(_A French Receipt._)
Brush or wipe the gherkins very clean, throw them into plenty of
fast-boiling water, and give them a single boil, take them out quickly,
and throw them immediately into a large quantity of very cold water;
change it once, and when the gherkins themselves are quite cold, drain
them well, spread them on sieves or dishes, and dry them in the air.
When this is done, put them into stone jars, and pour on them as much
boiling vinegar as will cover them well; heat it anew, and pour it on
them again the following day; and on the next throw them into it for a
minute so soon as it boils, with plenty of tarragon in branches, a few
very small silver onions, and salt and whole pepper in the same
proportions as in the receipt above. It should be observed that the
French vinegar, from its superior excellence, will have a very different
effect, in many preparations, to that which is made up for sale
generally in England.[172]
Footnote 172:
We have already spoken in Chapter VI. of the very superior _Vinaigre
de Bordeaux_ so largely imported by the Messrs. Kent and Sons, of
Upton-on-Severn, and sold by their agents in almost every town in
England. It may be procured in small quantities (bottled) of Mr.
Metcalfe, Foreign Warehouse, Southampton Row, London, and of other
agents, whose names may easily be known by applying to the Messrs.
Kent themselves.
TO PICKLE PEACHES, AND PEACH MANGOES.
Take, at their full growth, just before they begin to ripen, six large
or eight moderate-sized peaches; wipe the down from them, and put them
into brine that will float an egg. In three days let them be taken out,
and drained on a sieve reversed for several hours. Boil in a quart of
vinegar for ten minutes two ounces of whole white pepper, two of ginger
slightly bruised, a teaspoonful of salt, two blades of mace, half a
pound of mustard-seed, and a half-teaspoonful of cayenne tied in a bit
of muslin. Lay the peaches into a jar, and pour the boiling pickle on
them: in two months they will be fit for use.
Peaches, 6 or 8: in brine three days. Vinegar, 1 quart; whole white
pepper, 2 oz.; bruised ginger, 2 oz.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; mace, 2
blades; mustard-seed, 1/2 lb.: 10 minutes.
_Obs._—The peaches may be converted into excellent mangoes by cutting
out from the stalk-end of each, a round of sufficient size to allow the
stone to be extracted: this should be done after they are taken from the
brine. They may be filled with _very fresh_ mustard-seed, previously
washed in a little vinegar; to this a small portion of garlic, or
bruised eschalots, cayenne, horseradish, chilies (the most appropriate
of any), or spice of any kind may be added, to the taste. The part cut
out must be replaced, and secured with a packthread crossed over the
fruit.
SWEET PICKLE OF MELON. (FOREIGN RECEIPT.)
(_To serve with Roast Meat._)
Take, within three or four days of their being fully ripe, one or two
well-flavoured melons; just pare off the outer rind, clear them from the
seeds, and cut them into slices of about half an inch thick; lay them
into good vinegar, and let them remain in it for ten days; then cover
them with cold fresh vinegar, and simmer them very gently until they are
tender. Lift them on to a sieve reversed, to drain, and when they are
quite cold stick a couple of cloves into each slice, lay them into a jar
(a glass one, if at hand) and cover them well with cold syrup, made with
ten ounces of sugar to the pint of water, boiled quickly together for
twenty minutes. In about a week take them from the syrup, let it drain
from them a little, then put them into jars in which they are to be
stored, and cover them again thoroughly with good vinegar, which has
been boiled for an instant, and left to become quite cold before it is
added to them.
This pickle is intended to be served more particularly with roast
mutton, hare, and venison, instead of currant jelly, but it is very good
with stewed meat also. Small blades of cinnamon, and a larger proportion
of cloves are sometimes stuck into the melon, but their flavour should
not prevail too strongly. We have found the receipt answer extremely
well as we have given it, when tried with small green melons, cut within
four days of being fit for table.
Melons not quite ripe, pared from hard rind and sliced, 1 or 2: in
vinegar 10 days. Simmered in it until tender. In syrup 6 to 7 days. In
fresh vinegar to remain. Ready to serve in a month.
_A Common Sweet Pickle of Melon._—Prepare the fruit as above. In a
fortnight simmer it until tender; drain, and lay it into jars, and pour
on it while just warm, a pickle made with a pound and two ounces of
coarse brown sugar, twenty cloves, and half a drachm of cinnamon to the
pint of vinegar, boiled together for ten minutes.
TO PICKLE MUSHROOMS.
Select for this purpose the smallest buttons of the wild _meadow_
mushrooms, in preference to those which are artificially raised, and let
them be as freshly gathered as possible. Cut the stems off quite close,
and clean them with a bit of new flannel slightly moistened, and dipped
into fine salt; throw them as they are done into plenty of spring-water,
mixed with a large spoonful of salt, but drain them from it quickly
afterwards, and lay them into a soft cloth to dry, or the moisture which
hangs about them will too much weaken the pickle. For each quart of the
mushrooms thus prepared, take _nearly_ a quart of the palest white wine
vinegar (this is far superior to the distilled vinegar generally used
for the purpose, and the variation in the colour of the mushrooms will
be very slight), and add to it a heaped teaspoonful of salt, half an
ounce of whole white pepper, an ounce of ginger, sliced or slightly
bruised, about the fourth of a saltspoonful of cayenne tied in a small
bit of muslin, and two large blades of mace: to these may be added half
a small nutmeg, sliced, but too much spice will entirely overpower the
fine natural flavour of the mushrooms. When the pickle boils throw them
in, and boil them in it over a clear fire moderately fast from six to
nine minutes, or somewhat longer, should they _not_ be very small. When
they are much disproportioned in size, the larger ones should have two
minutes boil before the others are thrown into the vinegar. As soon as
they are tolerably tender, put them at once into small stone jars, or
into _warm_ wide-necked bottles, and divide the spice equally amongst
them. The following day, or as soon as they are perfectly cold, secure
them from the air with large corks, or tie skins and paper over them.
They should be stored in a dry place, and guarded from severe frost.
When the colour of the mushrooms is more considered than the excellence
of the pickle, the distilled vinegar can be used for it. The reader may
rely upon this receipt as a really good one; we have had it many times
proved, and it is altogether our own.
Mushroom buttons (without the stems), 2 quarts; palest white wine
vinegar, short 1/2 gallon; salt, _large_ dessertspoonful, or 1-1/2 oz.;
white peppercorns, 1 oz.; whole ginger, 2 oz.; cayenne, small 1/2
saltspoonful; 1 small nutmeg.
MUSHROOMS IN BRINE.
_For Winter Use._ (_Very Good._)
We have had small mushroom-buttons excellently preserved through the
winter prepared as follows, and we therefore give the exact proportions
which we had used for them, though the same quantity of brine would
possibly allow of rather more mushrooms in it. Prepare them exactly as
for the preceding pickle, and measure them after the stems are taken
off. For each quart, boil together for five minutes two quarts of water,
with half a pound of common white salt, a small dessertspoonful of white
peppercorns, a couple of blades of mace, and a race of ginger; take off
the scum thoroughly, and throw in the mushrooms; boil them gently for
about five minutes, then put them into well-warmed, wide-necked bottles,
and let them become perfectly cold; pour a little good salad-oil on the
top, cork them with new corks, and tie bladder over, or cover them with
two separate bladders. When wanted for use, soak the mushrooms in warm
water until the brine is sufficiently extracted.
Mushrooms, 1 quart; water, 1/2 gallon; salt, 1/2 lb.; peppercorns, 1
small dessertspoonful; mace, 2 blades; ginger, 1 race: 5 minutes.
Mushrooms, in brine: 5 minutes.
TO PICKLE WALNUTS.
The walnuts for this pickle must be gathered while a pin can pierce them
_easily_, for when once the shell can be felt, they have ceased to be in
a proper state for it. Make sufficient brine to cover them well, with
six ounces of salt to the quart of water; take off the scum, which will
rise to the surface as the salt dissolves, throw in the walnuts, and
stir them night and morning; change the brine every three days, and if
they are wanted for immediate eating, leave them in it for twelve days;
otherwise, drain them from it in nine, spread them on dishes, and let
them remain exposed to the air until they become black: this will be in
twelve hours, or less. Make a pickle for them with something more than
half a gallon of vinegar to the hundred, a teaspoonful of salt, two
ounces of black pepper, three of bruised ginger, a drachm of mace, and
from a quarter to half an ounce of cloves (of which some may be stuck
into three or four small onions), and four ounces of mustard-seed. Boil
the whole of these together for about five minutes; have the walnuts
ready in a stone jar or jars, and pour it on them as it is taken from
the fire. When the pickle is quite cold, cover the jar securely, and
store it in a dry place. Keep the walnuts always well covered with
vinegar, and boil that which is added to them.
Walnuts, 100; in brine made with 12 oz. salt to 2 quarts water, and
changed twice or more, 9 or 12 days. Vinegar, _full_ 1/2 gallon; salt, 1
teaspoonful; whole black pepper, 2 oz.; ginger, 3 oz.; mace, 1 drachm;
cloves, 1/4 to 1/2 oz.; small onions, 4 to 6; mustard-seed, 4 oz.: 5
minutes.
