tablespoonsful of semoulina, and stir them together as this is done,
that the mixture may not be lumpy; continue the stirring from eight to
ten minutes, then throw in two ounces of good butter, and three and a
half of pounded sugar, or of the finest Lisbon; next add the grated rind
of a lemon, and, while the semoulina is still warm, beat gradually and
briskly to it five well-whisked eggs; pour it into a buttered dish, and
bake it about half an hour in a moderate oven. Boil the soujee exactly
as the semoulina.
New milk, 1-1/2 pint; semoulina, 2-1/2 oz.: 7 to 8 minutes. Sugar, 3-1/2
oz.; butter, 2 oz.; rind of lemon; eggs, 5: baked in moderate oven, 1/2
hour. Or, soujee, 4 oz.; other ingredients as above.
FRENCH SEMOULINA PUDDING.
_Or Gâteau de Semoule._
Infuse by the side of the fire in a quart of new milk, the very thin
rind of a fine fresh lemon, and when it has stood for half an hour bring
it slowly to a boil: simmer it for four or five minutes, then take out
the lemon rind, and throw lightly into the milk, stirring it all the
time, five ounces of the best quality of semoulina;[149] let it boil
over a gentle fire for ten minutes, then add four ounces of sugar
roughly powdered, three of fresh butter, and less than a small
quarter-teaspoonful of salt; boil the mixture for two or three
additional minutes, keeping it stirred without ceasing; take it from the
fire, let it cool a little, and stir to it briskly, and by degrees, the
yolks of six eggs and the whites of four _well_ beaten together, and
strained or prepared for use as directed at page 395, four or five
bitter almonds, pounded with a little sugar, will heighten the flavour
pleasantly to many tastes. When the pudding is nearly cold, pour it
gently into a stewpan or mould, prepared as for the _Gâteau de Riz_ of
page 433, and bake it in a very gentle oven from an hour and a quarter
to an hour and a half.
Footnote 149:
As we have had occasion to state in the previous pages of this volume,
we have had semoulina, vermicelli, and various kinds of macaroni of
first-rate quality, from Mr. Cobbett, 18, Pall Mall; but they may,
without doubt, be procured equally good from many other foreign
warehouses.
SAXE-GOTHA PUDDING, OR TOURTE.
Blanch and pound to the smoothest possible paste, a couple of ounces of
Jordan almonds, and four or five bitter ones; add to them, spoonful by
spoonful quite at first, four eggs which have been whisked very light;
throw in gradually two ounces of pounded sugar, and then four ounces of
the finest bread-crumbs. Just melt, but without heating, two ounces of
fresh butter, and add it in very small portions to the other
ingredients, beating each well to them until it ceases to appear on the
surface. Pour the paste thus prepared upon a pint of red currants, ready
mixed in a tart-dish with four ounces of pounded sugar, and bake them
gently for about half an hour. Raspberries and currants mixed, and
Kentish or morella cherries, will make most excellent varieties of this
dish: the Kentish cherries should be stoned for it, the morellas left
entire. Should the paste be considered too rich, a part or the whole of
the butter can be omitted; or again, it may on occasion be made without
the almonds; but the reader is recommended to try the receipt in the
first instance without any variation from it. The crust will be found
delicious if well made. Like all mixtures of the kind it must be kept
light by constant beating, as the various ingredients are added to the
eggs, which should themselves be whisked to a very light froth before
they are used.
Jordan almonds, 2 oz.; bitter almonds, 4 or 5; eggs, 4; pounded sugar, 2
oz.; bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; fresh butter, 2 oz. Red currants, (or other
fruit) 1 pint; sugar, 4 oz.: 1/2 hour.
BADEN-BADEN PUDDINGS.
Prepare the same paste as for the preceding receipt, and add to it by
degrees a couple of tablespoonsfuls of fine raspberry, strawberry, or
apricot jam, which has previously been worked smooth with the back of a
spoon; half fill some buttered pattypans or small cups with the mixture
and bake the puddings in a gentle oven from fifteen to twenty minutes,
or rather longer should it be very slow. For variety, omit the preserve,
and flavour the puddings with the lightly grated rind of a fresh lemon,
and with an ounce or so of candied peel shred small; or with a little
vanilla pounded with a lump or two of sugar, and sifted through a hair
sieve; or with from three to four drachms of orange flowers _pralineés_
reduced to powder; or serve them quite plain with a fruit sauce.
SUTHERLAND OR CASTLE PUDDINGS.
Take an equal weight of eggs in the shell, of good butter, of fine dry
flour, and of sifted sugar. First, whisk the eggs for ten minutes or
until they appear extremely light, then throw in the sugar by degrees,
and continue the whisking for four or five minutes; next, strew in the
flour, also gradually, and when it appears smoothly blended with the
other ingredients, pour the butter to them in small portions, each of
which should be beaten in until there is no appearance of it left. It
should previously be just liquefied with the least possible degree of
heat: this may be effected by putting it into a well-warmed saucepan,
and shaking it round until it is dissolved. A grain or two of salt
should be thrown in with the flour; and the rind of half a fine lemon
rasped on sugar or grated, or some pounded mace, or any other flavour
can be added at choice. Pour the mixture directly it is ready into
well-buttered cups, and bake the puddings from twenty to twenty-five
minutes. When cold they resemble good pound cakes, and may be served as
such. Wine sauce should be sent to table with them.
Eggs, 4; their weight in flour, sugar, and butter; _little_ salt;
flavouring of pounded mace or lemon-rind.
_Obs._—Three eggs are sufficient for a small dish of these puddings.
They may be varied with an ounce or two of candied citron; or with a
spoonful of brandy, or a little orange-flower water. The mode we have
given of making them will be found perfectly successful if our
directions be followed with exactness. In a slow oven they will not be
too much baked in half an hour.
MADELEINE PUDDINGS.
_To be served cold._
Take the same ingredients as for the Sutherland puddings, but clarify an
additional ounce of butter; skim, and then fill some round tin pattypans
with it almost to the brim; pour it from one to the other until all have
received a sufficient coating to prevent the puddings from adhering to
them, and leave half a teaspoonful in each; mix the remainder with the
eggs, sugar, and flour, beat the whole up very lightly, fill the pans
about two-thirds full, and put them directly into a rather brisk oven,
but draw them towards the mouth of it when they are sufficiently
coloured; from fifteen to eighteen minutes will bake them. Turn them
out, and drain them on a sheet of paper. When they are quite cold, with
the point of the knife take out a portion of the tops, hollow the
puddings a little, and fill them with rich apricot-jam, well mixed with
half its weight of pounded almonds, of which two in every ounce should
be bitter ones.
A GOOD FRENCH RICE PUDDING, OR GÂTEAU DE RIZ.
Swell gently in a quart of new milk, or in equal parts of milk and
cream, seven ounces of the best Carolina rice, which has been cleared of
the discoloured grains, and washed and drained; when it is tolerably
tender, add to it three ounces of fresh butter, and five of sugar
roughly powdered, a _few_ grains of salt, and the lightly grated rind of
a fine lemon, and simmer the whole until the rice is swollen to the
utmost; then take it from the fire, let it cool a little, and stir to it
quickly, and by degrees, the well-beaten yolks of six full-sized eggs.
Pour into a small copper stewpan[150] a couple of ounces of clarified
butter, and incline it in such a manner that it may receive an equal
coating in every part; then turn it upside down for an instant, to drain
off the superfluous butter; next, throw in some exceedingly fine light
crumbs of stale bread, and shake them entirely over it, turn out those
which do not adhere, and with a small brush or feather sprinkle more
clarified butter slightly on those which line the pan. Whisk quickly the
whites of the eggs to snow, stir them gently to the rice, and pour the
mixture softly into the stewpan, that the bread-crumbs may not be
displaced; put it immediately into a _moderate_ oven, and let it remain
in a full hour. It will then, if properly baked, turn out from the mould
or pan well browned, quite firm, and having the appearance of a cake;
but a fierce heat will cause it to break, and present an altogether
unsightly appearance. In a very slow oven a longer time must be allowed
for it.
Footnote 150:
One which holds about five pints is well adapted to the purpose. When
this is not at hand, a copper cake-mould may be substituted for it.
The stewpan must not be covered while the _gâteau_ is baking.
New milk, or milk and cream, 1 quart; Carolina rice, 7 oz.: 3/4 hour.
Fresh butter, 3 oz.; sugar, in lumps, 5 oz.; rind, 1 large lemon: 3/4 to
1-1/4. Eggs, 6: baked in a moderate oven, 1 hour.
_Obs._—An excellent variety of this _gâteau_ is made with cocoa-nut
flavoured milk, or cream (see Chapter XXIII.), or with either of these
poured boiling on six ounces of Jordan almonds, finely pounded, and
mixed with a dozen bitter ones, then wrung from them with strong
pressure; it may likewise be flavoured with vanilla, or with candied
orange-blossoms, and covered at the instant it is dished, with
strawberry, apple, or any other clear jelly.
A COMMON RICE PUDDING.
Throw six ounces of rice into plenty of cold water, and boil it gently
from eight to ten minutes; drain it well in a sieve or strainer, and put
it into a clean saucepan with a quart of milk; let it stew until tender,
sweeten it with three ounces of sugar, stir to it, gradually, three
large, or four small eggs, beaten and strained; add grated nutmeg, lemon
rind, or cinnamon to give it flavour, and bake it one hour in a gentle
oven.
Rice, 6 oz.: in water, 8 to 10 minutes. Milk, 1 quart: 3/4 to 1 hour.
Sugar, 3 oz.; eggs, 3 large, or 4 small; flavouring of nutmeg
lemon-rind, or cinnamon: bake 1 hour, _gentle_ oven.
QUITE CHEAP RICE PUDDING.
Boil the rice in water, as for a currie, and while it is still warm, mix
with it a pint and a half of milk, and three fresh or four or five
French eggs (at many seasons of the year these last, which are always
cheap, are _very good_, and answer excellently for puddings.) Sweeten it
with pale brown sugar, grate nutmeg on the top, and bake it _slowly_
until it is firm in every part.
RICHER RICE PUDDING.
Wash very clean four ounces of whole rice, pour on it a pint and a half
of new milk, and stew it slowly till quite tender; before it is taken
from the fire, stir in two ounces of good butter, and three of sugar;
and when it has cooled a little, add four well-whisked eggs, and the
grated rind of half a lemon. Bake the pudding in a gentle oven from
thirty to forty minutes. As rice requires long boiling to render it soft
in milk, it may be partially stewed in water, the quantity of milk
diminished to a pint, and a little thick sweet cream mixed with it,
before the other ingredients are added.
Rice, 4 oz.; new milk, 1-1/2 pint; butter, 2 oz.; sugar, 3 oz.; eggs, 4;
rind of 1/2 lemon: 30 to 40 minutes, slow oven.
RICE PUDDING MERINGUÉ.
Swell gently four ounces of Carolina rice in a pint and a quarter of
milk or of thin cream; let it cool a little, and stir to it an ounce and
a half of butter, three of pounded sugar, a grain or two of salt, the
grated rind of a small lemon, and the yolks of four large, or of five
small eggs. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered dish, and lay lightly
and equally over the top the whites of four eggs beaten as for sponge
cakes, and mixed at the instant with from four to five heaped
tablespoonsful of sifted sugar. Bake the pudding half an hour in a
moderate oven, but do not allow the _meringue_ to be too deeply
coloured; it should be of a clear brown, and very crisp. Serve it
directly it is taken from the oven.
Rice, 4 oz.; milk, or cream, 1-1/4 pint; butter, 1-1/2 oz.; sugar, 3
oz.; rind, 1 lemon; yolks of eggs, 4 or 5; the whites beaten to snow,
and mixed with as many tablespoonsful of sifted sugar: baked 1/2 hour,
moderate oven.
_Obs._—A couple of ounces of Jordan almonds, with two or three bitter
ones, pounded quite to a paste, will improve this dish, whether mixed
with the pudding itself, or with the _meringué_.
A GOOD GROUND RICE PUDDING.
Mix very smoothly five ounces of flour of rice (or of _ground_ rice, if
preferred), with half a pint of milk, and pour it into a pint and a half
more which is boiling fast; keep it stirred constantly over a gentle
fire from ten to twelve minutes, and be particularly careful not to let
it burn to the pan; add to it before it is taken from the fire, a
quarter of a pound of good butter, from five to six ounces of sugar,
roughly powdered, and a few grains of salt; turn it into a pan, and stir
it for a few minutes, to prevent its hardening at the top; then mix with
it, by degrees but quickly, the yolks of eight eggs, and the whites of
two, the grated or rasped rind of a fine lemon, and a glass of brandy.
Lay a border of rich paste round a buttered dish, pour in the pudding,
strain a little clarified butter over the top, moisten the paste with a
brush, or small bunch of feathers dipped in cold water, and sift plenty
of sugar on it, but less over the pudding itself. Send it to a _very_
gentle oven to be baked for three-quarters of an hour.
Rice-flour (or ground rice), 5 oz.; new milk, 1 quart: 10 to 12 minutes.
Butter, 4 oz.; sugar, 5 to 6 oz.; salt, 1/2 saltspoonful; yolks, 8 eggs;
whites, 2; rind, 1 large lemon; brandy, large wineglassful: 3/4 hour,
_slow_ oven.
_Obs._—These proportions are sufficient for a pudding of larger size
than those served usually at elegant tables; they will make two small
ones; or two-thirds of the quantity may be taken for one of moderate
size. Lemon-brandy or ratifia, or a portion of each, may be used to give
it flavour, with good effect; and it may be enriched, if this be
desired, by adding to the other ingredients from three to four ounces of
Jordan almonds, finely pounded, and by substituting cream for half of
the milk.
COMMON GROUND RICE PUDDING.
One pint and a half of milk, three ounces and a half of rice, three of
Lisbon sugar, one and a half of butter, some nutmeg, or lemon-grate, and
four eggs, baked slowly for half an hour, or more, if not quite firm.
GREEN GOOSEBERRY PUDDING.
Boil together, from ten to twelve minutes, a pound of green
gooseberries, five ounces of sugar, and rather more than a quarter of a
pint of water: then beat the fruit to a mash, and stir to it an ounce
and a half of fresh butter; when nearly, or quite cold, add two ounces
and a half of very fine bread-crumbs, and four well whisked eggs. Bake
the pudding gently from half to three-quarters of an hour. To make a
finer one of the kind, work the fruit through a sieve, mix it with four
or five crushed Naples biscuits, and use double the quantity of butter.
Green gooseberries, 1 lb.; sugar, 5 oz.; water, full 1/4 pint: 10 to 12
minutes. Bread-crumbs, 2-1/2 oz.; eggs, 4: 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
POTATO PUDDING.
