a double boiler till it is as thick as cream; take great
care that it does not boil. Color it green, or part green and part
yellow; flavor as you please; cut up a couple of candied Chinese oranges
small and a little preserved ginger, and freeze.
_Water-Ices._--These are exceedingly simple, and no more elegant form of
refreshment can be offered than a plate of well-frozen or a tumbler of
half-frozen water-ice. It is acceptable when ice-cream would be too
heavy, and can be offered at the simplest country afternoon tea, or
during a call, without the seeming ostentation of ice-cream.
_Ginger Water-Ice_ (to serve as a beverage if preferred).--Take six
ounces of preserved ginger, free from fibre; pound it; make two quarts
of lemonade by paring eight or ten lemons so thinly that the knife-blade
shows through the yellow; put the peel of three in a pitcher with a
pound and a quarter of sugar; pour two quarts of boiling water on them,
and cover; squeeze and strain the juice from the lemons, add to the
water, and when cold stir in the pounded ginger, with the meringue paste
made with the whites of four eggs. Freeze it. If for drinking, only half
freeze, work only enough to make it like half-melting snow, and use only
sugar enough to make a refreshing drink. Italians call this _granito_,
and it is a form of ice not often met with in this country.
_Pineapple Water-Ice._--This can be readily made of canned pineapple
when the fresh fruit is out of season. Peel a pineapple; grate it into a
mortar; then pound it well with six ounces of sugar; let it stand
covered for an hour; add the juice of five oranges, and a pint and a
half of syrup boiled to the little thread, or _a lisse_. (This syrup is
much used in making water-ices, punches, etc. It is sugar and water
boiled till it forms a little thread between thumb and finger.) Mix well
and freeze. If canned fruit is used, you need less sugar, and
substitute lemon for half the orange juice.
_Almond Water-Ice._--Take one pound of almond paste, a pint and a half
of water, and three quarters of a pound of sugar; grate the paste; then
stir till quite dissolved. Flavor with vanilla or raspberry; stir in the
whites of two eggs and some candied fruits cut up small. Freeze as
usual.
_Cinnamon Water-Ice._--This is a German ice, and very much liked by
those who are fond of the flavor. Pound an ounce of the finest quality
of cinnamon in the stick, put it into a pint and a half of boiling
water, and cover it well; when it is cold add a quart of syrup (the
little thread) and the well-beaten whites of two eggs, and freeze it.
_Pistachio Water-Ice._--Blanch and pound a pound of pistachio-nuts,
using the white of an egg to moisten; mix with a quart of syrup _a
lisse_. Heighten the color, if too pale, with spinach coloring, and
flavor to taste. (Pistachio-nuts have no flavor of their own,
astonishing as the fact may seem to those who have heard frequently of
pistachio flavor.) Freeze as usual.
_Apricot Water-Ice._--There is no more delicious water-ice than this if
fine-flavored apricots are used. The canned ones are excellent for the
purpose. Pulp two pounds of apricots through a sieve or jelly press;
grate or pound very fine five or six bitter almonds; mix with the pulp
the juice of the apricots (from the can), and a pint and a half of
syrup, and the beaten whites of three eggs made into a paste with three
tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar; stir all well, and freeze. This ice
ought to be the color of apricots; if too pale, add a very little
saffron coloring.
_Currant Water-Ice._--A pint of currant juice, a pint of syrup, and the
whites of three eggs made into meringue paste. Freeze as usual. Any of
these water-ices can be half frozen as _graniti_, and served in glasses
as _granito_, the only exceptions being the almond and pistachio
water-ices.
_Graniti_ are also made of various kinds of light punches by adding to a
quart of the usual punch recipe a quart of sweetened water. Any summer
beverage made from fruit juice can be turned into a _granito_, by half
freezing, in either of the following ways:
_To Freeze Graniti._--Mix the beverage you intend to freeze, for
instance, we will say, a pint of very strong, clear, bright coffee and
half a pint of syrup _a lisse_. Put them into the freezer and turn; as
it becomes frozen up the sides, scrape it down with a spoon, and
remember, as soon as it resembles snowy water (not white, of course) it
is frozen enough. It must be just liquid enough to pour out.
There is a second way of freezing _graniti_ by which they can be put on
the table in the vessel in which they were frozen. Place the mixture in
wide-mouthed water-bottles, twirl them round in ice and salt, and, as
the contents become frozen on the inside of the bottle, scrape down
with a narrow wooden stick or spatula. When frozen in perfection the
bottle should seem half filled with tiny crystals.
_Claret Granito._--To one pint of orangeade add a bottle of claret. Half
freeze.
_Sherry Granito._--To one quart of lemonade add a bottle of sherry, and
freeze.
The housekeeper who lives far from a large city will need materials for
many of the recipes given in these papers and others which she will meet
with in books on high-class cooking. Many of these can be sent for by
mail, and all, of course, by express; but it will often not seem worth
while to send perhaps for one small bottle that we may lack. For this
reason I give a few directions for preparing very tolerable imitations
of liqueurs, which, however, unless it were a question of economy, it
might not be worth while doing if within reach of stores.