TO PICKLE BEET-ROOT.
Boil the beet-root tender by the directions of page 329, and when it is
quite cold, pare and slice it; put it into a jar, and cover it with
vinegar previously boiled and allowed to become again perfectly cold: it
will soon be ready for use. It is excellent when merely covered with
chili vinegar. A few small shalots may be boiled in the pickle for it
when their flavour is liked. Carrots boiled tolerably tender in salt and
water may be prepared by this receipt with or without the addition of
the shalots, or with a few _very_ small silver onions, which should be
boiled for a minute or two in the pickle: this should be poured _hot_ on
the carrots.
To each quart of vinegar, salt, 1 teaspoonful; cayenne tied in muslin,
1/2 saltspoonful, or white peppercorns, 1/2 to whole oz.
PICKLED ESCHALOTS.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
For a quart of ready-peeled eschalots, add to the same quantity of the
best pale white wine vinegar, a dessertspoonful of salt, and an ounce of
whole white pepper; bring these quickly to a boil, take off the scum,
throw in the eschalots, simmer them for two minutes only, turn them into
a clean stone jar, and when they are quite cold, tie a skin, or two
folds of thick paper over it.
Eschalots, 1 quart; vinegar, 1 quart; salt, 1 dessertspoonful; whole
white pepper, 1 oz.
_Obs._—The sooner the eschalots are pickled after they are ripe and dry,
the better they will be.
PICKLED ONIONS.
Take the smallest onions that can be procured,[173] just after they are
harvested, for they are never in so good a state for the purpose as
then; proceed, after having peeled them, exactly as for the eschalots,
and when they begin to look clear, which will be in three or four
minutes, put them into jars, and pour the pickle on them. The vinegar
should be very pale, and their colour will then be exceedingly well
preserved. Any favourite spices can be added to it.
Footnote 173:
The Reading onion is the proper kind for pickling.
TO PICKLE LEMONS, AND LIMES.
(_Excellent._)
Wipe eight fine sound lemons very clean, and make, at equal distances,
four deep incisions in each, from the stalk to the blossom end, but
without dividing the fruit; stuff them with as much salt as they will
contain, lay them into a deep dish, and place them in a sunny window, or
in some warm place for a week or ten days, keeping them often turned and
basted with their own liquor; then rub them with some good pale
turmeric, and put them with their juice, into a stone jar with a small
head of garlic, divided into cloves and peeled, and a dozen small onions
stuck with twice as many cloves. Boil in two quarts of white wine
vinegar, half a pound of ginger slightly bruised, two ounces of whole
black pepper, and half a pound of mustard-seed; take them from the fire
and pour them directly on the lemons; cover the jar with a plate, and
let them remain until the following day, then add to the pickle half a
dozen capsicums (or a few chilies, if more convenient), and tie a skin
and a fold of thick paper over the jar.
Large lemons stuffed with salt, 8: 8 to 10 days. Turmeric, 1 to 2 oz.;
ginger, 1/2 lb.; mustard-seed, 1/2 lb.; capsicums, 6 oz.
_Obs._—The turmeric and garlic may, we think, be omitted from this
pickle with advantage. It will remain good for seven years if the lemons
be kept well covered with vinegar: that which is added to them should be
boiled and then left till cold before it is poured into the jar. They
will not be fit for table in less than twelve months; but if wanted for
more immediate use, set them for one night into a very cool oven: they
may then be eaten almost directly.
Limes must have but slight incisions made in the rinds; and they will be
sufficiently softened in four or five days. Two ounces of salt only will
be required for half a dozen; and all which remains unmelted must, with
their juice, be put into the jar with them before the vinegar is poured
on: this should be mixed with spice and mustard-seed, and be boiling
when it is added to the limes.
LEMON MANGOES.
(_Author’s Original Receipt._)
All pickles of vegetables or fruit which have been emptied and filled
with various ingredients, are called in England _mangoes_, having
probably first been prepared in imitation of that fruit, but none that
we have ever tasted, bearing the slightest resemblance to it. Young
melons, large cucumbers, vegetable-marrow, and peaches are all thus
designated when prepared as we have described. Lemons may be converted
into an excellent pickle of the same description in the following
manner.
After having removed from the blossom end of each a circular bit of the
rind about the size of a shilling, proceed to scoop out all the pulp and
skin with the handle of a teaspoon; rinse the insides of the rinds until
the water from them is clear; throw them into plenty of brine made with
half a pound of salt to two quarts of water, and stir them down in it
often during the time. In three days change the brine, and leave them
for three days longer; then drain them from it on a sieve, fill them
with bruised or whole mustard-seed, very small chilies, young scraped
horseradish, very small eschalots, a little ginger sliced thin, or aught
else that may be liked. Sew in the parts that have been cut out, lay the
lemons into a stone jar, and pour boiling on them a pickle made of their
own juice, which when they are first emptied should be squeezed from the
pulp through a cloth, and boiled with sufficient vinegar to keep it,—a
large saltspoonful of salt, half an ounce each of ginger and of white
peppercorns, and a blade or two of mace to every quart; or prepare them
like the whole lemons, omitting the turmeric; and soften them if wanted
for immediate eating as directed for them. They may be filled simply
with mustard-seed, horseradish, and spice, if preferred so.
This receipt has been in print before, but without the author’s name.
TO PICKLE NASTURTIUMS.
These should be gathered quite young, and a portion of the buds, when
very small, should be mixed with them. Prepare a pickle by dissolving an
ounce and a half of salt in a quart of pale vinegar, and throw in the
berries as they become fit, from day to day. They are used instead of
capers for sauce, and by some persons are preferred to them. When
purchased for pickling, put them at once into a jar, and cover them well
with the vinegar.
TO PICKLE RED CABBAGE.
Strip off the outer leaves, wipe, and slice a fine sound cabbage or two
extremely thin, sprinkle plenty of salt over them, and let them drain in
a sieve, or on a strainer for twelve hours or more; shake or press the
moisture from them; put them into clean stone jars, and cover them
_well_ with cold vinegar, in which an ounce of black pepper to the quart
has been boiled. Some persons merely cover the vegetable with strong,
unboiled vinegar, but this is not so well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXVI.
=Cakes.=
[Illustration:
Modern Cake Mould.
]
GENERAL REMARKS ON CAKES.
[Illustration:
Mould for Buns.
]
WE have inserted here but a comparatively limited number of receipts for
these “_sweet poisons_,” as they have been emphatically called, and we
would willingly have diminished still further even the space which has
been allotted to them, that we might have had room in their stead for
others of a more really useful character; but we have felt reluctant to
withdraw such a portion of any of the chapters as might materially alter
the original character of the work, or cause dissatisfaction to any of
our kind readers; we will therefore content ourselves with remarking,
that more illness is caused by habitual indulgence in the richer and
heavier kinds of cakes than would easily be credited by persons who have
given no attention to the subject.
Amongst those which have the worst effects are almond, and plum _pound_
cakes, as they are called; all varieties of the _brioche_; and such
others as contain a large quantity of butter and eggs.
The least objectionable are simple buns, biscuits, yeast and sponge
cakes, and _meringues_; these last being extremely light and delicate,
and made of white of egg and sugar only, are really not unwholesome.
The ingredients for cakes, as well as for puddings, should all be fresh
and good, as well as free from damp; the lightness of many kinds depends
entirely on that given to the eggs by whisking, and by the manner in
which the whole is mixed. A _small_ portion of carbonate of soda, which
will not be in the slightest degree perceptible to the taste after the
cake is baked, if thrown in just before the mixture is put into the
oven, will ensure its rising well.
To guard against the bitterness so often imparted by yeast when it is
used for cakes or biscuits, it should be _sparingly_ added, and the
sponge should be left twice the usual time to rise. This method will be
found to answer equally with bread. For example: should a couple of
spoonsful of yeast be ordered in a receipt, when it is bitter, use but
one, and let it stand two hours instead of half the time: the
fermentation, though slow, will be quite as perfect as if it were more
quickly effected, and the cake or loaf thus made will not become dry by
any means as soon as if a larger portion of yeast were mixed with it.
The German yeast when fresh is preferable to any other for all light
cakes, being made without hops and therefore never bitter.
All light cakes require a rather brisk oven to raise and set them; very
large rich ones a well-sustained degree of heat sufficient to bake them
through; and small sugar-cakes a slow oven, to prevent their taking a
deep colour before they are half done: gingerbread, too, should be
gently baked, unless it be of the light thick kind. Meringues,
macaroons, and ratafias, will bear a slight degree more of heat than
these.
For sponge and savoy cakes the moulds should be thickly and evenly
buttered, and fine sugar shaken in them until they are equally covered
with it: the loose sugar must be turned out before they are used.