With a pound and a quarter of fine mealy potatoes, boiled very dry, and
mashed perfectly smooth while hot, mix three ounces of butter, five or
six of sugar, five eggs, a few grains of salt, and the grated rind of a
small lemon. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered dish, and bake it in
a moderate oven for nearly three-quarters of an hour. It should be
turned out and sent to table with fine sugar sifted over it; or for
variety, red currant jelly, or any other preserve, may be spread on it
as soon as it is dished.
Potatoes, 1-1/4 lb.; butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 5 or 6 oz.; eggs, 5 or 6;
lemon-rind, 1; salt, few grains: 40 to 45 minutes.
_Obs._—When cold, this pudding eats like cake, and may be served as
such, omitting, of course, the sugar or preserve when it is dished.
A RICHER POTATO PUDDING.
Beat well together fourteen ounces of mashed potatoes, four ounces of
butter, four of fine sugar, five eggs, the grated rind of a small lemon,
and a slight pinch of salt; add half a glass of brandy, and pour the
pudding into a thickly-buttered dish or mould, ornamented with slices of
candied orange or; pour a little clarified butter on the top, and then
sift plenty of white sugar over it.
Potatoes, 14 oz.; butter, 4 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.; eggs, 5; lemon-rind, 1;
little salt; brandy, 1/2 glassful; candied peel, 1-1/2 to 2 oz.: 40
minutes.
_Obs._—The potatoes for these receipts should be lightly and carefully
mashed, but never pounded in a mortar, as that will convert them into a
heavy paste. The better plan is to prepare them by Captain Kater’s
receipt (Chapter XVII.), when they will fall to powder almost of
themselves; or they may be grated while hot through a wire sieve. From a
quarter to a half pint of cream is, by many cooks, added always to
potato puddings.
A GOOD SPONGE CAKE PUDDING.
Slice into a well-buttered tart-dish three penny sponge biscuits, and
place on them a couple of ounces of candied orange or lemon rind cut in
strips. Whisk thoroughly six eggs, and stir to them boiling a pint and a
quarter of new milk, in which three ounces of sugar have been dissolved;
grate in the rind of a small lemon, and when they are somewhat cooled,
add half a wineglassful of brandy, while still just warm, pour the
mixture to the cakes, and let it remain an hour; then strain an ounce
and a half of clarified butter over the top, or strew pounded sugar
rather thickly on it, and bake the pudding three quarters of an hour or
longer in a gentle oven.
Sponge cakes, 3; candied peel, 2 oz.; eggs, 6; new milk, 1-1/4 pint;
sugar, 3 oz.; lemon-rind, 1; brandy, 1/2 glass; butter, 1 oz.; sifted
sugar, 1-1/2 oz.: 3/4 hour.
CAKE AND CUSTARD, AND VARIOUS OTHER INEXPENSIVE PUDDINGS.
Even when very dry, the remains of a sponge or a Savoy cake will serve
excellently for a pudding, if lightly broken up, or crumbled, and
intermixed or not, with a few ratifias or macaroons, which should also
be broken up. A custard composed of four eggs to the pint of milk if
small, and three if very large and fresh, and not very highly sweetened,
should be poured over the cake half an hour at least before it is placed
in the oven (which should be _slow_); and any flavour given to it which
may be liked. An economical and clever cook will seldom be at a loss for
compounding an inexpensive and good pudding in this way. More or less of
the cake can be used as may be convenient. Part of a mould of sweet rice
or the remains of a dish of Arocē Docē (see Chapter XXIII.), and various
other preparations may be turned to account in a similar manner; but the
custard should be perfectly and equally mingled with whatever other
ingredients are used. Macaroni boiled tender in milk, or in milk and
water, will make an excellent pudding; and sago stewed very thick, will
supply another; the custard may be mixed with this last while it is
still just warm. Two ounces well washed, and slowly heated in a pint of
liquid, will be tender in from fifteen to twenty minutes. All these
puddings will require a gentle oven, and will be ready to serve when
they are firm in the centre, and do not stick to a knife when plunged
into it.
BAKED APPLE PUDDING, OR CUSTARD.
Weigh a pound of good boiling apples after they are pared and cored, and
stew them to a perfectly smooth marmalade, with six ounces of sugar, and
a spoonful or two of wine; stir them often that they may not stick to
the pan. Mix with them while they are still quite hot, three ounces of
butter, the grated rind and the strained juice of a lemon, and lastly,
stir in by degrees the well-beaten yolks of five eggs, and a
dessertspoonful of flour, or in lieu of the last, three or four Naples’
biscuits, or macaroons crushed small. Bake the pudding for a full half
hour in a moderate oven, or longer should it be not quite firm in the
middle. A little clarified butter poured on the top, with sugar sifted
over, improves all baked puddings.
Apples 1 lb.; sugar, 6 oz.; wine 1 glassful; butter, 3 oz.; juice and
rind, 1 lemon; 5 eggs: 1/2 hour, or more.
_Obs._—Many cooks press the apples through a sieve after they are
boiled, but this is not needful when they are of a good kind, and
stewed, and beaten smooth.
DUTCH CUSTARD, OR BAKED RASPBERRY PUDDING.
Lay into a tart-dish a border of puff-paste, and a pint and a half of
freshly-gathered raspberries, well mixed with three ounces of sugar.
Whisk thoroughly six large eggs with three ounces more of sugar, and
pour it over the fruit: bake the pudding from twenty-five to thirty
minutes in a moderate oven.
Break the eggs one at a time into a cup, and with the point of a small
three-pronged fork take off the specks or germs, before they are beaten,
as we have directed in page 424.
Raspberries, 1-1/2 pint; sugar, 6 oz.; eggs, 6: 25 to 30 minutes.
GABRIELLE’S PUDDING, OR SWEET CASSEROLE OF RICE.
Wash half a pound of the best Carolina rice, drain it on a hair-sieve,
put it into a very clean stewpan or saucepan, and pour on it a quart of
cold new milk. Stir them well together, and place them near the fire
that the rice may swell very gradually; then let it simmer as gently as
possible for about half an hour, or until it begins to be quite tender;
mix with it then, two ounces of fresh butter and two and a half of
pounded sugar, and let it continue to simmer softly until it is dry and
sufficiently tender,[151] to be easily crushed to a smooth paste with a
strong wooden spoon. Work it to this point, and then let it cool. Before
it is taken from the fire, scrape into it the outside of some sugar
which has been rubbed upon the rind of a fresh lemon. Have ready a tin
mould of pretty form, well buttered in every part; press the rice into
it while it is still warm, smooth the surface, and let it remain until
cold. Should the mould be one which opens at the ends, like that shown
in the plate at page 344, the pudding will come out easily; but if it
should be in a plain common one, just dip it into hot water to loosen
it; turn out the rice, and then again reverse it on to a tin or dish,
and with the point of a knife mark round the top a rim of about an inch
wide; then brush some clarified butter over the whole pudding, and set
it into a brisk oven. When it is of an equal light golden brown draw it
out, raise the cover carefully where it is marked, scoop out the rice
from the inside, leaving only a crust of about an inch thick in every
part, and pour into it some preserved fruit warmed in its own syrup, or
fill it with a _compôte_ of plums or peaches (see Chapter XXIII.); or
with some good apples boiled with fine sugar to a smooth rich marmalade.
This is a very good as well as an elegant dish: it may be enriched with
more butter, and by substituting cream for the milk in part or entirely
but it is excellent without either.
Footnote 151:
Unless the rice be boiled slowly, and _very dry_, it will not answer
for the casserole.
Rice, 1/2 lb.; new milk, 1 quart: 1/2 hour. Fresh butter, 2 oz.; pounded
sugar, 2-1/2 oz.; rasped rind, 1 lemon: 1/2 hour or more.
_Obs._—The precise time of baking the pudding cannot well be specified:
it only requires colour.
VERMICELLI PUDDING WITH APPLES OR WITHOUT, AND PUDDINGS OF SOUJEE AND
SEMOLA.
Drop gradually into an exact quart of boiling milk four ounces of very
fresh vermicelli, crushing it slightly with one hand and letting it fall
gently from the fingers, and stirring the milk with a spoon held in the
other hand, to prevent the vermicelli from gathering into lumps. Boil it
softly until it is quite tender and very thick, which it will be usually
in about twenty minutes, during which time it must be very frequently
stirred; then work in two ounces of fresh butter and four of pounded
sugar; turn the mixture into a bowl or pan, and stir it occasionally
until it has cooled down. Whisk five good eggs until they are very
light, beat them gradually and quickly to the other ingredients, add the
finely grated rind of a lemon or a little lemon-brandy or ratifia, and
pour the pudding when nearly cold into a buttered dish, and just cover
the surface with apples pared, cored, and quartered; press them into the
pudding-mixture, to the top of which they will immediately rise again,
and place the dish in a very gentle oven for three-quarters of an hour,
or longer if needed to render the fruit quite tender. The apples should
be of the best quality for cooking. This is an exceedingly nice pudding
if well made and well baked. The butter can be omitted to simplify it.
Milk, 1 quart; vermicelli, 4 oz.: boiled about 20 minutes. Butter 2 oz.;
(when used) pounded sugar, 1/4 lb.; eggs, 5: baked _slowly_ 3/4 hour or
more.
For a plain common vermicelli pudding omit the apples and one egg: for a
very good one use six eggs, and the butter; and flavour it delicately
with orange-flower water, vanilla, or aught else that may be preferred.
We have often had an ounce or two of candied citron sliced very thin
mingled with it.
Puddings of _soujee_ and semola are made in precisely the same manner,
with four ounces to the quart of milk, and ten minutes boiling.
RICE À LA VATHEK, OR RICE PUDDING À LA VATHEK.
(_Extremely Good._)
[Illustration]
Blanch, and then pound carefully to the smoothest possible paste four
ounces of fine Jordan almonds and half a dozen bitter ones, moistening
them with a few drops of water to prevent their oiling. Stir to them by
slow degrees a quart of boiling milk, which should be new, wring it
again closely from them through a thin cloth, which will absorb it less
than a tammy, and set it aside to cool. Wash thoroughly, and afterwards
soak for about ten minutes seven ounces of Carolina rice, drain it well
from the water, pour the almond-milk upon it, bring it _very_ slowly to
boil, and simmer it softly until it is tolerably tender, taking the
precaution to stir it often at first that it may not gather into lumps
nor stick to the pan. Add to it two ounces of fresh butter and four of
pounded sugar, and when it is perfectly tender and dry, proceed with it
exactly as for Gabrielle’s pudding, but in moulding the rice press it
closely and evenly in, and hollow it in the centre, leaving the edge an
inch thick in every part, that it may not break in the oven. The top
must be slightly brushed with butter before it is baked, to prevent its
becoming too dry, but a morsel of white blotting paper will take up any
portion that may remain in it. When it is ready to serve, pour into it a
large jarful of apricot jam, and send it immediately to table. If well
made it will be delicious. It may be served cold (though this is less
usual), and decorated with small thin leaves of citron-rind, cut with a
minute paste-cutter. The same preparation may be used also for
Gabrielle’s pudding, and filled with hot preserved fruit, the rice
scooped from the inside being mixed with the syrup.
GOOD YORKSHIRE PUDDING.
To make a very good and light Yorkshire pudding, take an equal number of
eggs and of heaped tablespoonsful of flour, with a teaspoonful of salt
to six of these. Whisk the eggs _well_, strain, and mix them gradually
with the flour, then pour in by degrees as much new milk as will reduce
the batter to the consistence of rather thin cream. The tin which is to
receive the pudding must have been placed for some time previously under
a joint that has been put down to roast one of beef is usually
preferred. Beat the batter briskly and lightly the instant before it is
poured into the pan, watch it carefully that it may not burn, and let
the edges have an equal share of the fire. When the pudding is quite
firm in every part, and well-coloured on the surface, turn it to brown
the under side. This is best accomplished by first dividing it into
quarters. In Yorkshire it is made much thinner than in the south,
roasted generally at an enormous fire, and _not_ turned at all: currants
there are sometimes added to it.
Eggs, 6; flour, 6 heaped tablespoonsful, or from 7 to 8 oz.; milk,
nearly or quite 1 pint; salt, 1 teaspoonful: 2 hours.
_Obs._—This pudding should be quite an inch thick when it is browned on
both sides, but only half the depth when roasted in the Yorkshire mode.
The cook must exercise her discretion a little in mixing the batter, as
from the variation of weight in flour, and in the size of eggs, a little
more or less of milk may be required: the whole should be rather more
liquid than for a boiled pudding.
COMMON YORKSHIRE PUDDING.
Half a pound of flour, three eggs (we would recommend a fourth), rather
more than a pint of milk, and a teaspoonful of salt.
NORMANDY PUDDING. (GOOD.)
Boil, until very soft and dry, eight ounces of rice in a pint and a
half, or rather more, of water,[152] stir to it two ounces of fresh
butter and three of sugar, and simmer it for a few minutes after they
are added; then pour it out, and let it cool for use. Strip from the
stalks as many red currants, or Kentish cherries, as will fill a
tart-dish of moderate size, and for each pint of the fruit allow from
three to four ounces of sugar. Line the bottom and sides of a deep dish
with part of the rice; next, put in a thick layer of fruit and sugar;
then one of rice and one of fruit alternately until the dish is full.
Sufficient of the rice should be reserved to form a rather thick layer
at the top: smooth this equally with a knife, sift sugar thickly on it,
or brush it with good cream, and send the pudding to a moderate oven for
half an hour, or longer, should it be large. Morella cherries, with a
little additional sugar, make an excellent pudding of this kind.
Footnote 152:
A quart of milk can be substituted for this; but with the fruit, water
perhaps answers better.
COMMON BAKED RAISIN PUDDING.
Beat well together three-quarters of a pound of flour, the same quantity
of raisins, six ounces of beef-suet, finely chopped, a small pinch of
salt, some grated nutmeg, and three eggs which have been thoroughly
whisked, and mixed with about a quarter of a pint of milk, or less than
this, should the eggs be large. Pour the whole into a buttered dish, and
bake it an hour and a quarter. For a large pudding, increase the
quantities one half. Flour and stoned raisins, each 3/4 lb.; suet, 6
oz.; salt, small pinch; nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoonful; eggs, 3; milk, 1/4
pint: 1-1/4 hour.
A RICHER BAKED RAISIN PUDDING.
Mix and whisk well, and lightly together, a pound of raisins weighed
after they are stoned, ten ounces of finely minced beef-suet,
three-quarters of a pound of flour, a little salt, half a small nutmeg,
or the grated rind of a lemon, four large eggs, and as much milk as may
be needed to make the whole into a _very_ thick batter: bake the pudding
a few minutes longer than the preceding one. The addition of sugar will
be found no improvement as it will render it much less light.
Sultana raisins are well adapted to these puddings, as they contain no
pips, and from their delicate size sooner become tender in the baking
than the larger kinds.
THE POOR AUTHOR’S PUDDING.