_Curacoa._--Pare a dozen and a half of dead-ripe oranges so thin that
you can see the knife pass under the rind; pound one dram of finest
cinnamon and half a dram of mace; put them to steep for fifteen days in
a gallon of pure alcohol, shaking it every day. Make a clarified syrup
of four pounds of sugar and one quart of water well boiled and skimmed;
add this to the curacoa. Rub up in a mortar one dram of potash with a
teaspoonful of the liqueur; when well mixed add it, and then do the same
with a dram of alum. Shake well, and in an hour or two filter through
thin muslin. It will be ready for use in a a week.
_Maraschino._--Bruise two ounces of cherry kernels and one of bitter
almonds; put them in a deep jar with the thin outer rind of twelve
oranges and five lemons. Steep in one gallon of English gin or alcohol.
Let the whole stand a fortnight, then filter and bottle.
_Ratafia._--Blanch the kernels of uncooked peaches or apricots, and when
you have two ounces pound them, and pour to them a quart of gin or
alcohol and the thin yellow rind of two lemons. Sweeten with a pound of
white sugar-candy, and leave the whole for two months; then filter and
bottle for use.
_Candied Orange and Lemon Peels._--These are invaluable both as
decoration for certain desserts and for culinary purposes, and as they
are not always to be found except in the larger cities, the method of
preparing them is here given: Throw the peels into salt and water, all
pulp being removed, but the white part must be left untouched; in fact,
the thicker the peel the better for the purpose, thin-skinned oranges
being of no use for candying. Let them remain in the salt and water from
nine days to three weeks; then wash them, put them on the fire in cold
water, and let them boil till perfectly tender, yet they must not be
mushy. During the time they are boiling change the water until it no
longer tastes salt. Lemon-peels may take from three to four hours'
boiling, orange-peels less; but remember, should the lemon-peel not be
quite tender, it will harden when it goes into syrup, and instead of a
rich sweetmeat there will be only woody chips. Drain the peels, and make
a thin syrup of a pint of water to each pound of sugar. Let it boil five
minutes; then throw in the peels; they must boil gently in this until
they are clear and the syrup has become thick--almost boiled away, in
fact. Now make another syrup, half a pint of water to two pounds of
sugar; let it boil till clear and till there is a short hair from the
fork. Now put in the peels (which must have been drained from the other
syrup); remove from the fire; stir them round till the syrup looks
whitish; then lift each piece out and lay it on a dish on which
granulated sugar has been freely sprinkled.
Both orange and lemon peels are candied by the same process, but they
must never be put in the same vessel of salt and water, nor must they be
candied together, or the distinctive flavors would be lost.
XXIX.
MISCELLANEOUS SWEETS.
Under this head I intend to give a few sweets that seem to me unusually
good, although they may not always be novel, except in manner of
serving. A compote of fruit has nothing new about it, yet by the way in
which it is served it may simply be "stewed fruit," or it may be a dish
fit to find a place even in choice cookery.
In making compotes great care must be taken to preserve the shape and
color of the fruits. In order to do this they must be quickly peeled and
dipped into strong lemon juice and water, and dropped into syrup in
which also a little lemon juice has been squeezed. Pass the blade of the
knife over its own marks to obliterate the appearance of peeling.
Peaches and apricots may be boiled up without peeling, and (unless they
are allowed to get too soft) the skins will be removed easily. It will
be observed that hard fruits such as apples are simmered in thin syrup
to get tender, while rich soft fruits are dropped into syrup boiled to
candy height.
_Apple Compote_ No. 1.--Cut up and boil half a dozen apples in a pint of
water. When they are quite soft strain the juice from them without
squeezing; put to it half a pound of granulated sugar and the zest of a
lemon (the zest is the peel so thin that the knife blade can be seen,
through it while paring), together with the juice. Let this syrup boil
for a minute; skim it. Then pare half a dozen fine cooking apples; core
them; let them boil gently in the syrup until quite tender, but not in
danger of breaking. Take them up on a perforated skimmer. When cold, put
the apples into a compote dish. Boil the juice to a jelly; pour part of
it over the apples; dip a plate in cold water, drain it, and then pour
out the rest of the jelly into it: it should only cover it about the
thickness of thick paper. When stiff, warm the under-side of the plate
_very slightly_, pass a broad thin knife under, and lay the sheet of
jelly over the apples in the compote dish.
_Apple Compote_ No. 2.--Prepare the apples as in last recipe, but before
the last sheet of jelly is laid over them ornament with rings and leaves
of angelica, and any red jelly or preserve cut in thin slices and
stamped out with tiny tin cutters in leaves, stars, or fancy shapes
(stiff red currant jelly of red quince may be used); decorate thus each
apple; then lay the thin sheet of apple jelly over all.
_Compote of Stuffed Apples._--Prepare the apples as in the foregoing
recipes, taking care to core them all through without splitting the
apple. When the apples are done, fill the centre with orange marmalade
or apricot preserve. Boil the syrup down till it will glaze; pour it
over the apples when they are ice-cold, the syrup also only warm enough
to remain liquid. By this means the rich coating will remain over the
apples, while if both were warm it would run off.
_Compote of Apples or Pears Grille._--If you have any apples or pears
left from a compote (or you may, of course, prepare them especially),
put them into a frying or saute pan over a brisk fire; put with them any
syrup there may be and a cup of sugar just dissolved in water; boil
rapidly down to a pale caramel, rolling the apples with a fork so that
they become covered with the caramel. Take great care that the syrup
does not burn; remove it from the fire the moment it begins to change
color. The apples should now have an even glossy surface; as each is
finished put it at once into the compotier. Pour a little curacoa syrup
round just before sending to table.