To ascertain whether a cake be done, thrust a larding needle or bright
skewer into the centre, and should this come out clean, draw it from the
oven directly; but should the paste adhere to it, continue the baking.
Several sheets of paper are placed usually under large plum-cakes.
Cakes are rendered heavy by moving or shaking them after they have risen
in the oven, and before they have become firm. They should be gently
loosened and turned from the moulds when sufficiently baked and set for
a short time just at the mouth of the oven to dry the surface, then laid
upon their sides on a sieve until cold.
TO BLANCH AND TO POUND ALMONDS.
Put them into a saucepan with plenty of cold water, and heat it slowly;
when it is just scalding turn the almonds into a basin, peel, and throw
them into cold water as they are done: dry them well in a soft cloth
before they are used. If the water be too hot it will turn them yellow.
Almonds are more easily pounded, and less liable to become oily, if
dried a little in a very gentle degree of heat after they are blanched;
left, for example, in a warm room for two or three days, lightly spread
on a large dish or tin. They should be sprinkled during the beating with
a few drops of cold water, or white of egg, or lemon-juice, and pounded
to a smooth paste: this is more easily done, we believe, when they are
first roughly chopped, but we prefer to have them thrown at once into
the mortar.
TO REDUCE ALMONDS TO A PASTE.
(_The quickest and easiest way._)
Chop them a little on a large and very clean trencher, then with a paste
roller (rolling-pin), which ought to be thicker in the middle than at
the ends, roll them well until no small bits are perceptible amongst
them. We have found this method answer admirably; but as some of the oil
is expressed from the almonds by it, and absorbed by the board, we would
recommend a marble slab for them in preference, when it is at hand; and
should they be intended for a sweet dish, that some pounded sugar should
be strewed under them. When a board or strong trencher is used, it
should be rather higher in the middle than at the sides.
TO COLOUR ALMONDS OR SUGAR-GRAINS, OR SUGAR-CANDY, FOR CAKES, OR PASTRY.
Blanch, dry, and chop them rather coarsely; pour a little prepared
cochineal into the hands, and roll the almonds between them until they
are equally coloured; then spread them on a sheet of paper, and place
them in a _very_ gentle degree of heat to dry. Use spinach-juice (see
page 455), to colour them green, and a strong infusion of saffron to
give them a yellow tint. They have a pretty effect when strewed over the
icing of tarts or cakes, especially the rose-coloured ones, which should
be rather pale. The sugar is prepared in the same way, after being first
broken into lumps, and then, with the end of a paste-roller, into grains
about the size of a pea; but unless it be dry and hard, and carefully
done, it will absorb too much of the cochineal: when but slightly
coloured it is very ornamental dropped on the borders of creamed
_tourtes_, or on other varieties of fine pastry. White sugar-candy
broken into large grains or crystals and coloured in the same manner has
a yet better effect.
TO PREPARE BUTTER FOR RICH CAKES.
For all large and very rich cakes the usual directions are, _to beat the
butter to a cream_; but we find that they are quite as light when it is
cut small and gently melted with just so much heat as will dissolve it,
and no more. If it be shaken round in a saucepan previously warmed, and
held near the fire for a short time, it will soon be liquefied, which is
all that is required: it must on no account be _hot_ when it is added to
the other ingredients, to which it must be poured in small portions
after they are all mixed, in the way which we have minutely described in
the receipt for a Madeira cake, and that of the Sutherland puddings
(Chapter XXI.) To _cream_ it, drain the water well from it after it is
cut, soften it a little before the fire should it be very hard, and then
with the back of a large strong wooden spoon beat it until it resembles
thick cream. When prepared thus, the sugar is added to it first, and
then the other ingredients in succession. For plum-cakes it is better
creamed than liquefied, as the fruit requires a paste of some
consistence to prevent its sinking to the bottom of the mould in which
it is baked. For plain seed-cakes the more simple plan answers
perfectly.
TO WHISK EGGS FOR LIGHT RICH CAKES.
Break them one by one, and separate the yolks from the whites: this is
done easily by pouring the yolk from one half of the shell to the other,
and letting the white drop from it into a basin beneath. With a small
three-pronged fork take out the specks from each egg as it is broken,
that none may accidentally escape notice. Whisk the yolks until they
appear light, and the whites until they are a quite solid froth; while
any liquid remains at the bottom of the bowl they are not sufficiently
beaten: when a portion of them, taken up with the whisk, and dropped
from it, remains standing in points, they are in the proper state for
use, and should be mixed with the cake directly.
SUGAR GLAZINGS AND ICINGS.
(_For Fine Pastry and Cakes._)
The clear glaze which resembles barley sugar, and which requires to be
as carefully guarded from damp, is given by just dipping the surface of
the pastry into liquid _caramel_ (see Chapter XXVII.); or by sifting
sugar thickly over it directly it is drawn from the oven, and melting it
down with a salamander, or red-hot shovel held closely over it; or by
setting it again into an oven sufficiently heated to dissolve the sugar:
though this latter method is not so well, as there is danger from it of
the paste being scorched. To make a fine white or coloured icing, whisk,
as directed above, the whites of four fresh eggs to a perfectly solid
froth, then, with a wooden spoon or spatula, mix gradually with them one
pound of the best sugar, which has been dried, and sifted through a fine
sieve: work them together for a minute or two, and add less than a
dessertspoonful of strained lemon-juice; spread it even over the cake or
pastry, and dry it _very gently indeed_, either in a quite cool oven, or
in a meat screen placed before the fire. From the difference in the size
of eggs, a little more or less of sugar may be required for this icing.
It may be coloured with a very few drops of prepared cochineal to give
it a rose tint.
Whites of eggs beaten to snow, 4; sugar, 1 lb.; lemon-juice, small
dessertspoonful.
ORANGE-FLOWER MACAROONS. (DELICIOUS.)
Have ready two pounds of very dry white sifted sugar. Weigh two ounces
of the petals of freshly gathered orange-blossoms after they have been
picked from the stems; and cut them very small with a pair of scissors
_into_ the sugar, as they will become discoloured if not mixed with it
quickly after they are cut. When all are done, add the whites of seven
eggs, and whisk the whole well together until it looks like snow; then
drop the mixture on paper without delay, and send the cakes to a very
cool oven.
Pounded sugar, 2 lbs.; orange-blossoms, 2 oz.; whites of eggs, 7:20
minutes or more.
_Obs._—It is almost impossible to state with accuracy the precise time
required for these cakes, so much depends on the oven: they should be
very delicately coloured, and yet dried through.
ALMOND MACAROONS.
Blanch a pound of fresh Jordan almonds, wipe them dry, and set them into
a very cool oven to render them perfectly so; pound them to an
exceedingly smooth paste, with a little white of egg, then whisk to a
firm solid froth the white of seven eggs, or of eight, should they be
small; mix with them a pound and a half of the finest sugar; add these
by degrees to the almonds, whisk the whole up well together, and drop
the mixture upon wafer-paper, which may be procured at the
confectioner’s: bake the cakes in a moderate oven a very pale brown. It
is an improvement to their flavour to substitute an ounce of bitter
almonds for one of the sweet. They are sometimes made with an equal
weight of each; and another variety of them is obtained by gently
browning the almonds in a slow oven before they are pounded.
Jordan almonds blanched, 1 lb.; sugar, 1-1/2 lb.; whites of 7 or 8 eggs:
15 to 20 minutes.
VERY FINE COCOA-NUT MACAROONS.
Rasp a fresh cocoa-nut, spread it on a dish or tin, and let it dry
gradually for a couple of days, if it can be done conveniently; add to
it double its weight of fine sifted sugar, and the whites of eight eggs
beaten to a solid froth (see page 543), to the pound. Roll the mixture
into small balls, place them on a buttered tin, and bake them in a very
gentle oven about twenty minutes. Move them from the tin while they are
warm, and store them in a very dry canister as soon as they are cold.
Cocoa-nut, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1 lb.; whites of eggs, 8: very gentle oven,
20 minutes.
IMPERIALS. (NOT VERY RICH.)
Work into a pound of flour six ounces of butter, and mix well with them
half a pound of sifted sugar, six ounces of currants, two ounces of
candied orange-peel, the grated rind of a lemon, and four well-beaten
eggs. Flour a tin lightly, and with a couple of forks place the paste
upon it in small rough heaps quite two inches apart. Bake them in a
_very_ gentle oven, from a quarter of an hour to twenty minutes, or
until they are equally coloured to a pale brown.
Flour 1 lb.; butter, 6 oz.; sugar, 8 oz.; currants, 6 oz.; candied peel,
2 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; eggs, 4: 15 to 20 minutes.
FINE ALMOND CAKE.