Flavour a quart of new milk by boiling in it for a few minutes half a
stick of well-bruised cinnamon, or the thin rind of a small lemon; add a
few grains of salt, and three ounces of sugar, and turn the whole into a
deep basin: when it is quite cold, stir to it three well-beaten eggs,
and strain the mixture into a pie-dish. Cover the top entirely with
slices of bread free from crust, and half an inch thick, cut so as to
join neatly, and buttered on both sides: bake the pudding in a moderate
oven for about half an hour, or in a Dutch oven before the fire.
New milk, 1 quart; cinnamon, or lemon-rind; sugar, 3 oz.; little salt;
eggs, 3; buttered bread: baked 1/2 hour.
PUDDING À LA PAYSANNE.
(_Cheap and Good._)
Fill a deep tart-dish with alternate layers of well-sugared fruit, and
very thin slices of the crumb of a light stale loaf; let the upper layer
be of fruit, and should it be of a dry kind, sprinkle over it about a
dessertspoonful of water, or a little lemon-juice: raspberries,
currants, and cherries, will not require this. Send the pudding to a
somewhat brisk oven to be baked for about half an hour. The proportion
of sugar used must be regulated, of course, by the acidity of the fruit.
For a quart of ripe greengages, split and stoned, five ounces will be
sufficient.
THE CURATE’S PUDDING.
This is but a variation of the pudding _à la Paysanne_ which precedes
it, but as it is both good and inexpensive it may be acceptable to some
of our readers. Wash, wipe, and pare some quickly grown rhubarb-stalks,
cut them into short lengths, and put a layer of them into a deep dish
with a spoonful or two of Lisbon sugar; cover these evenly with part of
a penny roll sliced thin; add another thick layer of fruit and sugar,
then one of bread, then another of the rhubarb, cover this last with a
deep layer of fine bread-crumbs well mingled with about a tablespoonful
of sugar, pour a little clarified butter over them, and send the pudding
to a brisk oven. From thirty to forty minutes will bake it. Good boiling
apples sliced, sweetened, and flavoured with nutmeg or grated
lemon-rind, and covered with well buttered slices of bread, make an
_excellent_ pudding of this kind, and so do black currants likewise,
without the butter.
A LIGHT BAKED BATTER PUDDING.
With three heaped tablespoonsful or about six ounces of flour mix a
small saltspoonful of salt, and add very gradually to it three fresh
eggs which have been cleared in the usual way or strained, and whisked
to a light froth. Beat up the batter well, then stir to it by degrees a
pint of new milk, pour it into a buttered dish, set it immediately into
a rather brisk oven, and bake it three-quarters of an hour. If properly
managed, it will be _extremely_ light and delicate, and the surface will
be crisp. When _good_ milk cannot be had for it, another egg, or the
yolk of one at least, should be added. Send preserved or stewed fruit to
table with it. The same mixture may be baked in buttered cups from
twenty to thirty minutes, turned out, and served with sugar sifted
thickly over.
In some counties an ounce or two of very finely minced suet is usually
mixed with baked batter puddings, which are enriched, but not improved,
we think, by the addition; but that is entirely a matter of taste.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXII.
=Eggs and Milk.=
[Illustration]
TO PRESERVE EGGS FRESH FOR MANY WEEKS.
AS soon as possible after the eggs are taken from the nests, brush each
one separately with a thin solution of gum Arabic, being careful to
leave no portion of the shell uncovered by it. The half of each egg must
first be done and left to become dry, before the remainder is touched,
that the gum may not be rubbed off any part by its coming in contact,
while wet, with the hand as it is held to be varnished, or with the
table when it is laid down to harden.
_Obs._—Eggs will remain fit for use a very long time if carefully kept;
but attention should always be given to the cleanliness of the _shells_
before they are stored, as when these are soiled, and then excluded from
the air, they will sometimes become very offensive. Those which are
collected immediately after the harvest are the best both for eating and
for putting up in store: they should be collected in dry weather when
they are required to be kept.[153]
Footnote 153:
For a sea-store, an old and experienced cook from on board a
man-of-war, directs eggs to be rubbed with salt butter, and packed in
layers with plenty of bran between them. He says that the salt
penetrates the shell, and tends to preserve the eggs, which will
require no additional salt when eaten. We give the information to the
reader as we received.
TO COOK EGGS IN THE SHELL WITHOUT BOILING THEM.
(_An admirable receipt._)
This mode of dressing eggs is not _new_; it seems, indeed, to have been
known in years long past, but not to have received the attention which
its excellence deserved. We saw it mentioned with much commendation in a
most useful little periodical, called the _Cottage Gardener_, and had it
tested immediately with various modifications and with entire success.
After many trials, we give the following as the _best_ and most uniform
in its results of our numerous experiments. First, put some boiling
water into a large basin—a slop-basin for example—and let it remain for
a few seconds, then turn it out, lay in the egg (or eggs), and roll it
over, to take the chill off the shell, that it may not crack from the
sudden application of heat; and pour in—and upon the egg—_quite boiling_
water from a kettle, until it is completely immersed; put a plate over
it instantly, and let it remain, upon the table, for twelve minutes,
when it will be found perfectly and beautifully cooked, entirely free
from all flavour and appearance of _rawness_, and yet so lightly and
delicately dressed as to suit even persons who cannot take eggs at all
when boiled in the usual way. It should be turned when something more
than half done, but the plate should be replaced as quickly as possible.
Two eggs will require scarcely more time than one; but some additional
minutes must be allowed for any number beyond that. The process may
always be quickened by changing the water when it has cooled a little,
for more that is fast boiling: the eggs may, in fact, be rendered quite
hard by the same means, but then no advantage is obtained over the old
method of cooking them.
12 minutes.
_Obs._—This is one of the receipts which we have re-produced here from
our cookery for invalids, on account of its adaptation to the taste
generally.
TO BOIL EGGS IN THE SHELL.
Even this very simple process demands a certain degree of care, for if
the eggs be brought from a cold larder, and suddenly plunged into
boiling water they will frequently break immediately, and a large
portion will often escape from the shells. In winter they should be held
for an instant over the steam from the saucepan before they are laid in,
and they should be put gently into it. Three minutes will boil them
sufficiently for persons who like the whites in a partially liquid
state. Five minutes, _exact time_, if they be fresh and fine, will
harden the whites only, and leave the yolks still liquid. Few eaters
require them more dressed than this; but eight or ten minutes will
render them _hard_. Eggs should always be cooked in sufficient water to
cover them completely.
To boil _very_ lightly, 3 minutes; to render the whites firm, 4-1/2 to 5
minutes; hard eggs, 8 to 10 minutes (15 minutes for salad dressing.)
TO DRESS THE EGGS OF THE GUINEA FOWL AND BANTAM.
[Illustration]
The eggs of the Guinea-fowl—which are small, very prettily shaped, and
of a pale or full fawn-colour (for in this they vary)—are much esteemed
by epicures, being very rich and excellent eating. They are generally
somewhat higher in price than the common hens’ eggs, even in Norfolk,
Suffolk, and other counties where they most abound; and in London they
are usually expensive. They may be cooked in the shell _without boiling_
by the method we have already given: eight or nine minutes will cook
them so. About three and a half of gentle boiling will render the whites
firm, and ten will harden them quite through. They are often served
instead of plovers’ eggs, and are sent to table embedded in moss in the
same manner. They may also be shelled, and used whole to decorate a
salad.
The eggs of the bantam, which are scarcely more than half the size of
these, and of which the shells are much thinner, will require less time
to cook. They form an elegant decoration for a salad, if boiled hard,
which they will become in five or six minutes; and for a mince of fowl,
or veal and oysters, when poached.
Two minutes’ poaching in an enamelled saucepan[154] will be sufficient
for these delicate little eggs, without positive boiling. They should be
carefully broken and put gently into water at boiling point, but which
has ceased to move, and left undisturbed by the side of the fire until
the yolks are just _set_ on the surface.
Footnote 154:
In any other kind, an additional half minute may be required.
Guinea-fowls’ eggs, quite hard, 10 minutes. For eating (by new method, 8
to 9 minutes), 3 to 4 minutes.
Bantams’, hard, 6 minutes; soft, 2-1/2 to 3 minutes.
TO DRESS TURKEYS’ EGGS.
Turkeys’ eggs are not, we believe, brought very abundantly into the
London market,[155] but their superiority to those of the common fowl is
well known in the counties where the birds are principally reared.
Though of large size they are delicate in flavour, and are equally
valuable for the breakfast-table—cooked simply in the shell—or for
compounding any of the dishes for which hens’ eggs are commonly in
request. They make super-excellent _sauce_, omlets, custards, and
puddings; and are especially to be recommended poached, or served by any
other of the following receipts. Those of the smallest size and palest
colour, which are the eggs of the young birds, are the best adapted for
serving boiled in the shells: they are sometimes almost white. Those of
the full grown turkeys are thickly speckled, of a deep tawny hue or fawn
colour.
Footnote 155:
Constant supplies of them are brought from France to the towns upon
the coast; and from the thickness of their shells they remain eatable
much longer than the common eggs; they are also reasonable in price.
6 minutes will render the whites firm; 4 minutes will poach them.
FORCED TURKEYS’ EGGS (OR SWANS’).
(_An Excellent Entremets._)
Boil gently for twenty minutes in plenty of water, that they may be
entirely covered with it, five or six fresh turkeys’ eggs, and when they
are done lift them into a large pan of water to cool. By changing the
water once or twice they will become cold more rapidly, and they must
not be used until they are perfectly so.
Roll them in a cloth, pressing lightly on them to break the shells;
clear them off, and halve the eggs evenly lengthwise. Take out the yolks
with care, and pound them to a smooth paste in a mortar with an ounce
and a half, or two ounces at the utmost, of pure-flavoured butter to the
half dozen, a small half-teaspoonful of salt, a little finely grated
nutmeg, and some cayenne, also in fine powder: a little mace,—one of the
most delicate of all seasonings when judiciously used—may be added with
good effect. Blend these ingredients thoroughly, and then add to them by
degrees one raw hen’s egg slightly whisked, and the yolk of a second, or
a dessertspoonful or two of sweet rich cream. One common egg is
sufficient for four of the turkey egg-yolks. Beat up the mass, which
will now be of the consistence of a thick batter, well and lightly, and
proceed to fill the whites with it, having first cut a small slice from
each half to make it stand evenly on the dish, and hollowed the inside
with the point of a sharp knife, so as to render it of equal thickness
throughout. Fill them full and high; smooth the yolks gently with the
blade of a knife, arrange the eggs on a dish, and place them in a gentle
oven for a quarter of an hour. Serve them directly they are taken from
it.
The eggs thus dressed will afford an admirable dish for the second
course, either quite simply served, or with good gravy highly flavoured
with fresh mushrooms, poured under them.
The same ingredients may be pressed into very small buttered cups and
baked for fifteen minutes, then turned on to a dish and sauced with a
little _Espagnole_, or other rich brown gravy, or served without.
_Obs._—We would recommend that the whites of swans’ eggs, which as we
have said are extremely beautiful, should be filled with the above
preparation in preference to their own yolks: they will of course,
require longer baking.
TO BOIL A SWAN’S EGG HARD.
Swans’ eggs are much more delicate than from their size, and from the
tendency of the birds to feed on fish might be supposed; and when boiled
hard and shelled, their appearance is _beautiful_, the white being of
remarkable purity and transparency. Take as much water as will cover the
egg (or eggs) well in every part, let it boil quickly, then take it from
the fire, and as soon as the water ceases to move put in the egg, and
leave it by the side of the fire—without allowing it to boil—for twenty
minutes, and turn it gently once or twice in the time; then put on the
cover of the stewpan and boil it gently for a quarter of an hour; take
it quite from the fire, and in five minutes put it into a basin and
throw a cloth, once or twice folded, over it, and let it cool slowly. It
will retain the heat for a very long time, and as it should be _quite
cold_ before it is cut, it should be boiled early if wanted to serve the
same day. Halve it evenly with a sharp knife lengthwise, take out the
yolk with care, and prepare it for table, either by the receipt which
follows, or by that for forced eggs, Chapter VI.
SWAN’S EGG, EN SALADE.
We found that the yolk of the egg, when boiled as above, could be
rendered _perfectly_ smooth and cream-like, by mashing it on a dish[156]
with a broad-bladed knife, and working it well with the other
ingredients: the whole was easily blended into a mass of uniform colour,
in which not the smallest lump of butter or egg was perceptible. Mix it
intimately with an ounce or two of firm fresh butter, a rather high
seasoning of cayenne, some salt, or a teaspoonful or two of essence of
anchovies, and about as much of chili vinegar or lemon-juice. To these
minced herbs or eschalots can be added at pleasure. Fill the whites with
the mixture, and serve them in a bowl two-thirds filled with salad,
sauced as usual; or use them merely as a decoration for a lobster or
German salad.
Footnote 156:
We chanced, when we received our first present of swan’s eggs, to be
in a house where there was _no mortar_—a common deficiency in English
culinary departments.
TO POACH EGGS.
Take for this purpose a wide and delicately clean pan about half-filled
with the clearest spring-water; throw in a small saltspoonful of salt,
and place it over a fire quite free from smoke. Break some new laid eggs
into separate cups, and do this with care, that the yolks may not be
injured. When the water boils, draw back the pan, glide the eggs gently
into it, and let them stand until the whites appear almost set, which
will be in about a minute: then, without shaking them, move the pan over
the fire, and just simmer them from two minutes and a half to three
minutes. Lift them out separately with a slice, trim quickly off the
ragged edges, and serve them upon dressed spinach, or upon minced veal,
turkey, or chicken; or dish them for an invalid, upon delicately toasted
bread, sliced thick, and freed from crust: it is an improvement to have
the bread buttered, but it is then less wholesome.
Comparative time of poaching eggs. Swans’ eggs, 5 to 6 minutes, (in
basin, 10 minutes.) Turkeys’ eggs 4 minutes. Hens’ eggs, 3 to 3-1/2
minutes. Guinea-fowls’, 2 to 3 minutes. Bantams’, 2 minutes.
_Obs._—All eggs may be poached _without boiling_ if kept just at
simmering point, but _one boil_ quite at last will assist to detach them
from the stewpan, from which they should always be very carefully lifted
on what is called a fish or _egg-slice_. There are pans made on purpose
for poaching and frying them in good form; but they do not, we believe,
answer particularly well. If broken into cups slightly rubbed with
butter, and simmered in them, their roundness of shape will be best
preserved.
POACHED EGGS WITH GRAVY. (ENTREMETS.)
_Œufs Pochés au Jus._
Dress the eggs as above, giving them as good an appearance as possible,
lay them into a very hot dish, and sauce them with some rich, clear,
boiling veal gravy, or with some _Espagnole_. Each egg, for variety, may
be dished upon a _crouton_ of bread cut with a fluted paste-cutter, and
fried a pale brown: the sauce should then be poured round, not over
them.
Poaching is the best mode of dressing a swan’s egg,[157] as it renders
it more than any other delicate in flavour; it is usually served on a
bed of spinach. Only the eggs of quite young swans are suited to the
table: one is sufficient for a dish. It may be laid on a large _crouton_
of fried bread, and sauced with highly flavoured gravy, or with
tomata-sauce well seasoned with eschalots.
Footnote 157:
We fear that want of space must compel us to omit some other receipts
for swans’ eggs, which we had prepared for this chapter.
ŒUFS AU PLAT.
A pewter or any other metal plate or dish which will bear the fire, must
be used for these. Just melt a slice of butter in it, then put in some
very fresh eggs broken as for poaching; strew a little pepper and salt
on the top of each, and place them over a gentle fire until the whites
are quite set, but keep them free from colour.
This is a very common mode of preparing eggs on the continent; but there
is generally a slight rawness of the surface of the yolks which is in a
measure removed by ladling the boiling butter over them with a spoon as
they are cooking, though a salamander held above them for a minute would
have a better effect. Four or five minutes will dress them.
_Obs._—We hope for an opportunity of inserting further receipts for
dishes of eggs at the end of this volume.
MILK AND CREAM.
Without possessing a dairy, it is quite possible for families to have
always a sufficient provision of milk and cream for their consumption,
provided there be a clean cool larder or pantry where it can be kept. It
should be taken from persons who can be depended on for supplying it
pure, and if it can be obtained from a dairy near at hand it will be an
advantage, as in the summer it is less easy to preserve it sweet when it
has been conveyed from a distance. It should be poured at once into
well-scalded pans or basins kept exclusively for it, and placed on a
_very clean_ and airy shelf, apart from all the other contents of the
larder. The fresh milk as it comes in should be set at one end of the
shelf, and that for use should be taken from the other, so that none may
become stale from being misplaced or overlooked. The cream should be
removed with a perforated skimmer (or skimming-dish as it is called in
dairy-counties) which has been dipped into cold water to prevent the
cream, when thick, from adhering to it. Twelve hours in summer, and
twenty-four in winter, will be sufficient time for the milk to stand for
“_creaming_,” though it may often be kept longer with advantage. Between
two and three pints of really good milk will produce about a quarter of
a pint of cream. In frosty weather the pans for it should be warmed
before it is poured in. If boiled when first brought in, it will remain
sweet much longer than it otherwise would; but it will then be unfit to
serve with tea; though it may be heated afresh and sent to table with
coffee; and used also for puddings, and all other varieties of
milk-diet.
DEVONSHIRE, OR CLOTTED CREAM.
From the mode adopted in Devonshire, and in some other counties, of
scalding the milk in the following manner, the cream becomes very rich
and thick, and is easily converted into excellent butter. It is strained
into large shallow metal pans as soon as it is brought into the dairy
and left for twelve hours at least in summer, and thirty-six in cold
weather. It is then gently carried to a hot plate—heated by a fire from
below—and brought _slowly_ to a quite scalding heat but without being
allowed to boil or even to simmer. When it is ready to be removed,
distinct rings appear on the surface, and small bubbles of air. It must
then be carried carefully back to the dairy, and may be skimmed in
twelve hours afterwards. The cream should be well drained from the
milk—which will be very poor—as this is done. It may then be converted
into excellent butter, merely by beating it with the hand in a shallow
wooden tub, which is, we are informed, the usual manner of making it in
small Devonshire dairies.
DU LAIT A MADAME.
Boil a quart of new milk, and let it cool sufficiently to allow the
cream to be taken off; then rinse an earthen jar well in every part with
buttermilk, and while the boiled milk is still rather warm, pour it in
and add the cream gently on the top. Let it remain twenty-four hours,
turn it into a deep dish, mix it with pounded sugar, and it will be
ready to serve. This preparation is much eaten abroad during the summer,
and is considered very wholesome. The milk, by the foregoing process,
becomes a very soft curd, _slightly_, but not at all unpleasantly, acid
in flavour. A cover, or thick folded cloth, should be placed on the jar
after the milk is poured in, and it should be kept in a moderately warm
place. In very sultry weather less time may be allowed for the milk to
stand.
_Obs._—We give this and the following receipt from an unpublished work
which we have in progress, being always desirous to make such
information as we possess generally useful as far as we can.
CURDS AND WHEY.
Rennet is generally prepared for dairy-use by butchers, and kept in
farmhouses hung in the chimney corners, where it will remain good a long
time. It is the inner stomach of the calf, from which the curd is
removed, and which is salted and stretched out to dry on splinters of
wood, or strong wooden skewers. It should be preserved from dust and
smoke (by a paper-bag or other means), and portions of it cut off as
wanted. Soak a small bit in half a teacupful of warm water, and let it
remain in it for an hour or two; then pour into a quart of warm new milk
a dessertspoonful of the rennet-liquor, and keep it in a warm place
until the whey appears separated from the curd, and looks clear. The
smaller the proportion of rennet used, the more soft and delicate will
be the curd. We write these directions from recollection, having often
had the dish thus prepared, but having no memorandum at this moment of
the precise proportions used. Less than an inch square of the rennet
would be sufficient, we think, for a gallon of milk, if some hours were
allowed for it to turn. When _rennet-whey_, which is a most valuable
beverage in many cases of illness, is required for an invalid to drink,
a bit of the rennet, after being quickly and slightly rinsed, may be
stirred at once into the warm milk, as the curd becoming hard is then of
no consequence. It must be kept warm until the whey appears and is
clear. It may then be strained, and given to the patient to drink, or
allowed to become cold before it is taken. In feverish complaints it has
often the most benign effect.
_Devonshire junket_ is merely a dish or bowl of sweetened curds and
whey, covered with the thick cream of scalded milk, for which see page
451.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXIII.
=Sweet Dishes, or Entremets.=
[Illustration:
Jelly of two colours, with _macedoire_ of fruit.
]
TO PREPARE CALF’S FEET STOCK.
[Illustration:
White and Rose-coloured Jelly.
]
THE feet are usually sent in from the butcher’s ready to be dressed, but
as they are sold at a very much cheaper rate when the hair has not been
cleared from them, and as they may then be depended on for supplying the
utmost amount of nutriment which they contain, it is often desirable to
have them altogether prepared by the cook. In former editions of this
work we directed that they should be “dipped into cold water, and
sprinkled with resin in fine powder; then covered with boiling water and
left for a minute or two untouched before they were scraped;” and this
method we had followed with entire success for a long time, but we
afterwards discovered that the resin was not necessary, and that the
feet could be quite as well prepared by mere scalding, or being laid
into water at the _point_ of boiling, and kept in it for a few minutes
by the side of the fire. The hair, as we have already stated in the
first pages of Chapter IX. (Veal), must be very closely scraped from
them with a _blunt_-edged knife; and the hoofs must be removed by being
struck sharply down against the edge of a strong table or sink, the
leg-bone being held tightly in the hand. The feet must be afterwards
washed delicately clean before they are further used. When this has been
done, divide them at the joint, split the claws, and take away the fat
that is between them. Should the feet be large, put a gallon of cold
water to the four, but from a pint to a quart less if they be of
moderate size or small. Boil them gently down until the flesh has parted
entirely from the bones, and the liquor is reduced nearly or quite half;
strain, and let it stand until cold; remove every particle of fat from
the top before it is used, and be careful not to take the sediment.
Calf’s feet (large), 4; water, 1 gallon: 6 to 7 hours.
TO CLARIFY CALF’S FEET STOCK.
Break up a quart of the stock, put it into a clean stewpan with the
whites of five large or of six small eggs, two ounces of sugar, and the
strained juice of a small lemon; place it over a gentle fire, and do not
stir it after the scum begins to form; when it has boiled five or six
minutes, if the liquid part be clear, turn it into a jelly-bag, and pass
it through a second time should it not be perfectly transparent the
first. To consumptive patients, and others requiring restoratives, but
forbidden to take stimulants, the jelly thus prepared is often very
acceptable, and may be taken with impunity, when it would be highly
injurious made with wine. More white of egg is required to clarify it
than when sugar and acid are used in larger quantities, as both of these
assist the process. For blanc-mange omit the lemon-juice, and mix with
the clarified stock an equal proportion of cream (for an invalid, new
milk), with the usual flavouring, and weight of sugar; or pour the
boiling stock very gradually to some finely pounded almonds, and express
it from them as directed for Quince Blamange, allowing from six to eight
ounces to the pint.
Stock, 1 quart; whites of eggs, 5; sugar, 2 oz.; juice, 1 small lemon: 5
to 8 minutes.
TO CLARIFY ISINGLASS.
The finely-cut purified isinglass, which is now in general use, requires
no clarifying except for clear jellies: for all other dishes it is
sufficient to dissolve, skim, and pass it through a muslin strainer.
When two ounces are required for a dish, put two and a half into a
delicately clean pan, and pour on it a pint of spring water which has
been gradually mixed with a teaspoonful of beaten white of egg; stir
these thoroughly together, and let them heat slowly by the side of a
gentle fire, but do not allow the isinglass to stick to the pan. When
the scum is well risen, which it will be after two or three minutes’
simmering, clear it off, and continue the skimming until no more
appears; then, should the quantity of liquid be more than is needed,
reduce it by quick boiling to the proper point, strain it through a thin
muslin, and set it by for use: it will be perfectly transparent, and may
be mixed lukewarm with the clear and ready sweetened juice of various
fruits, or used with the necessary proportion of syrup, for jellies
flavoured with choice liqueurs. As the clarifying reduces the strength
of the isinglass—or rather as a portion of it is taken up by the white
of egg—an additional quarter to each ounce must be allowed for this: if
the scum be laid to drain on the back of a fine sieve which has been
wetted with hot water, a little very strong jelly will drip from it.
Isinglass, 2-1/2 oz.; water, 1 pint; beaten white of egg, 1 teaspoonful.
_Obs._—At many Italian warehouses a preparation is now sold under the
name of isinglass, which appears to us to be highly purified gelatine of
some other kind. It is converted without trouble into a very transparent
jelly, is free from flavour, and is less expensive than the genuine
Russian isinglass; but when taken for any length of time as a
restorative, its different nature becomes perceptible. It answers well
for the table occasionally; but it is not suited to invalids.
SPINACH GREEN, FOR COLOURING SWEET DISHES, CONFECTIONARY, OR SOUPS.
Pound quite to a pulp, in a marble or Wedgwood mortar, a handful or two
of young freshly-gathered spinach, then throw it into a hair sieve, and
press through all the juice which can be obtained from it; pour this
into a clean white jar, and place it in a pan of water that is at the
point of boiling, and which must be allowed only to just simmer
afterwards; in three or four minutes the juice will be poached or _set_:
take it then gently with a spoon, and lay it upon the back of a fine
sieve to drain. If wanted for immediate use, merely mix it in the mortar
with some finely-powdered sugar;[158] but if to be kept as a store,
pound it with as much as will render the whole tolerably dry, boil it to
candy-height over a very clear fire, pour it out in cakes, and keep them
in a tin box or canister. For this last preparation consult the receipt
for orange-flower candy.
Footnote 158:
For soup, dilute it first with a little of the boiling stock, and stir
it to the remainder.
PREPARED APPLE OR QUINCE JUICE.
Pour into a clean earthen pan two quarts of spring water, and throw into
it as quickly as they can be pared, quartered, and weighed, four pounds
of nonsuches, pearmains, Ripstone pippins, or any other good boiling
apples of fine flavour. When all are done, stew them gently until they
are well broken, but not reduced quite to pulp; turn them into a
jelly-bag, or strain the juice from them without pressure through a
closely-woven cloth, which should be gathered over the fruit, and tied,
and suspended above a deep pan until the juice ceases to drop from it:
this, if not very clear, must be rendered so before it is used for syrup
or jelly, but for all other purposes once straining it will be
sufficient. Quinces are prepared in the same way, and with the same
proportions of fruit and water, but they must not be too long boiled, or
the juice will become red. We have found it answer well to have them
simmered until they are perfectly tender, and then to leave them with
their liquor in a bowl until the following day, when the juice will be
rich and clear. They should be thrown into the water very quickly after
they are pared and weighed, as the air will soon discolour them. The
juice will form a jelly much more easily if the cores and pips be left
in the fruit.
Water, 2 quarts; apples or quinces, 4 lbs.
COCOA-NUT FLAVOURED MILK.
(_For sweet dishes, &c._)
Pare the dark outer rind from a very fresh nut, and grate it on a fine
and exceedingly clean grater, to every three ounces pour a quart of new
milk, and simmer them _very softly_ for three quarters of an hour, or
more, that a full flavour of the nut may be imparted to the milk without
its being much reduced: strain it through a fine sieve, or cloth, with
sufficient pressure to leave the nut almost dry: it may then be used for
blanc-mange, custards, rice, and other puddings, light cakes and bread.
To each quart new milk, 3 oz. grated cocoa-nut: 3/4 to 1 hour.
_Obs._—The milk of the nut when _perfectly_ sweet and good, may be added
to the other with advantage. To obtain it, bore one end of the shell
with a gimlet, and catch the liquid in a cup; and to extricate the
kernel, break the shell with a hammer; this is better than sawing it
asunder.
COMPÔTES OF FRUIT.
(_Or Fruit stewed in Syrup._)
We would _especially_ recommend these delicate and very agreeable
preparations for trial to such of our readers as may be unacquainted
with them, as well as to those who may have a distaste to the common
“_stewed fruit_” of English cookery. If well made they are peculiarly
delicious and refreshing, preserving the pure flavour of the fruit of
which they are composed; while its acidity is much softened by the small
quantity of water added to form the syrup in which it is boiled. They
are also more economical than tarts or puddings, and infinitely more
wholesome. In the second course pastry-crust can always be served with
them, if desired, in the form of ready baked leaves, round cakes, or any
more fanciful shapes; or a border of these may be fastened with a little
white of egg and flour round the edge of the dish in which the _compôte_
is served; but rice, or macaroni simply boiled, or a very plain pudding
is a more usual accompaniment.
_Compôtes_ will remain good for two or three days in a cool store-room,
or somewhat longer, if gently boiled up for an instant a second time;
but they contain generally too small a proportion of sugar to preserve
them from mould or fermentation for _many_ days. The syrup should be
enriched with a larger quantity when they are intended for the desserts
of formal dinners, as it will increase the transparency of the fruit:
the juice is always beautifully clear when the _compôtes_ are carefully
prepared. They should be served in glass dishes, or in _compôtiers_,
which are of a form adapted to them.
_Compôte of spring fruit._—(Rhubarb). Take a pound of the stalks after
they are pared, and cut them into short lengths; have ready a quarter of
a pint of water boiled gently for ten minutes with five ounces of sugar,
or with six should the fruit be very acid; put it in, and simmer it for
about ten minutes. Some kinds will be tender in rather less time, some
will require more.