Blanch, dry, and pound to the finest possible paste, eight ounces of
fresh Jordan almonds, and one ounce of bitter; moisten them with a few
drops of cold water or white of egg, to prevent their oiling; then mix
with them _very_ gradually twelve fresh eggs which have been whisked
until they are _exceedingly_ light; throw in by degrees one pound of
fine, dry, sifted sugar, and _keep_ the mixture light by constant
beating, with a large wooden spoon, as the separate ingredients are
added. Mix in by degrees three-quarters of a pound of dried and sifted
flour of the best quality; then pour gently from the sediment a pound of
butter which has been just melted, but not allowed to become hot, and
beat it very gradually, but very thoroughly, into the cake, letting one
portion entirely disappear before another is thrown in; add the rasped
or finely-grated rinds of two sound fresh lemons, fill a
thickly-buttered mould rather more than half full with the mixture, and
bake the cake from an hour and a half to two hours in a well-heated
oven. Lay paper over the top when it is sufficiently coloured, and guard
carefully against its being burned.
Jordan almonds, 1/2 lb.; bitter almonds, 1 oz.; eggs, 12; sugar, 1 lb.;
flour, 3/4 lb.; butter, 1 lb.; rinds lemons, 2: 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
_Obs._—Three-quarters of a pound of almonds may be mixed with this cake
when so large a portion of them is liked, but an additional ounce or two
of sugar, and one egg or more, will then be required.
PLAIN POUND OR CURRANT CAKE.
(_Or rich Brawn Brack, or Borrow Brack._)
Mix, as directed in the foregoing receipt, ten eggs (some cooks take a
pound in weight of these), one pound of sugar, one of flour, and as much
of butter. For a plum-cake, let the butter be worked to a cream; add the
sugar to it first, then the yolks of the eggs, next stir lightly in the
whites, after which, add one pound of currants and the candied peel,
and, last of all, the flour by degrees, and a glass of brandy when it is
liked. Nearly or quite two hours’ baking will be required for this, and
one hour for half the quantity.
To convert the above into the popular Irish “speckled bread,” or _Brawn
Brack_ of the richer kind, add to it three ounces of carraway-seeds:
these are sometimes used in combination with the currants, but more
commonly without. To ice a cake see the receipt for Sugar Glazings at
the commencement of this Chapter, page 543. A rose-tint may be given to
the icing with a little prepared cochineal, as we have said there.
RICE CAKE.
Take six eggs, with their weight in fine sugar, and in butter also, and
half their weight of flour of rice, and half of wheaten flour; make the
cake as directed for the Madeira or almond cake, but throw in the rice
after the flour; then add the butter in the usual way, and bake the cake
about an hour and ten minutes. Give any flavour that is liked. The
butter may be altogether omitted. This is a moderate-sized cake.
Eggs, in the shell, 6; their weight in butter and in sugar; half as much
flour of rice, and the same of wheaten flour: 1 hour, 10 minutes.
WHITE CAKE.
Beat half a pound of fresh butter to a cream, add to it an equal weight
of dried and sifted sugar, the yolks and whites of eight eggs,
separately whisked, two ounces of candied orange-peel, half a
teaspoonful of mace, a glass of brandy, one pound of flour strewed in by
degrees, and last of all a pound and a quarter of currants. Directly it
is mixed send the cake to a well-heated oven, and bake it for two hours.
Four ounces of pounded almonds are sometimes added to it.
Butter, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; eggs, 8; mace, 1/2 teaspoonful; brandy,
1 wineglassful; flour, 1 lb.; candied-peel, 2 oz.; currants, 1-1/2 lb.:
2 hours.
A GOOD SPONGE CAKE.
Rasp on some lumps of well-refined sugar the rind of a fine sound lemon,
and scrape off the part which has imbibed the essence, or crush the
lumps to powder, and add them to as much more as will make up the weight
of eight or ten fresh eggs in the shell; break these one by one, and
separate the whites from the yolks; beat the latter in a large bowl for
ten minutes, then strew in the sugar gradually, and beat them well
together. In the mean time let the whites be whisked to a quite solid
froth, add them to the yolks, and when they are well blended sift and
_stir_ the flour gently to them, but do not beat it into the mixture;
pour the cake into a well-buttered mould, and bake it an hour and a
quarter in a moderate oven.
Rasped rind, 1 large lemon; fresh eggs, 8 or 10; their weight of dry,
sifted sugar; and half their weight of flour: baked, 1-1/4 hour,
moderate oven.
A SMALLER SPONGE CAKE.
(_Very good._)
Five full-sized eggs, the weight of four in sugar, and of nearly three
in flour, will make an exceedingly good cake: it may be flavoured, like
the preceding one, with lemon-rind, or with bitter almonds, vanilla, or
confected orange-blossoms reduced to powder. An hour will bake it
thoroughly. All the ingredients for sponge cakes should be of good
quality, and the sugar and flour should be dry; they should also be
passed through a fine sieve kept expressly for such purposes. The
excellence of the whole depends much on the manner in which the eggs are
whisked: this should be done as lightly as possible, but it is a mistake
to suppose that they cannot be too long beaten, as after they are
brought to a state of perfect firmness they are injured by a
continuation of the whisking, and will at times curdle, and render a
cake heavy from this cause.
FINE VENETIAN CAKE OR CAKES.
Take of sound Jordan almonds, blanched and well dried at the mouth of a
cool oven or in a sunny window, seven ounces, full weight, and one of
bitter almonds with them; pound the whole to a perfect paste with a few
drops of white of egg or orange-flower water; then mix them thoroughly
with one pound of flour and eight ounces of butter (which should be cool
and firm, or it will render the paste too soft), and break this down
quite small; then add eight ounces of pounded sugar, on part of which
the rind of a fine lemon has been rasped previously to its being crushed
to powder. Make these into a paste with the yolks of four eggs, or with
rather less should they be large, for if too moist, it will adhere to
the board and roller. To make a Venetian cake of moderate size, roll the
paste less than a quarter of an inch thick, and cut with the larger
fluted cutter, shown at page 376, six or seven portions of equal size;
lay them on lightly floured or buttered tins, and bake them in a slow
oven until they are firm and crisp, and equally coloured of a pale
brown. Should they seem to require it, lay them one on the other, while
they are still warm, and place a baking-tin, with a slight weight upon
them to render them quite level. When they are cold, spread upon each a
different kind of choice preserve, and pile the whole evenly into the
form of an entire cake. The top may be iced, and decorated with
pistachio-nuts, or grains of coloured sugar, or with a wreath of
almond-paste leaves. There are many varieties of this dish, which is
known by different names in different countries. It is sometimes called
a Neapolitan Cake, sometimes a Thousand Leaf Cake _à la Française_. It
is occasionally made entirely of almond-paste, and highly decorated; it
may be formed also of many layers of puff or fine short crust cut of
uniform size, or gradually less, so as to leave round each a clear
border of an inch wide, which may be covered with coloured icing, or
ornamented with preserved fruit, tinted almonds, grains of white or pink
sugar candy, or aught else that the fancy may direct.
To make the small Venetian cakes, roll the paste directed for the large
one at the commencement of this receipt, into balls, flatten them with
the hand to about the third of an inch thick, brush them with beaten
egg, and cover them plentifully with white sugar-candy crushed about
half the size of a pea: bake them in a slow oven.
Almonds, 8 oz.; flour, 1 lb.; butter, 8 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; rind of 1
lemon; yolks of eggs, 3 to 4; preserve as needed.
A GOOD MADEIRA CAKE.
Whisk four fresh eggs until they are as light as possible, then,
continuing still to whisk them, throw in by _slow_ degrees the following
ingredients in the order in which they are written: six ounces of dry,
pounded, and sifted sugar; six of flour, also dried and sifted; four
ounces of butter just dissolved, but not heated; the rind of a fresh
lemon; and the instant before the cake is moulded, beat well in the
third of a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda: bake it an hour in a
moderate oven. In this, as in all compositions of the same nature,
observe particularly that each portion of butter must be beaten into the
mixture until no appearance of it remains before the next is added; and
if this be done, and the preparation be kept light by constant and light
whisking, the cake will be as good, if not better, than if the butter
were creamed. Candied citron can be added to the paste, but it is not
needed.
Eggs, 4; sugar, 6 oz.; flour, 6 oz.; butter, 4 oz.; rind of 1 lemon;
carbonate of soda, 1/3 of teaspoonful: 1 hour, moderate oven.
A SOLIMEMNE.
_A rich French breakfast cake, or Sally Lunn._
From three-quarters of a pound of flour take three ounces for the
leaven, and make it into a lithe paste with half an ounce of solid,
well-washed yeast (see Chapter XXXI.), mixed with two or three
tablespoonsful of just warm cream, or new milk; throw a cloth over and
leave it near the fire to rise for about half an hour, or until it is
twice its original size. In the interim make a hollow in the centre of
the remainder of the flour, and put into it a quarter of an ounce of
fine salt, one ounce of pounded sugar, the yolks of four fresh eggs,
four ounces of lukewarm butter, and a couple of tablespoonsful of cream,
also warm. Mix the whole gently and carefully into a perfectly smooth
paste, flatten it with the hand upon the dresser, spread the leaven over
it, and blend them thoroughly with light kneading, as directed for
_brioche_ paste, page 349. The whole should be of the same colour
throughout.