_Obs._—Good sugar in lumps should be used for these dishes. Lisbon sugar
will answer for them very well on ordinary occasions, but that which is
refined will render them much more delicate. _Compôte of green
currants._—Spring water, half-pint; sugar, five ounces; boiled together
ten minutes. One pint of green currants stripped from the stalks;
simmered five minutes.
_Compôte of green gooseberries._—This is an excellent _compôte_ if made
with fine sugar, and very good with any kind. Break five ounces into
small lumps and pour on them half a pint of water; boil these gently for
ten minutes, and clear off all the scum; then add to them a pint of
fresh gooseberries freed from the tops and stalks, washed, and well
drained. Simmer them gently from eight to ten minutes, and serve them
hot or cold. Increase the quantity for a large dish.
_Compôte of green apricots._—Wipe the down from a pound of quite young
apricots, and stew them _very_ gently for nearly twenty minutes in syrup
made with eight ounces of sugar and three-quarters of a pint of water,
boiled together the usual time.
_Compôte of red currants._—A quarter of a pint of water and five ounces
of sugar: ten minutes. One pint of currants freed from the stalks to be
just simmered in the syrup from five to seven minutes. This receipt will
serve equally for raspberries, or for a _compôte_ of the two fruits
mixed together. Either of them will be found an admirable accompaniment
to a pudding of batter, custard, bread, or ground rice, and also to
various other kinds of puddings, as well as to whole rice plainly
boiled.
_Compôte of Kentish or Flemish cherries._—Simmer five ounces of sugar
with half a pint of water for ten minutes; throw into the syrup a pound
of cherries weighed after they are stalked, and let them stew gently for
twenty minutes: it is a great improvement to stone the fruit, but a
larger quantity will then be required for a dish.
_Compôte of Morella cherries._—Boil together for fifteen minutes, six
ounces of sugar with half a pint of water; add a pound and a quarter of
ripe Morella cherries, and simmer them _very_ softly from five to seven
minutes: this is a delicious _compôte_. A larger proportion of sugar
will often be required for it, as the fruit is very acid in some
seasons, and when it is not fully ripe.
_Compôte of damsons._—Four ounces of sugar and half a pint of water to
be boiled for ten minutes; one pound of damsons to be added, and
simmered gently from ten to twelve minutes.
_Compôte of the green magnum-bonum or Mogul plum._—The green Mogul plums
are often brought abundantly into the market when the fruit is thinned
from the trees, and they make admirable tarts or _compôtes_, possessing
the fine slight bitter flavour of the unripe apricot, to which they are
quite equal. Measure a pint of the plums without their stalks, and wash
them very clean; then throw them into a syrup made with seven ounces of
sugar in lumps, and half a pint of water, boiled together for eight or
ten minutes. Give the plums one quick boil, and then let them stew quite
softly for about five minutes, or until they are tender, which
occasionally will be in less time even. Take off the scum, and serve the
_compôte_ hot or cold.
_Compôte of the magnum-bonum, or other large plums._—Boil six ounces of
sugar with half a pint of water the usual time; take the stalks from a
pound of plums, and simmer them very softly for twenty minutes. Increase
the proportion of sugar if needed, and regulate the time as may be
necessary for the different varieties of fruit.
_Compôte of bullaces._—The large, or shepherds’ bullace, is very good
stewed, but will require a considerable portion of sugar to render it
palatable, unless it be quite ripe. Make a syrup with half a pound of
sugar, and three-quarters of a pint of water, and boil in it gently from
fifteen to twenty minutes, a pint and a half of the bullaces freed from
their stalks.
_Compôte of Siberian crabs._—To three-quarters of a pint of water add
six ounces of fine sugar, boil them for ten or twelve minutes, and skim
them well. Add a pound and a half of Siberian crabs without their
stalks, and keep them _just at the point of boiling_ for twenty minutes;
they will then become tender without bursting. A few strips of
lemon-rind and a little of the juice are sometimes added to this
_compôte_.
_Obs._—In a dry warm summer, when fruit ripens freely, and is rich in
quality, the proportion of sugar directed for these _compôtes_ would
generally be found sufficient; but in a cold or wet season it would
certainly, in many instances, require to be increased. The present
slight difference in the cost of sugars, renders it a poor economy to
use the raw for dishes of this class, instead of that which is well
refined. To make a clear syrup it should be broken into lumps, not
crushed to powder. Almost every kind of fruit may be converted into a
good _compôte_.
COMPÔTE OF PEACHES.
Pare half a dozen ripe peaches, and stew them very softly from eighteen
to twenty minutes, keeping them often turned in a light syrup, made with
five ounces of sugar, and half a pint of water boiled together for ten
minutes. Dish the fruit; reduce the syrup by quick boiling, pour it over
the peaches, and serve them hot for a second-course dish, or cold for
rice-crust. They should be quite ripe, and will be found delicious
dressed thus. A little lemon-juice may be added to the syrup, and the
blanched kernels of two or three peach or apricot stones.
Sugar, 5 oz.; water, 1/2 pint: 10 minutes. Peaches, 6: 18 to 20 minutes.
_Obs._—Nectarines, without being pared, may be dressed in the same way,
but will require to be stewed somewhat longer, unless they be quite
ripe.
ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR STEWED PEACHES.
Should the fruit be not perfectly ripe, throw it into boiling water and
keep it just simmering, until the skin can be easily stripped off. Have
ready half a pound of fine sugar boiled to a light syrup with
three-quarters of a pint of water; throw in the peaches, let them stew
softly until quite tender, and turn them often that they may be equally
done; after they are dished, add a little strained lemon-juice to the
syrup, and reduce it by a few minutes’ very quick boiling. The fruit is
sometimes pared, divided, and stoned, then gently stewed until it is
tender.
Sugar, 8 oz.; water, 3/4 pint: 10 to 12 minutes. Peaches, 6 or 7;
lemon-juice, 1 large teaspoonful.
COMPÔTE OF BARBERRIES FOR DESSERT.
When this fruit is first ripe it requires, from its excessive acidity,
nearly its weight of sugar to render it palatable; but after hanging
some time upon the trees it becomes much mellowed in flavour, and may be
sufficiently sweetened with a smaller proportion. According to the state
of the fruit then, take for each pound (leaving it in bunches) from
twelve to sixteen ounces of sugar, and boil it with three-quarters of a
pint of water until it forms a syrup. Throw in the bunches of fruit, and
simmer them for five or six minutes. If their weight of sugar be used,
they will become in that time perfectly transparent. As all vessels of
tin affect the colour of the barberries, they should be boiled in a
copper stewpan, or in a German enamelled one, which would be far better.
Barberries, 1 lb.; sugar, 12 to 16 oz.; water, 3/4 pint; fruit simmered
in syrup, 5 to 6 minutes.
BLACK CAPS PAR EXCELLENCE.
(_For the Second-course, or for Dessert._)
Cut a dozen fine Norfolk biffins in two without paring them, scoop out
the cores, and fill the cavities with thin strips of fresh lemon-rind
and with candied orange-peel. Cover the bottom of a flat shallow tin
with a thick layer of fine pale brown sugar, press the two halves of
each apple together, and place them closely in the tin; pour half a
bottle of raisin or of any other sweet wine over them, and be careful to
moisten the tops of all; sift white sugar thickly on them, and set the
tin into a very hot oven at first, that the outsides of the apples may
_catch_ or become black; then draw them to the mouth of the oven, and
bake them gently until they are soft quite through. The Norfolk biffin
answers for this dish far better than any other kind of apple, but the
winter queening, and some few firm sorts beside, can be used for it with
fair success. These for variety may be cored without being divided, and
filled with orange marmalade. The black caps served hot, as a
second-course dish, are excellent.
Norfolk biffins, 12; rinds fresh lemons, 1 to 2; candied orange-rind, 2
to 3 oz.; pale brown sugar, 3/4 lb.; raisin or other wine, 1/2 bottle;
little sifted sugar: 3/4 to 1 hour, or more.
_Obs._—The apples dressed as above resemble a _rich confection_, and
will remain good for ten days or a fortnight; sometimes much longer
even. The receipt is an admirable one.
GATEAU DE POMMES.
Boil together for fifteen minutes a pound of well-refined sugar and half
a pint of water; then add a couple of pounds of nonsuches, or of any
other finely-flavoured apples which can be boiled easily to a smooth
pulp, and the juice of a couple of small, or of one very large lemon.
Stew these gently until the mixture is perfectly free from lumps, then
boil it quickly, keeping it stirred, without quitting it, until it forms
a very thick and dry marmalade. A few minutes before it is done add the
finely grated rinds of a couple of lemons; when it leaves the bottom of
the preserving-pan visible and dry, press it into moulds of tasteful
form; and either store it for winter use, or if wanted for table, serve
it plain for rice-crust, or ornament it with spikes of blanched almonds,
and pour a custard round it for a second-course dish (_entremets_).
Sugar, 1 lb.; water, 1/2 pint: 15 minutes. Nonsuches or other apples, 2
lbs.; juice, 1 large or 2 small lemons: 2 hours or more.
GATEAU OF MIXED FRUITS. (GOOD.)
Extract the juice from some fresh red currants by simmering them very
gently for a few minutes over a slow fire: strain it through a folded
muslin, and to one pound of it add a pound and a half of nonsuches or of
freshly gathered codlings, pared, and rather deeply cored, that the
fibrous part of the apple may be avoided. Boil these quite slowly until
the mixture is perfectly smooth, then, to evaporate part of the
moisture, let the boiling be quickened. In from twenty-five to thirty
minutes draw the pan from the fire, and throw in gradually a pound and a
quarter of sugar in fine powder: mix it well with the fruit, and when it
is dissolved continue the boiling rapidly for twenty minutes longer,
keeping the mixture constantly stirred; put it into a mould, and store
it, when cold, for winter use, or serve it for rice-crust, or for the
second course: in the latter case decorate it with spikes of blanched
almonds, or pistachio-nuts, and heap solid whipped cream round it, or
pour a custard into the dish. For rice-crust it may be garnished with
dice of the palest apple-jelly.
Juice of red currants, 1 lb.; nonsuches, or codlings (pared and cored),
1-1/2 lb.: 25 to 30 minutes. Sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes.
_Obs._—A portion of raspberries, if still in season, may be mixed with
the currants for this _gâteau_, should the flavour be liked.
For other and excellent varieties of _gâteaux_ of fruit, see Newton
solid, and damson solid, Chapter XXIV. Ripe peaches and nonsuches will
likewise do well for it. Codlings answer perfectly for the preceding
receipt, and the preparation is of fine colour and very pleasant
flavour: it ought to cut in clear firm slices. Other varieties of fruit
can be mingled in the same manner.
JELLIES.
CALF’S FEET JELLY. (ENTREMETS.)
[Illustration:
Modern Jelly Mould.
]
We hear inexperienced housekeepers frequently complain of the difficulty
of rendering this jelly perfectly transparent; but by mixing with the
other ingredients, while quite cold, the whites, and the crushed
_shells_ of a sufficient number of eggs, and allowing the head of scum
which gathers on the jelly to remain undisturbed after it once forms,
they will scarcely fail to obtain it clear. It should be strained
through a thick flannel, or beaver-skin, bag of a conical form (placed
before the fire, should the weather be at all cold, or the mixture will
jelly before it has run through), and if not perfectly clear it must be
strained, again and again, until it becomes so; though we generally find
that once suffices. Mix thoroughly in a large stewpan five half-pints of
strong calf’s feet stock (see page 453), a full pint of sherry, half a
pound of sugar roughly powdered, the juice of two fine lemons, the rind
of one and a half cut very thin, the whites and shells of four large
eggs, and half an ounce of isinglass. Let these remain a few minutes off
the fire, that the sugar may dissolve more easily; then let the jelly be
brought to boil gradually, and do not stir it after it begins to heat.
When it has boiled gently for sixteen minutes, draw it from the fire,
and let it stand a short time before it is poured into a jelly-bag,
under which a bowl should be placed to receive it. When clear and cool,
put it into moulds which have been laid for some hours in water: these
should always be of earthenware in preference to metal. If to be served
in glasses, or _roughed_, the jelly will be sufficiently firm without
the isinglass, of which, however, we recommend a small quantity to be
thrown in always when the jelly begins to boil, as it facilitates the
clearing.
Calf’s feet stock, 2-1/2 pints; sugar, 1/2 lb.; sherry, 1 pint; juice of
lemons, 2 _large_; rind of 1-1/2; whites and shells of eggs, 4 large, or
5 small: 16 minutes.
_Obs. 1._—After the jelly has dropped through the bag, an exceedingly
agreeable beverage may be obtained by pouring in some boiling water;
from one to three half pints, according to the quantity of jelly which
has been made. The same plan should be pursued in making orange or lemon
jelly for an invalid.
_Obs. 2._—As it is essential to the transparency of calf’s feet jelly of
all kinds that the whole of the ingredients should be quite cold when
they are mixed, and as the stock can only be measured in a liquid state,
to which it must be reduced by heating, the better plan is, to measure
it when it is first strained from the feet, and to put apart the exact
quantity required for a receipt; but when this has not been done, and it
is necessary to liquefy it, it must be left until quite cold again
before it is used. For the manner of preparing and clarifying it, see
the beginning of this chapter.
ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR CALF’S FEET JELLY.
To four calf’s feet well cleaned and divided, pour a gallon of water and
let them stew until it is reduced to rather less than two quarts; or if,
after the flesh has quite fallen from the bones, the liquor on being
strained off should exceed that quantity, reduce it by rapid boiling in
a clean uncovered pan over a very clear fire. When it is perfectly firm
and cold, take it clear of fat and sediment, and add to it a bottle of
sherry, which should be of good quality (for poor, thin wines are not
well adapted to the purpose), three-quarters of a pound of sugar broken
small, the juice of five large or of six moderate-sized lemons, and the
whites, with the shells finely crushed, of seven eggs, or of more should
they be very small. The rinds of three lemons, pared exceedingly thin,
may be thrown into the jelly a few minutes before it is taken from the
fire; or they may be put into the jelly-bag previously to its being
poured through, when they will impart to it a slight and delicate
flavour, without deepening its colour much. If it is to be moulded,
something more than half an ounce of isinglass should be dropped lightly
in where the liquid becomes visible through the head of scum, when the
mixture begins to boil; for if not sufficiently firm, it will break when
it is dished. It may be roughed, or served in glasses without this
addition; and in a liquid state will be found an admirable ingredient
for Oxford, or other punch.
Calf’s feet, 4; water, 1 gallon: to be reduced more than half. Sherry, 1
bottle; sugar, 3/4 lb. (more to taste); juice of 5 large lemons, or of
six moderate-sized; whites and shells of 7 eggs, or more if small; rinds
of lemons, 3 (for moulding, nearly 3/4 oz. of isinglass): 15 to 20
minutes.
_Obs._—An excellent and wholesome jelly for young people may be made
with good orange or raisin wine, instead of sherry; to either of these
the juice of three or four oranges, with a small portion of the rind,
may be added instead of part of the lemons.
MODERN VARIETIES OF CALF’S FEET JELLY.
In modern cookery a number of excellent jellies are made with the stock
of calves’ feet, variously flavoured. Many of them are compounded
entirely without wine, a small quantity of some fine _liqueur_ being
used as a substitute; and sometimes cinnamon, or vanilla, or Seville
orange-rind with a slight portion of acid, takes place of this. For
aristocratic tables, indeed, it is the present fashion to serve them
very lightly and delicately flavoured. Their cost is thus materially
diminished. Fresh strawberries dropped into clear calf’s feet jelly just
before it _sets_, impart a delicious fragrance to it, when they are of a
choice kind; and other fruit is mingled with it often; but none has so
good an effect, though many sorts when tastefully employed give an
excellent appearance to it. The _Belgrave mould_, of which the
description will be found at page 470, is well adapted for highly
ornamental jellies; and we recommend its adoption for this class of
dishes.
APPLE CALF’S FEET JELLY.
Pour a quart of prepared apple-juice (see page 456), on a pound of fresh
apples pared and cored, and simmer them until they are well broken;
strain the juice, and let it stand until cold; then measure, and put a
pint and a half of it into a stewpan with a quart of calf’s feet stock
(see page 453), nine ounces of sugar broken small, or roughly pounded,
the juice of two fine lemons, and the thin rinds of one and a half, with
the whites and shells of eight eggs. Let it boil gently for ten minutes,
then strain it through a flannel-bag, and when cool put it into moulds.
It will be very clear, and firm, and of pleasant flavour. Apples of good
quality should be used for it, and the quantity of sugar must be
regulated by the time of year, as the fruit will have lost much of its
acidity during the latter part of the season. This receipt, which is the
result of our own experiment, and which we have found very successful,
was first tried just after Christmas, with pearmains and Ripstone
pippins. A little syrup of preserved ginger, or a small glass of fine
white brandy, would, perhaps, to some tastes, improve the jelly; but we
give it simply as we have had it proved ourselves.
Prepared apple juice, 1 quart; fresh apples, 1 lb.: 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
Strained juice, 1-1/2 pint; calf’s feet stock, 1 quart; sugar, 9 oz.;
juice of lemons, 2; rind of 1-1/2; whites and shells of eggs, 8: 10
minutes.
_Obs._—We would recommend the substitution of quinces for apples in this
receipt as likely to afford a very agreeable variety of the jelly: or
equal portions of the two fruits might answer well. Unless the stock be
very stiff, add isinglass to this, as to the calf’s feet jelly, when it
is to be moulded.
ORANGE CALF’S FEET JELLY.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
To a pint and a half of firm calf’s feet stock, put a pint of strained
China-orange juice mixed with that of one or two lemons; add to these
six ounces of sugar, broken small, the _very_ thin rinds of three
oranges and one lemon, and the whites of six eggs with half the shells
crushed small. Stir these gently over a clear fire until the head of
scum begins to form, but not at all afterwards. Simmer the jelly for ten
minutes from the first _full_ boil; take it from the fire, let it stand
a little, then pour it through a jelly-bag until perfectly clear. This
is an original, and entirely new receipt, which we can recommend to the
reader, the jelly being very pale, beautifully transparent, and delicate
in flavour: it would, we think, be peculiarly acceptable to such
invalids as are forbidden to take wine in any form.
The proportions both of sugar and of lemon-juice must be somewhat varied
according to the season in which the oranges are used.
Strong calf’s feet stock, 1-1/2 pint; strained orange-juice, mixed with
a small portion of lemon-juice, 1 pint; sugar, 6 oz.; rinds of oranges,
3; of lemon, 1: 10 minutes.
_Obs._—A small pinch of isinglass thrown into the jelly when it begins
to boil will much assist to clear it. When the flavour of Seville
oranges is liked, two or three can be used with the sweet ones.
ORANGE ISINGLASS JELLY.
To render this perfectly transparent the juice of the fruit must be
filtered, and the isinglass clarified; but it is not usual to take so
much trouble for it. Strain as clear as possible, first through a sieve
or muslin, then through a thick cloth or jelly bag, one quart of China
orange-juice, mixed with as much lemon-juice as will give it an
agreeable degree of acidity, or with a small proportion of Seville
orange-juice. Dissolve two ounces and a half of isinglass in a pint of
water, skim it well, throw in half a pound of sugar, and a few strips of
the orange-rind, pour in the orange-juice, stir the whole well together,
skim it clean without allowing it to boil, strain it through a cloth or
through a muslin, many times folded, and when nearly cold put it into
the moulds.[159] This jelly is sometimes made without any water, by
dissolving the isinglass and sugar in the juice of the fruit.
Footnote 159:
In France, orange-jelly is very commonly served in the halved rinds of
the fruit, or in little baskets made as we shall hereafter direct,
page 466.
Orange-juice, 1 quart; water, 1 pint; isinglass, 2-1/2 oz.; sugar, 1/2
lb.
VERY FINE ORANGE JELLY.
(_Sussex Place Receipt._)
On two ounces and a half of the finest isinglass, pour a full but an
exact pint of spring water; press down the isinglass and turn it over
until the whole is well moistened; then place it over a gentle fire and
let it dissolve gradually; remove the scum after it has simmered for two
or three minutes, then pour it out, and set it aside to cool. In another
pint of spring water boil a pound of highly refined sugar for five or
six minutes; turn this syrup into a bowl, and when it is only just warm,
throw into it the _very_ thinly pared rinds of two fine lemons, of two
Seville oranges, and of two China oranges, with the juice of five China,
and of two Seville oranges, and of three lemons. When this mixture is
cold, but not beginning to thicken, mix it well with the liquid
isinglass, and strain it through a fine lawn sieve, or through a square
of muslin folded in four; pour it into moulds which have been laid in
cold water, and when wanted for the table, loosen it from them by
wrapping about them, closely, a cloth which has been dipped into boiling
water, and by passing a knife round the edges.
Nothing can be more refined and delicate in flavour than the above; but
the appearance of the jelly may be improved by clarifying the isinglass,
and its colour by boiling the fruit-rinds in the syrup for three or four
minutes, and by leaving them in it until it is strained. The oranges and
lemons, if good, will yield from two-thirds to three-quarters of a pint
of juice, and the quantity of jelly will be sufficient to fill one large
high mould, or two smaller ones which contain about a pint and a quarter
each.
When the isinglass is clarified, allow half an ounce more of it; take
about a teaspoonful of the white of a _fresh_ egg, beat it a little, add
the pint of cold water to it, whisk them together for a minute or two,
and then pour them on the isinglass; stir it occasionally as it is
heating, but not after the head of scum is formed: boil it gently for
two or three minutes, skim, and strain it. The oranges and lemons should
be dipped into fresh water and wiped dry before they are pared; and
should a muslin strainer (that is to say, a large square of common clean
muslin) be used for the jelly, it should be laid after being washed in
the usual manner into plenty of hot water, and then into cold, and be
well rinsed in, and wrung from each.
ORANGES FILLED WITH JELLY.
[Illustration]
This is one of the fanciful dishes which make a pretty appearance on a
supper table, and are acceptable when much variety is desired. Take some
very fine China oranges, and with the point of a small knife cut out
from the top of each a round about the size of a shilling; then with the
small end of a tea or an egg spoon, empty them entirely, taking great
care not to break the rinds. Throw these into cold water, and make jelly
of the juice, which must be well pressed from the pulp, and strained as
clear as possible. Colour one half a fine rose colour with prepared
cochineal, and leave the other very pale; when it is nearly cold, drain
and wipe the orange rinds, and fill them with alternate stripes of the
two jellies; when they are perfectly cold cut them into quarters, and
dispose them tastefully in a dish with a few light branches of myrtle
between them. Calf’s feet or any other variety of jelly, or different
blancmanges, may be used at choice to fill the rinds; the colours,
however, should contrast as much as possible.
TO MAKE ORANGE BASKETS FOR JELLY.
The oranges for these should be large. First, mark the handle of the
basket evenly across the stalk end of the fruit with the back of a small
knife, or with a silver one, and let it be quite half an inch wide; then
trace a line across from one end of the handle to the other exactly in
the middle of the orange, and when the other side is marked in the same
way, cut just through the rind with the point of a penknife, being
careful not to pierce the fruit itself; next, with a tea or
dessertspoon, take of the quartered rind on either side of the handle;
pass a penknife under the handle itself; work the point of a spoon
gently between the orange and the basket, until they are separated in
every part; then take the fruit between the thumb and fingers, and press
it carefully out through one of the spaces on either side of the handle.
Baskets thus made may be filled with any of the jellies of which the
receipts are given here: but they should be nearly cold before they are
poured in; and they ought also to be very clear. Some of the baskets may
be filled with ratifias, and dished alternately with those which contain
the jelly.
LEMON CALF’S FEET JELLY.
Break up a quart of strong calf’s feet stock, which should have been
measured while in a liquid state; let it be quite clear of fat and
sediment, for which a small additional quantity should be allowed; add
to it a not very full half-pint of strained lemon-juice, and ten ounces
of sugar, broken small (rather more or less according to the state of
the fruit), the rind of one lemon pared as thin as possible, or of from
two to three when a full flavour of it is liked, and the whites with
part of the shells crushed small, of five large or of six small eggs.
Proceed as for the preceding jellies, and when the mixture has boiled
five minutes throw in a small pinch of isinglass; continue the boiling
for five or six minutes longer, draw the pan from the fire, let it stand
to settle; then turn it into the jelly-bag. We have found it always
perfectly clear with once passing through; but should it not be so, pour
it in a second time.
Strong calf’s feet stock, 1 quart; strained lemon-juice, short 1/2 pint;
sugar, 10 oz. (more or less according to state of fruit); rind of from 1
to 3 large lemons; whites and part of shells of 5 large or 6 small eggs:
5 minutes. Pinch of isinglass: 5 minutes longer.
_Obs._—About seven large lemons will produce the half pint of juice.
This quantity is for one mould only. The jelly will be found almost
colourless unless much of the rinds be used, and as perfectly
transparent as clear spring water: it is also very agreeable in flavour.
For variety, part of the juice of the fruit might be omitted, and its
place supplied by maraschino, or any other rich white liqueur of
appropriate flavour; and to render it _safer_ eating, some syrup of
preserved ginger would be an excellent addition.
CONSTANTIA JELLY.
Infuse in a pint of water for five minutes the rind of half a Seville
orange, pared extremely thin; add an ounce of isinglass; and when this
is dissolved throw in four ounces of good sugar in lumps; stir well, and
simmer the whole for a few minutes, then mix with it four large
wineglassesful of Constantia, and strain the jelly through a fine cloth
of close texture; let it settle and cool, then pour it gently from any
sediment there may be, into a mould which has been laid for an hour or
two into water. We had this jelly made in the first instance for an
invalid who was forbidden to take acids, and it proved so agreeable in
flavour that we can recommend it for the table. The isinglass, with an
additional quarter of an ounce, might be clarified, and the sugar and
orange-rind boiled with it afterwards.
Water, 1 pint; rind, 1/2 Seville orange: 5 minutes. Isinglass, 1 oz.;
sugar, 4 oz.: 5 to 7 minutes. Constantia, 4 large wineglassesful.
RHUBARB ISINGLASS JELLY.
(_Author’s Original Receipt. Good._)
A jelly of beautiful tint, and excellent flavour, may be made with fresh
young rhubarb-stems, either of the giant or dwarf kind, if they be of a
bright pink colour. Wash, and drain or wipe them; slice without paring
them, taking them quite free from any coarse or discoloured parts. Put
two pounds and a half, and a quart of water into an enamelled stewpan,
which is more suitable to the purpose than any other; throw in two
ounces of sugar in lumps, and boil the rhubarb very gently for twenty
minutes, or until it is thoroughly stewed, but not sufficiently so to
thicken the juice. Strain it through a muslin folded in four; measure a
pint and a half of it; heat it afresh in a clean pan; add an ounce and a
half of the finest isinglass, and six ounces or more of the best sugar
in large lumps; stir it often until the isinglass is entirely dissolved,
then let it boil quickly for a few minutes to throw up the scum; clear
this off carefully, and strain the jelly _twice_ through a muslin
strainer,[160] folded as the first; let it cool, and mould it as usual.
Footnote 160:
These muslin strainers should be large, as it is necessary to fold
them in general to a quarter of their original size, to render them
sufficiently thick for _clearing_ juice or jelly.
STRAWBERRY ISINGLASS JELLY.
A great variety of equally elegant and excellent jellies for the table
may be made with clarified isinglass, clear syrup, and the juice of
almost any kind of fresh fruit; but as the process of making them is
nearly the same for all, we shall limit our receipts to one or two,
which will serve to direct the makers for the rest. Boil together
quickly for fifteen minutes one pint of water and three-quarters of a
pound of very good sugar; measure a quart of ripe richly-flavoured
strawberries without their stalks; the scarlet answer best, from the
colour which they give: on these pour the boiling syrup, and let them
stand all night. The next day clarify two ounces and a half of isinglass
in a pint of water, as directed at the beginning of this chapter; drain
the syrup from the strawberries very closely, add to it two or three
tablespoonsful of red currant juice, and the _clear_ juice of one large
or two small lemons; and when the isinglass is nearly cold mix the
whole, and put it into moulds. The French, who excel in these
fruit-jellies, always mix the separate ingredients when they are almost
cold; and they also place them over ice for an hour or so after they are
moulded, which is a great advantage, as they then require less
isinglass, and are in consequence much more delicate. When the fruit
abounds, instead of throwing it into the syrup, bruise lightly from
three to four pints, throw two tablespoonsful of sugar over it, and let
the juice flow from it for an hour or two; then pour a little water
over, and use the juice without boiling, which will give a jelly of
finer flavour than the other.
Water, 1 pint; sugar, 3/4 lb.: 15 minutes. Strawberries, 1 quart;
isinglass, 2-1/2 oz.; water, 1 pint (white of egg, 1 to 2 teaspoonsful);
juice, 1 large or 2 small lemons.
FANCY JELLIES.
[Illustration:
No. 1.
]
[Illustration:
No. 2.
]
_Description of Belgrave Mould._
Figure No. 1, represents the mould in its entireness. No. 2, shows the
interior of it (inverted). _A_ is a thin metal plate which when turned
downwards forms the bottom of the mould, and which is perforated in six
places to permit the fluted columns _B_ to pass through it. There is
also a larger aperture in the middle to admit the centre cylinder. The
plate is fixed, and the whole is held in its place by the part which
folds over the larger scallop _D_ at either end. There is also a cover
which fits to the mould, and which is pressed on it before it is dipped
into water, to prevent its getting into the cylinders.