Next, put it into a small, well-buttered copper stewpan, or plain
cake-mould, and let it remain in a moderately warm place until it has
risen, like the leaven, to double its original size; then with a
paste-brush or feather wash the top with beaten egg, and without
disturbing it, set it into a tolerably quick oven, and bake it nearly or
quite an hour; but do not allow it to be too deeply coloured. Turn it
from the mould, cut it once or twice asunder, and pour over the slices
plenty of good butter, just dissolved in a small saucepan; put the cake
together again, and serve it immediately. It may be converted into an
excellent _entremets_ by spreading currant, or other fine jelly, or
preserve, quickly upon it when it is cut, and sifting sugar thickly on
the top after it is restored to its proper form: it is then called a
Dresden cake. We think that when left until cold and toasted, the
solimemne is even better than when served hot. It will be many hours
rising; sometimes as many as six or eight. If wanted for breakfast it
should be made over night.
Flour 3/4 lb.; yeast, 1/2 oz.; little cream; salt, 1/4 oz.; sugar, 1
oz.; yolks of eggs, 4; butter, 4 oz.: to rise from 6 to 8 hours. Baked 1
hour.
BANBURY CAKES.
First, mix well together a pound of currants, cleaned with great nicety
and dried, a quarter-pound of beef suet, finely minced, three ounces
each of candied orange and lemon-rind, shred small, a few grains of
salt, a full quarter-ounce of pounded cinnamon and nutmeg mixed, and
four ounces of macaroons or ratafias rolled to powder. Next, make a
light paste with fourteen ounces of butter to the pound of flour; give
it an extra turn or two to prevent its rising too much in the oven; roll
out one half in a very thin square, and spread the mixed fruit and spice
equally upon it; moisten the edges, lay on the remaining half of the
paste, rolled equally thin, press the edges securely together, mark the
whole with the back of a knife in regular divisions of two inches wide
and three in length, bake the pastry in a well-heated oven from
twenty-five to thirty minutes, and divide it into cakes while it is
still warm. They may be served as a second course dish either hot or
cold, and may be glazed at pleasure.
Currants, 1 lb.; beef-suet, 4 oz.; candied orange and lemon-rind each, 3
oz.; salt, small pinch; mixed spices, 1/4 oz.; macaroons or ratafias, 4
oz.: baked 25 to 30 minutes.
MERINGUES.
[Illustration]
Whisk, to the firmest possible froth, the whites of six very fresh eggs,
taking every precaution against a particle of the yolk falling in
amongst them. Lay some squares or long strips of writing-paper closely
upon a board or upon very clean trenchers, which ought to be nearly or
quite an inch thick, to prevent the _meringues_ from receiving any
colour from the bottom of the oven. When all is ready, mix with the eggs
three-quarters of a pound of the finest sugar, well dried, and sifted;
stir them together for half a minute, then with a table or dessertspoon
lay the mixture quickly on the papers in the form of a half-egg, sift
sugar over them without delay, blow off with the bellows all that does
not adhere, and set the _meringues_ into a gentle oven. The process must
be expeditious, or the sugar melting will cause the cakes to spread,
instead of retaining the shape of the spoon, as they ought. The whole
art of making them, indeed, appears to us to consist in preserving their
proper form, and the larger the proportion of sugar worked into the
eggs, the more easily this will be done. When they are coloured to a
light brown, and are firm to the touch, draw them out, turn the papers
gently over, separating the _meringues_ from them, and with a teaspoon
scoop out sufficient of the insides to form a space for some whipped
cream or preserve, and put them again into the oven upon clean sheets of
paper, with the moist sides uppermost, to dry: when they are crisp
through they are done. Let them become cold; fill, and then join them
together with a little white of egg so as to give them the appearance
shown in the plate. Spikes of pistachio nuts, or almonds, can be stuck
over them, as represented there, at pleasure. They afford always, if
well made, a second course dish of elegant appearance, and they are
equally ornamental to breakfasts or suppers of ceremony. They are made
in perfection by the pastry-cooks in France, being equally light,
delicate, and delicious. Much of their excellence, it must be observed,
depends at all times on the attention they receive in the baking, as
well as in the previous preparation. They must, of course, be _quite_
cold before the preserve or cream is laid into them. From four to six
ounces of almonds, finely powdered, may be smoothly mixed with the other
ingredients for them; and they may be flavoured with citron, lemon, or
orange-rind by rasping the skins of the fruit with part of the sugar
with which they are to be made; then drying, and reducing it to powder.
Whites of very fresh eggs, 6; sugar, 3/4 lb.: gentle oven, 20 to 30
minutes.
ITALIAN MERINGUES.
Take for these the proportion of whites of eggs and sugar already
indicated in the receipt for Nesselrôde pudding, page 491, that is to
say, six to the pound, or half that quantity for a small number of
_meringues_. Boil the sugar with a pint of water until it whitens, and
begins to fall in flakes from the skimmer; have the eggs whisked to a
perfectly solid froth quite ready at the proper moment, and when the
sugar has stood for two or three minutes, and been worked well from the
sides of the pan, mingle them gradually, but very quickly, with it, that
the mass may be quite smooth; continue to stir them until they become
firm enough to retain their shape perfectly when moulded with a
teaspoon; lay out the cakes on paper, and place them in an oven so slow
as to harden without giving them colour. As they are not to be filled,
but merely fastened together, they may be baked on tins. Part of them
may be varied by the addition of three or four ounces of pounded almonds
mixed thoroughly with the remainder of the eggs and sugar, when a
portion of the _meringues_ have been moulded: these, however, will
require to be much longer baked than the others; but they will be
excellent. They should be lightly browned, and crisp quite through.
Sugar, 1 lb.; water, 1 pint; whites of eggs, 6: _very_ slow oven, 20 to
30 minutes, or longer.
THICK, LIGHT GINGERBREAD.
Crumble down very small, eight ounces of butter into a couple of pounds
of flour, then add to, and mix thoroughly with them, half a pound of
good brown sugar, two ounces of powdered ginger, and half an ounce of
ground carraway-seeds; beat gradually to these, first two pounds of
treacle, next three well-whisked eggs, and last of all half an ounce of
carbonate of soda,[174] dissolved in a very small cupful of warm water;
stir the whole briskly together, pour the mixture into very shallow
tins, put it immediately into a moderate oven, and bake it for an hour
and a half. The gingerbread made thus will be remarkably light and good.
For children part of the spice and butter may be omitted.
Footnote 174:
This should always be of the very best quality when used for cakes.
Carbonate of ammonia is recommended in preference to it by some
writers.
Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 8 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; powdered ginger, 2 oz.;
eggs, 3; carbonate of soda, 1/2 oz.; water, _very small_ cupful: baked
1-1/2 hour.
_Obs._—We think that something less than the half ounce of soda would be
sufficient for this gingerbread, for with the whole quantity it rises in
the oven to three times its height, and is apt to run over the tops of
the tins, even when they are but half filled with it at first; or if it
were well beaten into the mass without any water, after being carefully
freed from lumps and mixed with a little sugar, the cake would still be
quite light.
ACTON GINGERBREAD.
Whisk four strained or well-cleared eggs to the lightest possible froth
(French eggs, if really sweet, will answer for the purpose), and pour to
them, by degrees, a pound and a quarter of treacle, still beating them
lightly. Add, in the same manner, six ounces of pale brown sugar free
from lumps, one pound of sifted flour, and six ounces of good butter,
_just_ sufficiently warmed to be liquid, and no more, for if hot, it
would render the cake heavy; it should be poured in small portions to
the mixture, which should be well beaten up with the back of a wooden
spoon as each portion is thrown in: the success of the cake depends
almost entirely on this part of the process. When properly mingled with
the mass, the butter will not be perceptible on the surface; and if the
cake be kept light by constant whisking, large bubbles will appear in it
to the last. When it is so far ready, add to it one ounce of Jamaica
ginger and a large teaspoonful of cloves in fine powder, with the
lightly grated rinds of two fresh full-sized lemons. Butter thickly, in
every part, a shallow square tin pan, and bake the gingerbread slowly
for nearly or quite an hour in a gentle oven. Let it cool a little
before it is turned out, and set it on its edge until cold, supporting
it, if needful, against a large jar or bowl. We have usually had it
baked in an American oven, in a tin less than two inches deep; and it
has been excellent. We retain the name given to it originally in our own
circle.
CHEAP AND VERY GOOD GINGER OVEN-CAKE OR CAKES.
Four French eggs (which must be perfectly sweet, or small English ones),
six ounces of brown sugar of good quality rolled smooth and fine, six
ounces of flour, three of butter, a grain or two of salt, some grated
lemon-rind or candied peel sliced very thin, and half an ounce _or more_
of ginger in fine powder. Prepare and mix these ingredients in the order
in which they are written, by the directions for “Acton Gingerbread.”