[Illustration]
Transparent jelly is shown to much advantage, and is particularly
brilliant in appearance, when moulded in shapes resembling that of the
engraving here, which are now very commonly used for the purpose.
[Illustration]
The centre spaces can be filled, after the jelly is dished, with very
light whipped cream, coloured and flavoured so as to eat agreeably with
it, and to please the eye as well: this may be tastefully garnished with
preserved, or with fresh fruit; but one of more recent invention, called
the _Belgrave mould_ (which is to be had of the originators, Messrs.
Temple and Reynolds, Princes Street, Cavendish Square, and also at 80,
Motcomb Street, Belgrave Square), is of superior construction for the
purpose, as it contains a large central cylinder and six smaller ones,
which when withdrawn, after the jelly—which should be poured round, but
not _into_ them—is set, leave vacancies which can be filled either with
jelly of another colour, or with fruit of different kinds (which must be
secured in its place with _just liquid_ jelly poured carefully in after
it is arranged), or with blanc-mange, or any other isinglass-cream. The
space occupied by the larger cylinder may be left empty, or filled,
before the jelly is served, with white or with pale-tinted whipped
cream. Water, only sufficiently warm to detach the jelly from them
without heating or melting it, must be poured into the cylinders to
_unfix_ them; and to loosen the whole so as to unmould it easily, a
cloth wrung out of very hot water must be wound round it, or the mould
must be dipped _quickly_ into some which is nearly or quite boiling. A
dish should then be laid on it, it should be carefully reversed, and the
mould lifted from it gently. It will sometimes require a slight sharp
blow to detach it quite.
Italian jelly is made by half filling a mould of convenient form, and
laying round upon it in a chain, as soon as it is set, some blanc-mange
made rather firm, and cut of equal thickness and size, with a small
round cutter; the mould is then filled with the remainder of the jelly,
which must be nearly cold, but not beginning to set. Branched morella
cherries, drained very dry, are sometimes dropped into moulds of pale
jelly; and fruits, either fresh or preserved, are arranged in them with
exceedingly good effect when skilfully managed; but this is best
accomplished by having a mould for the purpose, with another of smaller
size fixed in it by means of slight wires, which hook on to the edge of
the outer one. By pouring water into this it may easily be detached from
the jelly; the fruit is then to be placed in the space left by it, and
the whole filled up with more jelly: to give the proper effect, it must
be recollected that the dish will be _reversed_ when sent to table.
QUEEN MAB’S PUDDING.
(_An Elegant Summer Dish._)
Throw into a pint of new milk the thin rind of a small lemon, and six or
eight bitter almonds, blanched and bruised; or substitute for these half
a pod of vanilla cut small, heat it slowly by the side of the fire, and
keep it at the point of boiling until it is strongly flavoured, then add
a small pinch of salt, and three-quarters of an ounce of the finest
isinglass, or a full ounce should the weather be extremely warm; when
this is dissolved, strain the milk through a muslin, and put it into a
clean saucepan, with from four to five ounces and a half of sugar in
lumps, and half a pint of rich cream; give the whole one boil, and then
stir it, briskly and by degrees, to the well-beaten yolks of six fresh
eggs; next, thicken the mixture as a custard, over a gentle fire, but do
not hazard its curdling; when it is of tolerable consistence, pour it
out, and continue the stirring until it is half cold, then mix with it
an ounce and a half of candied citron, cut in small spikes, and a couple
of ounces of dried cherries, and pour it into a mould rubbed with a drop
of oil: when turned out it will have the appearance of a pudding. From
two to three ounces of preserved ginger, well drained and sliced, may be
substituted for the cherries, and an ounce of pistachio-nuts, blanched
and split, for the citron; these will make an elegant variety of the
dish, and the syrup of the ginger, poured round as sauce, will be a
further improvement. Currants steamed until tender, and candied orange
or lemon-rind, are often used instead of the cherries, and the
well-sweetened juice of strawberries, raspberries (white or red),
apricots, peaches, or syrup of pine-apple, will make an agreeable sauce;
a small quantity of this last will also give a delicious flavour to the
pudding itself, when mixed with the other ingredients. Cream may be
substituted entirely for the milk, when its richness is considered
desirable.
New milk, 1 pint; rind 1 small lemon; bitter almonds, 6 to 8 (or,
vanilla, 1/2 pod); salt, few grains; isinglass, 3/4 oz. (1 oz. in sultry
weather); sugar, 4-1/2 oz.; cream, 1/2 pint; yolks, 6 eggs; dried
cherries, 2 oz.; candied citron, 1-1/2 oz.; (or, preserved ginger, 2 to
3 oz., and the syrup as sauce, and 1 oz. of blanched pistachio-nuts; or
4 oz. currants, steamed 20 minutes, and 2 oz. candied orange-rind). For
sauce, sweetened juice of strawberries, raspberries, or plums, or pine
apple syrup.
_Obs._—The currants should be steamed in an earthen cullender, placed
over a saucepan of boiling water, and covered with the lid. It will be a
_great_ improvement to place the pudding over ice for an hour before it
is served.
NESSELRÔDE CREAM.
Shell and blanch (see page 342) twenty-four fine Spanish chestnuts, and
put them with three-quarters of a pint of water into a small and
delicately clean saucepan. When they have simmered from six to eight
minutes, add to them two ounces of fine sugar, and let them stew very
gently until they are perfectly tender; then drain them from the water,
pound them, while still warm, to a smooth paste, and press them through
the back of a fine sieve. While this is being done, dissolve half an
ounce of isinglass in two or three spoonsful of water, and put to it as
much cream as will, with the small quantity of water used, make half a
pint, two ounces of sugar, about the third of a pod of vanilla, cut
small, and well bruised, and a strip or two of fresh lemon-rind, pared
extremely thin. Give these a minute’s boil, and then keep them quite hot
by the side of the fire, until a strong flavour of the vanilla is
obtained. Now, mix gradually with the chestnuts half a pint of rich,
unboiled cream, strain the other half pint through a fine muslin, and
work the whole well together until it becomes _very_ thick; then stir to
it a couple of ounces of dried cherries, cut into quarters, and two of
candied citron, divided into very small dice. Press the mixture into a
mould which has been rubbed with a particle of the purest salad-oil, and
in a few hours it will be ready for table. The cream should be
sufficiently stiff, when the fruit is added, to prevent its sinking to
the bottom, and both kinds should be _dry_ when they are used.
Chestnuts, large, 24; water, 3/4 pint; sugar, 2 oz.; isinglass, 1/2 oz.;
water, 3 to 4 tablespoonsful; cream, nearly 1/2 pint; vanilla, 1/3 of
pod; lemon-rind, 1/4 of 1 large: infuse 20 minutes or more. Unboiled
cream, 1/2 pint; dried cherries, 2 oz.; candied citron, 2 oz.
_Obs._—When vanilla cannot easily be obtained, a little noyau may be
substituted for it, but a _full_ weight of isinglass must then be used.
CRÊME À LA COMTESSE, OR THE COUNTESS’S CREAM.
Prepare as above, boil and pound, eighteen fine sound chestnuts; mix
with them gradually, after they have been pressed through a fine sieve,
half a pint of rich sweet cream; dissolve in half a pint of new milk a
half-ounce of isinglass, then add to them from six to eight bitter
almonds, blanched and bruised, with two-thirds of the rind of a small
lemon, cut extremely thin, and two ounces and a half of sugar; let these
simmer gently for five minutes, and then remain by the side of the fire
for awhile. When the milk is strongly flavoured, strain it through
muslin, press the whole of it through, and stir it by degrees to the
chestnuts and cream; beat the mixture smooth, and when it begins to
thicken, put it into a mould rubbed with oil, or into one which has been
dipped in water and shaken nearly free of the moisture. If set into a
cool place, it will be ready for table in six or eight hours. It has a
pretty appearance when partially stuck with pistachio-nuts, blanched,
dried, and cut in spikes, their bright green colour rendering them very
ornamental to dishes of this kind: as they are, however, much more
expensive than almonds, they can be used more sparingly, or intermingled
with spikes of the firm outer rind of candied citron.
Chestnuts, 18; water, full 1/2 pint; sugar, 1 oz.: 15 to 25 minutes, or
more. Cream, 1/2 pint; new milk, 1/2 pint; isinglass, 1/2 oz.; bitter
almonds, 6 to 8; lemon-rind, two-thirds of 1; sugar, 2-1/2 oz.[161]
Footnote 161:
The proportions both of this and of the preceding cream must be
increased for a _large_ mould.
_Obs._—This is a very delicate kind of sweet dish, which we can
particularly recommend to our readers; it may be rendered more
_recherché_ by a flavouring of maraschino, but must then have a little
addition of isinglass. The preparation, without this last ingredient,
will be found excellent iced.
AN EXCELLENT TRIFLE.
Take equal parts of wine and brandy, about a wineglassful of each, or
two-thirds of good sherry or Madeira, and one of spirit, and soak in the
mixture four sponge-biscuits, and half a pound of macaroons and
ratifias; cover the bottom of the trifle-dish with part of these, and
pour upon them a full pint of rich boiled custard made with
three-quarters of a pint, or rather more, of milk and cream taken in
equal portions, and six eggs; and sweetened, flavoured and thickened by
the receipt of page 481; lay the remainder of the soaked cakes upon it,
and pile over the whole, to the depth of two or three inches, the
whipped syllabub of page 476, previously well drained; then sweeten and
flavour slightly with wine only, less than half a pint of thin cream (or
of cream and milk mixed); wash and wipe the whisk, and whip it to the
lightest possible froth: take it off with a skimmer and heap it gently
over the trifle.
Macaroons and ratifias, 1/2 lb.; wine and brandy mixed, 1/4 pint; rich
boiled custard, 1 pint; whipped syllabub (see page 476); light froth to
cover the whole, short 1/2 pint of cream and milk mixed; sugar,
dessertspoonful; wine, 1/2 glassful.
SWISS CREAM, OR TRIFLE.
(_Very Good._)
Flavour pleasantly with and cinnamon, a pint of rich cream, after having
taken from it as much as will mix smoothly to a thin batter four
teaspoonsful of the finest flour; sweeten it with six ounces of
well-refined sugar in lumps; place it over a clear fire in a delicately
clean saucepan, and when it boils stir in the flour, and simmer it for
four or five minutes, stirring it gently without ceasing; then pour it
out, and when it is quite cold mix with it by degrees the strained juice
of two moderate-sized and very fresh lemons. Take a quarter of a pound
of macaroons, cover the bottom of a glass dish with a portion of them,
pour in a part of the cream, lay the remainder of the macaroons upon it,
add the rest of the cream, and ornament it with candied citron sliced
thin. It should be made the day before it is wanted for table. The
requisite flavour may be given to this dish by infusing in the cream the
very thin rind of a lemon, and part of a stick of cinnamon slightly
bruised, and then straining it before the flour is added; or, these and
the sugar may be boiled together with two or three spoonsful of water,
to a strongly flavoured syrup, which, after having been passed through a
muslin strainer, may be stirred into the cream. Some cooks boil the
cinnamon and the _grated_ rind of a lemon with all the other
ingredients, but the cream has then to be pressed through a sieve after
it is made, a process which it is always desirable to avoid. It may be
flavoured with vanilla and maraschino, or with orange-blossoms at
pleasure; but is _excellent_ made as above.
Rich cream, 1 pint; sugar, 6 oz.; rind, 1 lemon; cinnamon, 1 drachm;
flour, 4 teaspoonsful; juice, 2 lemons; macaroons, 4 oz.; candied
citron, 1 to 2 oz.
TIPSY CAKE, OR BRANDY TRIFLE.
The old-fashioned mode of preparing this dish was to soak a light sponge
or Savoy cake in as much good French brandy as it could absorb; then, to
stick it full of blanched almonds cut into whole-length spikes, and to
pour a rich cold boiled custard round it. It is more usual now to pour
white wine over the cake, or a mixture of wine and brandy; with this the
juice of half a lemon is sometimes mixed.
[Illustration:
Chantilly Basket.
]
FILLED WITH WHIPPED CREAM AND FRESH STRAWBERRIES.
Take a mould of any sort that will serve to form the basket on, just dip
the edge of some macaroons into melted barley sugar, and fasten them
together with it; take it out of the mould, keep it in a dry place until
wanted, then fill it high with whipped strawberry cream which has been
drained on a sieve from the preceding day, and stick very fine ripe
strawberries over it. It should not filled until just before it is
served.
VERY GOOD LEMON CREAMS MADE WITHOUT CREAM.
Pour over the very thin rinds of two moderate-sized but perfectly sound
fresh lemons and six ounces of sugar, half a pint of spring water, and
let them remain for six hours: then add the strained juice of the
lemons, and five fresh eggs well beaten and also strained; take out the
lemon-rind, and stir the mixture without ceasing over a gentle fire
until it has boiled softly from six to eight minutes: it will not curdle
as it would did milk supply the place of the water and lemon-juice. The
creams are, we think, more delicate, though not quite so thick, when the
yolks only of six eggs are used for them. They will keep well for nearly
a week in really cold weather.
Rinds of lemons, 2; sugar, 6 oz. (or 8 when a _very_ sweet dish is
preferred); cold water, 1/2 pint: 6 hours. Juice of lemons, 2; eggs, 5:
to be boiled softly 6 to 8 minutes.
_Obs._—Lemon creams may, on occasion, be more expeditiously prepared, by
rasping the rind of the fruit upon the sugar which is used for them; or,
by paring it thin, and boiling it for a few minutes with the
lemon-juice, sugar, and water, before they are stirred to the eggs.
FRUIT CREAMS, AND ITALIAN CREAMS.
These are very quickly and easily made, by mixing with good cream a
sufficient proportion of the sweetened juice of fresh fruit, or of
well-made fruit jelly or jam, to flavour it: a few drops of prepared
cochineal may be added to deepen the colour when it is required for any
particular purpose. A quarter of a pint of strawberry or of raspberry
jelly will fully flavour a pint of cream: a very little lemon-juice
improves almost all compositions of this kind. When jam is used it must
first be gradually mixed with the cream, and then worked through a
sieve, to take out the seed or skin of the fruit. All fresh juice, for
this purpose, must of course, be cold; that of strawberries is best
obtained by crushing the fruit and strewing sugar over it. Peaches,
pine-apple, apricots, or nectarines, may be simmered for a few minutes
in a little syrup, and this, drained well from them, will serve
extremely well to mix with the cream when it has become thoroughly cold:
the lemon-juice should be added to all of these. When the ingredients
are well blended, lightly whisk or mill them to a froth; take this off
with a skimmer as it rises, and lay it upon a fine sieve reversed, to
drain, or if it is to be served in glasses, fill them with it at once.