Bake the cake nearly the same time. An American oven will answer for it
perfectly, and it will resemble a really rich cake, though so cheap. A
_small_ quantity of carbonate of soda may be added quite at last by
inexpert cake-makers, to insure its being light. The same mixture may be
baked in small cups or tins in an iron oven. For a cake of tolerable
size half as much again of the ingredients must be taken, and the whole
poured into a round or square cake-mould.
GOOD COMMON GINGERBREAD.
Work very smoothly six ounces of fresh butter (or some that has been
well washed from the salt, and wrung dry in a cloth) into one pound of
flour, and mix with them thoroughly an ounce of ginger in fine powder,
four ounces of brown sugar, and half a teaspoonful of beaten cloves and
mace. Wet these with three-quarters of a pound of cold treacle, or
rather more, if needful; roll out the paste, cut the cakes with a round
tin cutter, lay them on a floured or buttered baking tin, and put them
into a very slow oven. Lemon-grate or candied peel can be added, when it
is liked.
Flour, 1 lb.; butter, 6 oz.; sugar, 1/4 lb.; ginger, 1 oz.; cloves and
mace, 1/2 teaspoonful; treacle, 3/4 lb.: 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
RICHER GINGERBREAD.
Melt together three-quarters of a pound of treacle and half a pound of
fresh butter, and pour them hot on a pound of flour mixed with half a
pound of sugar and three-quarters of an ounce of ginger. When the paste
is quite cold, roll it out with as much more flour as will prevent its
adhering to the board: bake the cakes in a very gentle oven.
COCOA-NUT GINGERBREAD.
(_Original Receipts._)
Mix well together ten ounces of fine wheaten flour, and six of flour of
rice (or rice ground to powder), the grated rind of a lemon, and
three-quarters of an ounce of ginger: pour nearly boiling upon these a
pound of treacle, five ounces of fresh butter, and five of sugar, melted
together in a saucepan; beat the mixture, which will be almost a batter,
with a wooden spoon, and when quite smooth leave it until it is
perfectly cold, then add to it five ounces of grated cocoa-nut, and when
it is thoroughly blended with the other ingredients, lay the paste in
small heaps upon a buttered tin, and bake them in very slow oven from
half to three-quarters of an hour.
Flour, 10 oz.; ground rice, 6 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; ginger, 3/4 oz.;
treacle, 1 lb.; sugar, 5 oz.; butter, 5 oz.; cocoa-nut, 5 oz.: 1/2 to
3/4 hour.
Or: Flour, 1/2 lb.; ground rice, 1/2 lb.; ginger, 3/4 oz.; rind of 1
lemon; butter, 5 oz.; sugar, 5 oz.; treacle, 1 lb.; cocoa-nut, 6-1/2 oz.
_Obs._—The cakes made by them are excellent.
A DELICIOUS CREAM-CAKE AND SWEET RUSKS.
When in very sultry weather cream becomes acid from being sent to a
distance, or from other causes, it may still be made available for
delicate pastry-crust, and superlative cakes, biscuits, and bread; but
if ever so slightly _putrid_ it will be fit only to be thrown away. The
following receipt is given exactly as it was used with perfect success
on the thought of the moment, when we first had it tried. Crumble down
five ounces of good butter into a pound of fine flour, then mix
thoroughly with them half a pound of sifted sugar, a few grains of salt,
and two ounces of candied citron or orange-rind sliced thin; add
something more than half a pint of thick and rather sour cream mixed
with two well whisked eggs, and just before the paste is put into the
moulds, which should be buttered in every part and only two-thirds
filled, beat thoroughly into it half a teaspoonful of the very best
carbonate of soda, which has been perfectly blended with twice the
quantity of sugar and of flour, and rubbed through a fine sieve, or
worked to the smoothest powder in a mortar, or in any other way.
For the convenience of having it baked in a small iron oven, this
quantity was divided into two cakes, one of which was gently pulled
apart with a couple of forks while still hot, and then set again into
the oven and crisped with a gentle heat quite through: it was thus
converted into the very nicest sweet rusks. Sufficient cream should be
used for the cakes to convert the ingredients into a very lithe paste or
_thick_ batter, which can be properly worked or mixed with a wooden
spoon, with the back of which it should be very lightly beaten up before
it is moulded. About three-quarters of an hour will bake it in a
moderate oven. It should be firm on the surface—as all light cakes
should be—that it may not sink and become heavy after it is drawn out.
Turn it from the mould, and lay it on its _side_ upon a sieve reversed,
to cool.
A GOOD LIGHT LUNCHEON-CAKE AND BROWN BRACK.
Break down four ounces of butter into a couple of pounds of flour, and
work it quite into crumbs, but handle it very lightly; mix in a pinch of
salt and four ounces of pounded sugar; hollow the centre, and stir into
it a large tablespoonful of solid well-washed yeast (or an ounce of
German yeast which will ferment more quickly), diluted with
three-quarters of a pint of warm new milk; when sufficient of the
surrounding flour is mixed with it to form a thick batter strew more
flour on the top, lay a cloth once or twice folded together over the
pan, and let it remain until the leaven has become very light: this it
will generally be in an hour and a quarter, or, at the utmost, in an
hour and a half. The fermentation may be quickened by increasing the
proportion of yeast, but this is better avoided, as it may chance to
render the cake bitter; additional time, however, must always be allowed
for it to rise when but a small quantity is used. When the leaven is at
the proper height, add to a couple of well whisked eggs, sufficient
nearly-boiling milk to warm them, and mix them with the other
ingredients; then beat well into the cake by degrees, eight ounces more
of pounded sugar, and half a grated nutmeg; cut from two to three ounces
of candied citron thin, and strew over it; leave it again to rise, as
before, for about three-quarters of an hour; mix the citron equally with
it, put it into a thickly buttered tin or earthen pan, and bake it in a
quick oven for an hour and ten minutes at the least, and after it is
placed in it let it not be moved until it is quite set, or it will
possibly be heavy at the top. The grated rinds of a couple of lemons
will improve its flavour. Fine Lisbon sugar can be used to sweeten it
instead of pounded, but the difference of expense would be very slight,
and the cake would not be so good; the quantity can, of course, be
diminished when it is considered too much. Three-quarters of a pound of
currants can, at choice, be substituted for the citron. Three ounces of
carraway seeds will convert it into common _brown brack_, or Irish
seed-cake. For the manner of purifying yeast, see Chapter XXXI.
A VERY CHEAP LUNCHEON BISCUIT, OR NURSERY CAKE.
Two or three pounds of white bread dough taken when ready for the oven,
will make a good light biscuit if well managed, with the addition of
from half to three-quarters of a pound of sugar, a very small quantity
of butter, and a few currants, or carraway-seeds, or a teaspoonful of
mixed spices. The dough should be rather firm; the butter should first
be well kneaded into it in small portions, then the sugar added in the
same way, and next the currants or spice. The whole should be perfectly
and equally mingled, flour being slightly dredged upon it as it is
worked, if needful. It must then be allowed to rise until it is very
light, when it should again be kneaded down, but not heavily; and when
it has once more risen, it should be sent without delay to the oven. An
ounce of butter to the pound of dough will be sufficient for it. Much
richer cakes can be made thus, and they will be extremely good if care
be taken to let them rise sufficiently before they are baked. We regret
that we cannot multiply our receipts for them. Sultana raisins are an
excellent substitute for currants in these and other common cakes.
ISLE OF WIGHT DOUGH-NUTS.
Work smoothly together with the fingers four ounces of good lard, and
four pounds of flour; add half a pound of fine brown sugar, two
tablespoonsful of allspice, one drachm of pounded cinnamon, half as much
of cloves, two large blades of mace, beaten to powder, two
tablespoonsful of fresh yeast which has been watered for one night, and
which should be solid, and as much new milk as will make the whole into
a rather firm dough; let this stand from an hour to an hour and a half
near the fire, then knead it well, and make it into balls about the size
of a small apple; hollow them with the thumb, and enclose a few currants
in the middle; gather the paste well over them, and throw the dough-nuts
into a saucepan half filled with boiling lard; when they are equally
coloured to a fine brown, lift them out and dry them before the fire on
the back of a sieve. When they are made in large quantities, as they are
at certain seasons in the island, they are drained upon very clean
straw. The lard should boil only just before they are dropped into it,
or the outsides will be scorched before the insides are sufficiently
done.
Flour, 4 lbs.; lard, 4 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; allspice, 2 tablespoonsful;
pounded cinnamon, 1 drachm; cloves and mace, each 1/2 drachm; yeast
(solid), two large tablespoonsful: to rise, 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Currants,
at choice: dough-nuts boiled in lard, 5 to 7 minutes.
QUEEN CAKES.
To make these, proceed exactly as for the pound currant-cake of page
546, but bake the mixture in small well-buttered tin pans (heart-shaped
ones are usual), in a somewhat brisk oven, for about twenty minutes.
JUMBLES.