Italian creams are either fruit-flavoured only, or mixed with wine like
syllabubs, then whisked to a stiff froth and put into a perforated
mould, into which a muslin is first laid; or into a small hair-sieve
(which must also first be lined with the muslin), and left to drain
until the following day, when the cream must be very gently turned out,
and dished, and garnished, as fancy may direct.
VERY SUPERIOR WHIPPED SYLLABUBS.
Weigh seven ounces of fine sugar and rasp on it the rinds of two fresh
sound lemons of good size, then pound or roll it to powder, and put it
into a bowl with the strained juice of the lemons, two large glasses of
sherry, and two of brandy; when the sugar is dissolved add a pint of
very fresh cream, and whisk or mill the mixture well; take off the froth
as it rises, and put it into glasses. These syllabubs will remain good
for several days, and should always be made if possible, four-and-twenty
hours before they are wanted for table. The full flavour of the
lemon-rind is obtained with less trouble than in rasping, by paring it
very thin indeed, and infusing it for some hours in the juice of the
fruit.
Sugar, 7 oz.; rind and juice of lemons, 2; sherry, 2 large
wineglassesful; brandy, 2 wineglassesful; cream, 1 pint.
_Obs._—These proportions are sufficient for two dozens or more of
syllabubs: they are often made with almost equal quantities of wine and
cream, but are considered less wholesome without a portion of brandy.
BLANC-MANGES.
GOOD COMMON BLANC-MANGE, OR BLANC-MANGER.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
[Illustration:
Blanc-mange or Cake Mould.
]
Infuse for an hour in a pint and a half of new milk the very thin rind
of one small, or of half a large lemon and four or five bitter almonds,
blanched and bruised,[162] then add two ounces of sugar, or rather more
for persons who like the blanc-mange very sweet, and an ounce and a half
of isinglass. Boil them gently over a clear fire, stirring them often
until this last is dissolved; take off the scum, stir in half a pint, or
rather more, of rich cream, and strain the blanc-mange into a bowl; it
should be moved gently with a spoon until nearly cold to prevent the
cream from settling on the surface. Before it is moulded, mix with it by
degrees a wineglassful of brandy.
Footnote 162:
These should always be _very sparingly_ used.
New milk, 1-1/2 pint; rind of lemon, 1/2 large or whole small; bitter
almonds, 8: infuse 1 hour. Sugar, 2 to 3 oz.; isinglass, 1-1/2 oz.: 10
minutes. Cream, 1/2 pint; brandy, 1 wineglassful.
RICHER BLANC-MANGE.
A pint of good cream with a pint of new milk, sweetened and flavoured as
above (or in any other manner which good taste may dictate), with a
little additional sugar, and the same proportion of isinglass, will make
very good blanc-mange. Two ounces of Jordan almonds may be pounded and
mixed with it, but they are not needed with the cream.
JAUMANGE, OR JAUNE MANGER, SOMETIMES CALLED DUTCH FLUMMERY.
Pour on the very thin rind of a large lemon and half a pound of sugar
broken small, a pint of water, and keep them stirred over a gentle fire
until they have simmered for three or four minutes, then leave the
saucepan by the side of the stove that the syrup may taste well of the
lemon. In ten or fifteen minutes afterwards add two ounces of isinglass,
and stir the mixture often until this is dissolved, then throw in the
strained juice of four sound moderate-sized lemons, and a pint of
sherry; mix the whole briskly with the beaten yolks of eight fresh eggs,
and pass it through a delicately clean hair-sieve: next thicken it in a
jar or jug placed in a pan of boiling water, turn it into a bowl, and
when it has become cool and been allowed to settle for a minute or two,
pour it into moulds which have been laid in water. Some persons add a
small glass of brandy to it, and deduct so much from the quantity of
water.
Rind of 1 lemon; sugar, 8 oz.; water, 1 pint: 3 or 4 minutes. Isinglass,
2 oz.; juice, 4 lemons; yolks of eggs, 8; wine, 1 pint; brandy (at
pleasure), 1 wineglassful.
EXTREMELY GOOD STRAWBERRY BLANC-MANGE, OR BAVARIAN CREAM.
Crush slightly with a silver or wooden spoon, a quart, measured without
their stalks, of fresh and richly-flavoured strawberries; strew over
them eight ounces of pounded sugar, and let them stand for three or four
hours; then turn them on to a fine hair-sieve reversed, and rub them
through it. Melt over a gentle fire two ounces of the best isinglass in
a pint of new milk, and sweeten it with four ounces of sugar; strain it
through a muslin, and mix it with a pint and a quarter of sweet thick
cream; keep these stirred until they are nearly or quite cold, then pour
them gradually to the strawberries, whisking them briskly together; and
last of all throw in, by small portions, the strained juice of a fine
sound lemon. Mould the blanc-mange, and set it in a very cool place for
twelve hours or more before it is served.
Strawberries stalked, 1 quart; sugar, 8 oz.; isinglass, 2 oz.; new milk,
1 pint; sugar, 4 oz.; cream, 1-1/4 pint; juice, 1 lemon.
_Obs._—We have retained here the old-fashioned name of blanc-mange (or
_blanc-manger_) because it is more familiar to many English readers than
any of recent introduction; but moulded strawberry-cream would be more
appropriate; as nothing can properly be called _blanc_ manger which is
not white. By mingling the cream, after it has been whisked, or whipped,
to the other ingredients, the preparation becomes what is called _un
Fromage Bavarois_, or Bavarian cream, sometimes simply, _une Bavaroise_.
QUINCE BLANC-MANGE.
(_Delicious._)
This, if carefully made, and with ripe quinces, is one of the most
richly-flavoured preparations of fruit that we have ever tasted; and the
receipt, we may venture to say, will be altogether new to the reader.
Dissolve in a pint of prepared juice of quinces (see page 456), an ounce
of the best isinglass; next, add ten ounces of sugar, roughly pounded,
and stir these together gently over a clear fire, from twenty to thirty
minutes, or until the juice jellies in falling from the spoon. Remove
the scum carefully, and pour the boiling jelly gradually to half a pint
of thick cream, stirring them briskly together as they are mixed: they
must be stirred until very nearly cold, and then poured into a mould
which has been rubbed in every part with the smallest possible quantity
of very pure salad oil, or if more convenient, into one that has been
dipped into cold water.
_Obs._—This blanc-manger which we had made originally on the thought of
the moment for a friend, proved so very rich in flavour, that we
inserted the exact receipt for it, as we had had it made on our first
trial; but it might be simplified by merely boiling the juice, sugar,
and isinglass, together for a few minutes, and then mixing them with the
cream. An ounce and a half of isinglass and three-quarters of a pint of
cream might then be used for it. The juice of other fruit may be
substituted for that of the quinces.
Juice of quinces, 1 pint; isinglass, 1 oz.: 5 to 10 minutes. Sugar, 10
oz.: 20 to 30 minutes. Cream, 1/2 pint.
QUINCE BLANC-MANGE, WITH ALMOND CREAM.
When cream is not procurable, which will sometimes happen in the depth
of winter, almonds, if plentifully used, will afford a very good
substitute, though the finer blanc-mange is made from the foregoing
receipt. On four ounces of almonds, blanched and beaten to the smoothest
paste, and moistened in the pounding with a few drops of water, to
prevent their oiling, pour a pint of boiling quince-juice; stir them
together, and turn them into a strong cloth, of which let the ends be
held and twisted different ways by two persons, to express the cream
from the almonds; put the juice again on the fire, with half a pound of
sugar, and when it boils, throw in nearly an ounce of fine isinglass;
simmer the whole for five minutes, take off the scum, stir the
blanc-mange until it is nearly cold, then mould it for table. Increase
the quantity both of this and of the preceding blanc-mange, when a large
dish of either is required.
Quince-juice, 1 pint; Jordan almond, 4 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb; isinglass,
nearly 1 oz: 5 minutes.
APRICOT BLANC-MANGE, OR CRÊME PARISIENNE.
Dissolve gently an ounce of fine isinglass in a pint of new milk or of
thin cream, and strain it through a folded muslin; put it into a clean
saucepan, with three ounces of sugar, broken into small lumps, and when
it boils, stir to it half a pint of rich cream; add it, at first by
spoonsful only, to eight ounces of the finest apricot jam, mix them very
smoothly, and stir the whole until it is nearly cold that the jam may
not sink to the bottom of the mould: a tablespoonful of lemon-juice will
improve the flavour.
When cream is scarce, use milk instead, with an additional quarter of an
ounce of isinglass, and enrich it by pouring it boiling on the same
proportion of almonds as for the second quince blanc-mange (see page
478). Cream can in all cases be substituted entirely for the milk, when
a very rich preparation is desired. Peach jam will answer admirably for
this receipt; but none of any kind should be used for it which has not
been passed through a sieve when made.
Isinglass, 1 oz.; new milk, 1 pint; cream, 1/2 pint; sugar, 3 oz.;
apricot jam, 1/2 lb.; lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful. Or, peach jam, 1/2
lb.; cream, 1-1/2 pint.
CURRANT BLANC-MANGE.
In three-quarters of a pint of clear currant-juice, drawn from the fruit
as for jelly, and strained, dissolve an ounce and a half of isinglass;
add nine ounces of sugar broken small, give the whole a boil, strain it,
and stir it by slow degrees to three-quarters of a pint of thick cold
cream; when it is less than milk-warm pour it into the moulds. The
proportions of juice and cream can be varied to the taste, and a portion
of raspberries or strawberries added to the currants. Black currants
would, we think, make an agreeable variety of this blanc-mange for
persons who like their peculiar flavour, but we have not tried them.
Clear juice of red currant, 3/4 pint; isinglass, 1-1/2 oz.; sugar, 9
oz.; cream, 3/4 pint.
LEMON SPONGE, OR MOULDED LEMON CREAM.
Infuse in half a pint of cream the very thin rind of one _large_ lemon,
or of one and a half of smaller size; or, instead of this, rasp the
fruit with the sugar which is to be used for the preparation. Add
three-quarters of an ounce of fine isinglass, and when this is dissolved
throw in seven ounces of sugar in small lumps. Do not boil the mixture,
to reduce it, but let it be kept near the point of simmering, until the
sugar and isinglass are entirely dissolved, and a full flavour of the
lemon-rind has been obtained; then stir in another half-pint of cream,
and strain the mixture immediately into a deep bowl or pan. When it is
quite cold, add to it very gradually the strained juice of one lemon and
a half, whisking the preparation well all the time; and when it begins
to set, which may be known by its becoming very thick, whisk it lightly
to a sponge, pour it into an oiled mould, and, to prevent its breaking
when it is dished, just dip the mould into hot, but not boiling water;
loosen the edges carefully, and turn out the cream: to save time and
trouble the whisking may be omitted, and a plain lemon-cream take place
of the sponge.
Cream, 1 pint; rind of lemons 2 middling-sized, or 1-1/2 large;
isinglass, 3/4 oz.; sugar, 7 oz.; juice of 1-1/2 lemon.
_Obs._—For this, as for all other dishes of the kind, a little more or
less of isinglass may be required according to the state of the weather,
a larger proportion being needed in summer than in winter.
AN APPLE HEDGE-HOG, OR SUÉDOISE.
[Illustration]
This dish is formed of apples, pared, cored without being divided and
stewed tolerably tender in a light syrup. These are placed in a dish,
after being well drained, and filled with apricot, or any other rich
marmalade, and arranged in two or more layers, so as to give, when the
whole is complete, the form shown in the engraving. The number required
must depend on the size of the dish. From three to five pounds more must
be stewed down into a smooth and dry marmalade, and with this all the
spaces between them are to be filled up, and the whole are to be covered
with it; an icing of two eggs, beaten to a very solid froth, and mixed
with two heaped teaspoonsful of sugar, must then be spread evenly over
the suédoise, fine sugar sifted on this, and spikes of blanched almonds,
cut lengthwise, stuck over the entire surface: the dish is then to be
placed in a moderate oven until the almonds are browned, but not too
deeply, and the apples are hot through. It is not easy to give the
required form with less than fifteen apples; eight of these may first be
simmered in a syrup made with half a pint of water and six ounces of
sugar, and the remainder may be thrown in after these are lifted out.
Care must be taken to keep them firm. The marmalade should be sweet, and
pleasantly flavoured with lemon.
VERY GOOD OLD-FASHIONED BOILED CUSTARD.
Throw into a pint and a half of new milk, the very thin rind of a fresh
lemon, and let it infuse for half an hour, then simmer them together for
a few minutes, and add four ounces and a half of white sugar. Beat
thoroughly the yolks of fourteen fresh eggs, mix with them another
half-pint of new milk, stir the boiling milk quickly to them, take out
the lemon-peel, and turn the custard into a deep jug; set this over the
fire in a pan of boiling water, and keep the custard stirred gently, but
without ceasing, until it begins to thicken; then move the spoon rather
more quickly, making it always touch the bottom of the jug, until the
mixture is brought to the point of boiling, when it must be instantly
taken from the fire, or it will curdle in a moment. Pour it into a bowl,
and keep it stirred until nearly cold, then add to it by degrees a
wineglassful of good brandy, and two ounces of blanched almonds, cut
into spikes; or omit these, at pleasure. A few bitter ones, bruised, can
be boiled in the milk in lieu of lemon-peel, when their flavour is
preferred.
New milk, 1 quart; rind of 1 lemon; sugar, 4-1/2 oz.; yolks of eggs, 14;
salt, less than 1/4 saltspoonful.
RICH BOILED CUSTARD.
Take a small cupful from a quart of fresh cream, and simmer the
remainder for a few minutes with four ounces of sugar and the rind of a
lemon, or give it any other flavour that may be preferred. Beat and
strain the yolks of eight eggs, mix them with the cupful of cream, and
stir the rest boiling to them: thicken the custard like the preceding
one.
Cream, 1 quart; sugar, 4 oz.; yolks of eggs, 8.
THE QUEEN’S CUSTARD.
On the beaten and strained yolks of twelve new-laid eggs pour a pint and
a half of boiling cream which has been sweetened, with three ounces of
sugar; add the smallest pinch of salt, and thicken the custard as usual.
When nearly cold, flavour it with a glass and a half of noyau,
maraschino, or cuirasseau, and add the sliced almonds or not, at
pleasure.
Yolks of eggs, 12; cream, 1-1/2 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; little salt; noyau,
maraschino, or cuirasseau, 1-1/2 wineglassful.
CURRANT CUSTARD.
Boil in a pint of clear currant-juice ten ounces of sugar for three
minutes, take off the scum, and pour the boiling juice on eight
well-beaten eggs; thicken the custard in a jug set into a pan of water,
pour it out, stir it till nearly cold, then add to it carefully, and by
degrees, half a pint of rich cream, and last of all two tablespoonsful
of strained lemon-juice. When the currants are very ripe omit one ounce
of the sugar.
White currants and strawberries, cherries, red or white raspberries, or
a mixture of any of these fruits, may be used for these custards with
good effect: they are excellent.