Rasp on some good sugar the rinds of two lemons; dry, reduce it to
powder, and sift it with as much more as will make up a pound in weight;
mix with it one pound of flour, four well-beaten eggs, and six ounces of
warm butter: drop the mixture on buttered tins, and bake the jumbles in
a _very_ slow oven from twenty to thirty minutes. They should be pale,
but perfectly crisp.
A GOOD SODA CAKE.
Break down half a pound[175] of fresh butter into a pound of fine dry
flour, and work it into very small crumbs; mix well with these half a
pound of sifted sugar, and pour to them first, a quarter of a pint of
boiling milk, and next, three well-whisked eggs; add some grated nutmeg,
or fresh lemon-rind, and eight ounces of currants, cleaned and dried;
beat the whole well and lightly together, then strew in a very small
teaspoonful of good carbonate of soda in the finest powder, which has
been rubbed through a sieve and well mixed with a little sugar, and
again beat the cake well and lightly for three or four minutes; put it
into a buttered mould, and bake it from an hour to an hour and a
quarter; or divide it in two, when three-quarters of an hour will be
sufficient for each part.
Footnote 175:
Six ounces would to many tastes be quite sufficient, and the less
butter the cake contains the better.
Flour, 1 lb.; butter, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; boiling milk, full 1/4
pint; eggs, 3; currants, 1/2 lb.; good carbonate of soda, 1 very small
teaspoonful: 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Or: divided in two, 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
_Obs._—This, if carefully made, resembles a pound cake, but is much less
expensive, and far more wholesome, while it has the advantage of being
very expeditiously prepared. Great care, however, must be taken to avoid
mixing with it too large a proportion, or a coarse quality of soda; as
either will impart to it a far from agreeable flavour.
GOOD SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD.
With one pound of flour mix well two ounces of sifted sugar, and one of
candied orange-rind or citron, sliced small; make these into a paste
with from eight to nine ounces of good butter, made sufficiently warm to
be liquid; press the paste together with the hands, and mould it upon
tins into large cakes nearly an inch thick, pinch the edges, and bake
the shortbread in a moderate oven for twenty minutes, or longer, should
it not be quite crisp, but do not allow it to become deeply coloured.
Flour, 1 lb.; sugar, 2 oz.; candied orange or citron, 1 oz.; butter, 8
to 9 oz.: 20 minutes or more.
_Obs._—This, to many persons, is a very indigestible compound, though
agreeable to the taste.
A GALETTE.
The galette is a favourite cake in France, and may be made rich and
comparatively delicate, or quite common, by using more or less butter
for it, and by augmenting or diminishing the size. Work lightly
three-quarters of a pound of good butter into a pound of flour, add a
large saltspoonful of salt, and make these into a paste with the yolks
of a couple of eggs mixed with a small cupful of good cream, or simply
with water; roll this into a complete round, three-quarters of an inch
thick; score it in small diamonds, brush yolk of egg over the top, and
bake the galette for about half an hour in a tolerably quick oven: it is
usually eaten hot, but is served cold also. An ounce of sifted sugar is
sometimes added to it.
A good galette: flour, 1 lb.; butter, 3/4 lb.; salt, 1 saltspoonful;
yolks of eggs, 2; cream, small cupful: baked 1/2 hour. Common galette:
flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3/4 to 1 lb.; no eggs.
SMALL SUGAR CAKES OF VARIOUS KINDS.
To make very sweet rich sugar cakes mingle, first working it very small
with the fingers, half a pound of butter with each pound of flour: if
more than this proportion be used the paste will be too soft to permit
the addition of the proper number of eggs. Next, blend thoroughly with
these three-quarters of a pound of dry sifted sugar, and the grated
rinds of two small fresh lemons (for _lemon_-cakes the strained juice of
one is generally added), or a dessertspoonful of cinnamon freshly
pounded; or from one ounce to two ounces of carraway-seeds; or a similar
proportion of the finest powdered ginger; or three-quarters of a pound
of very dry well cleaned currants. A _slight_ pinch of salt should be
thrown in with the sugar. If to be made into flat cakes proceed to
moisten these ingredients gradually with from two eggs to four slightly
whisked, and when they form a _firm_ paste, proceed quickly to roll and
to stamp them out with a cake tin; for as the sugar dissolves with the
moisture of the eggs, the paste will otherwise become so lithe as to
adhere to the board and roller. When it is to be merely dropped on the
baking-sheets, it will require an additional egg or more. The cakes
should then be placed quite two inches apart, as they will spread in the
baking.
Five ounces of butter with six of sugar to the pound of flour, two large
eggs, and a small quantity of milk, will be sufficient for quite cheap
sugar cakes: any flavour can be given to them as to those which precede,
and they can be rendered more or less sweet to the taste by altering the
proportion of sugar: this should always be sifted, or at least reduced
quite to powder, before it is used for them. One ounce more of butter
will render them very good. They should be rolled a quarter of an inch
thick.
Rich: to each lb. of flour, butter, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 3/4 lb.; eggs, 2 to
4. (Lemon-rinds, cinnamon, carraway-seeds, or ginger, or currants at
choice), small pinch of salt. Slow oven about 20 minutes.
_Obs._—The cakes should be but lightly coloured, and yet baked quite
through.
FLEED OR FLEAD CAKES.
These are very much served as a tea-cake at the tables of the superior
order of Kentish farmers. For the mode of making them, proceed as for
flead-crust (see Chapter XVI.); cut the cakes small with a round cutter,
and leave them more than half an inch thick: if well made they will rise
much in the oven. Bake them rather quickly, but keep them pale.
Flour, 2 lbs.; flead, 1-1/4 lb.; butter, 6 oz.: baked 10 to 15 minutes.
LIGHT BUNS OF DIFFERENT KINDS.
_Quite plain buns without butter._—Very good light buns may be made
entirely without butter, but they must be tolerably fresh when served.
To make them, dilute very smoothly an ounce of sweet German yeast or a
_large_ tablespoonful of quite solid and well washed English yeast with
a pint of warm new milk; mix this immediately with as much flour as it
will convert into a rather thick batter, throw a double cloth over the
pan, and place it where the warmth of the fire will search, without
_heating_ it. When it is well risen and bubbles appear on the top, add a
little salt, some pounded sugar, and as much flour as will form it into
a light dough. Leave it to rise again, when it will probably be too
little firm for moulding with the fingers, and must be beaten up with a
strong wooden spoon and put into cups or tin pans slightly buttered, to
be baked. The buns should be sent to a quick oven, and baked until the
entire surface is well browned. These directions may appear to the
reader somewhat vague; but we must frankly state that we have no precise
memorandum by us of this receipt, though we have had buns made by it
very successfully in former years: we cannot, however, exactly recall
the proportion of flour which was used for them, but believe it was
about two pounds. For this quantity half a pound of sugar would be
sufficient. The batter will be a long time rising to the proper height;
an hour and a half or two hours. Currants, carraways, nutmeg, or mixed
spices, can always be added at discretion.
It is usual to strew a few currants on the tops of the buns before they
are baked.
To render them richer and firmer, it is merely necessary to diminish the
proportion of milk, and to crumble up very small two or more ounces of
butter in the flour which is added to the batter after it has risen.
When again quite light, the dough may then be rolled into balls, and
placed on flat tins some inches apart until they have spread to the
proper shape. Confectioners generally wash the tops with milk, and sift
a little sugar over them.
_Exeter Buns._—These are somewhat celebrated in the city whose name they
bear, especially those of one maker whose _secret_ for them we have
recently obtained. Instead of being made into a dough with milk,
_Devonshire cream_ is used for them, either entirely or in part. If
_very_ thick, a portion of water should be added to it, or the yeast
would not ferment freely. The better plan is to dilute it with a quarter
of a pint or rather more of warm water, and when it is sufficiently
risen to make up the buns lightly, like bread, with the cream, which
must also be warm; then to proceed by the receipt given above.
PLAIN DESSERT OR WINE BISCUITS, AND GINGER BISCUITS.
Rub very small indeed, two ounces of fresh butter into a pound of flour,
and make it into a stiff paste with new milk. Roll it out half an inch
thick, and cut the biscuits with a round cutter the size of
half-a-crown. Pile them one on the other until all are done; then roll
them out very thin, prick them, and lay them on lightly-floured tins,
the pricked side downwards: a few minutes will bake them, in a moderate
oven. They should be very crisp, and but slightly browned.
_For the Ginger Biscuits._—Three ounces of good butter, with two pounds
of flour, then add three ounces of pounded sugar and two of ginger in
fine powder, and knead them into a stiff paste, with new milk. Roll it
thin, stamp out the biscuits with a cutter, and bake them in a slow oven
until they are crisp quite through, but keep them of a pale colour. A
couple of eggs are sometimes mixed with the milk for them, but are no
material improvement: an additional ounce of sugar may be used when a
sweeter biscuit is liked.
Plain biscuits: flour 1 lb.; butter, 2 oz.; new milk about 1/2 pint.
Ginger biscuits: flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 3 oz.; ginger, 2
oz.
THREADNEEDLE STREET BISCUITS.
Mix with two pounds of sifted flour of the very best quality three
ounces of good butter, and work it into the smallest possible crumbs;
add four ounces of fine, dry, sifted sugar, and make them into a firm
paste with new milk; beat this forcibly for some time with a
rolling-pin, and when it is extremely smooth roll it the third of an
inch thick, cut it with a small square cutter, and bake the biscuits in
a very slow oven until they are crisp to the centre: no part of them
should remain soft. Half a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda is said to
improve them, but we have not put it to the test. Carraway-seeds can be
added when they are liked.
Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.; new milk, 1 pint or more:
biscuits _slowly_ baked until crisp.
GOOD CAPTAIN’S BISCUITS.
Make some fine white flour into a very smooth paste with new milk;
divide it into small balls; roll them out, and afterwards pull them with
the fingers as _thin as possible_; prick them all over, and bake them in
a somewhat brisk oven from ten to twelve minutes. These are excellent
and very wholesome biscuits.
THE COLONEL’S BISCUITS.
Mix a slight pinch of salt with some fine sifted flour; make it into a
smooth paste with thin cream, and bake the biscuits gently, after having
prepared them for the oven like those which precede. Store them as soon
as they are cold in a dry canister, to preserve them crisp: they are
excellent.
AUNT CHARLOTTE’S BISCUITS.
These biscuits, which are very simple and very good, may be made with
the same dough as fine white bread, with the addition of from half to a
whole ounce of butter to the pound kneaded into it after it has risen.
Break the butter small, spread out the dough a little, knead it in well
and equally, and leave it for about half an hour to rise; then roll it a
quarter of an inch thick, prick it well all over, cut out the biscuits,
and bake them in a moderate oven from ten to fifteen minutes: they
should be crisp quite through, but not deeply coloured.
White-bread dough, 2 lbs.; butter, 1 to 2 oz.: to rise 1/2 hour. Baked
in moderate oven 10 to 15 minutes.
_Obs._—To make the biscuits by themselves, proceed as for Bordyke bread;
but use new milk for them, and work three ounces of butter into two
pounds of flour before the yeast is added.
EXCELLENT SODA BUNS.
Work into half a pound of flour three ounces of butter, until it is
quite in crumbs; mix thoroughly with them four ounces of sugar, the
slightest pinch of salt, an ounce, or rather more, of candied orange or,
shred extremely small, and a little grated nutmeg; to these pour boiling
a _small_ teacupful of cream, or of milk when this cannot be had; mix
them a little, and add immediately two eggs, leaving out the white of
one, and when the whole is well mingled, dust over, and beat well into
it, less than half a teaspoonful of good carbonate of soda, perfectly
free from lumps; rub an oven-tin with butter, drop the buns upon it with
a spoon, and send them to a moderate oven. When they are firm to the
touch in every part, and well coloured underneath, they are done. They
resemble good cakes, if properly made, although in reality they are not
rich: to render them so the proportion of sugar and of butter can be
increased, and currants added also. It is immaterial, we find, whether
they be put into the oven as soon as they are mixed, or an hour
afterwards. They are equally light. These proportions make just a dozen
of small buns.
Flour, 1/2 lb.; butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.; candied orange-rind, 1 oz.
or more; grated nutmeg; cream (or milk) 1 _small_ teacupful; egg-yolks
2, white 1; good carbonate of soda about the third of a teaspoonful: 15
to 25 minutes, moderate oven.
_For Geneva Buns See Chapter 30._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXVII.
=Confectionary.=
[Illustration:
Citron.
]
TO CLARIFY SUGAR.
IT is an economy to use at once the very best sugar for confectionary in
general, for when highly refined it needs little or no clarifying, even
for the most delicate purposes; and the coarser kinds lose considerable
weight in the process. Break it into large lumps, and put it into a very
clean preserving-pan; measure for each pound a pint of spring water if
it be intended for syrup, but less than half that quantity for candying
or making barley-sugar. Beat first apart (but not to a strong froth),
and afterwards with the water, about half the white of an egg for six
pounds of sugar, unless it should be _very_ common, when twice as much
may be used. When they are well mixed pour them over the sugar, and let
it stand until it is nearly dissolved; then stir the whole thoroughly,
and place it over a gentle fire, but do not disturb it after the scum
begins to gather on the top; let it boil for five minutes, then take the
pan from the fire, and when it has stood a couple of minutes clear off
the scum entirely, with a skimmer; set the pan again over the fire, and
when the sugar begins to boil throw in a little cold water, which has
been reserved for the purpose from the quantity first measured, and
repeat the skimming until the syrup is very clear; it may then be
strained through a muslin, or a thin cloth, and put into a clean pan for
further boiling.
For syrup: sugar, 6 lbs.; water, 3 quarts; 1/2 white of 1 egg. For
candying, &c.: sugar, 6 lbs.; water, 2-1/2 pints: 5 to 10 minutes.
TO BOIL SUGAR FROM SYRUP TO CANDY, OR TO CARAMEL.
The technicalities by which confectioners distinguish the different
degrees of sugar-boiling, seem to us calculated rather to puzzle than to
assist the reader; and we shall, therefore, confine ourselves to such
plain English terms as may suffice, we hope, to explain them. After
having boiled a certain time, the length of which will in a measure
depend upon the quality of the sugar as well as on the quantity of water
added, it becomes a thin syrup, and will scarcely form a short thread if
a drop be pressed between the thumb and finger and they are then drawn
apart; from five to ten minutes more of rapid boiling will bring it to a
_thick_ syrup, and when this degree is reached the thread may be drawn
from one hand to the other at some length without breaking; but its
appearance in dropping from the skimmer will perhaps best denote its
being at this point, as it hangs in a sort of string as it falls. After
this the sugar will soon begin to whiten, and to form large bubbles in
the pan, when, if it be intended for barley-sugar, or caramel, some
lemon-juice or other acid must be added to it, to prevent its _graining_
or _becoming sugar again_; but if wanted to candy, it must be stirred
without ceasing until it rises almost to the top of the pan, in one
large white mass, when it must be used immediately or laded out into
paper cases or on to dishes, with the utmost expedition, as it passes in
an instant almost, from this state to one in which it forms a sort of
powder, which will render it necessary to add water, to stir it until
dissolved, and to reboil it to the proper point. For barley-sugar
likewise it must be constantly stirred, and carefully watched after the
lemon-juice is added. A small quantity should be dropped from time to
time into a large basin of cold water by those who are inexperienced in
the process; when in falling into this it makes a bubbling noise, and if
taken out immediately after, it snaps clean between the teeth without
sticking to them, it must be poured out _instantly_: if wanted for
sugar-spinning, the pan must be plunged as quickly as possible into a
vessel of cold water.
CARAMEL.
(_The quickest way._)
Put into a brass skillet, or preserving-pan, some sifted sugar of the
finest quality, and stir it softly with a wooden spoon or spatula, over
a very gentle fire until it has become liquid; a pale or a deep tint may
then be given to it, according to the purpose for which it is required:
so soon as it is entirely melted, and looks clear, it is ready for use.
Pastry-cooks glaze small pastry by just dipping the surface into it; and
they use it also for _nougat_, and other confectionary, though it is not
in general quite so brilliant as that which is made by the preceding
receipt. When the sugar first begins to melt, it should be stirred only
just in that part, or it will not be equally coloured.
BARLEY-SUGAR.
Add to three pounds of highly-refined sugar one pint and a quarter of
spring water, with sufficient white of egg to clarify it in the manner
directed in the last page but one; pour to it, when it begins to whiten,
and to be very thick, a dessertspoonful of the strained juice of a fresh
lemon; and boil it quickly until it is at the point which we have
indicated above. A few drops of essence of lemon may be added to it,
just as it is taken from the fire. Pour it on to a marble slab, or on to
a shallow dish which has been slightly oiled, or rubbed with a particle
of fresh butter; and when it begins to harden at the edges form it into
sticks, lozenges, balls, or any other shapes at pleasure. While it is
still liquid it may be used for various purposes, such as Chantilly
baskets, palace bonbons, _croquantes_,[176] _cerises au caramel_, &c.:
for these the vessel containing it must be set into a pan of water, and
it must again be liquefied with a very gentle degree of heat should it
cool too quickly. As it soon dissolves if exposed to damp, it should be
put into very dry canisters as soon as it is cold, and these should be
kept in a dry place.
Footnote 176:
These are formed of small cakes, roasted chestnuts, and various other
things, just dipped singly into the barley-sugar, and then arranged in
good form and joined in a mould, from which they are turned out for
table.
Best sugar, 3 lbs.; water, 1-1/4 pint; white of egg, 1/4 of 1;
lemon-juice, 1 dessertspoonful.
NOUGAT.
This is a preparation of barley-sugar, and almonds, filberts, or
pistachio-nuts, of which good confectioners, both foreign and English,
make a great variety of highly ornamental dishes. We must, however,
confine our directions to the most common and simple mode of serving it.
Blanch twelve ounces of fine Jordan almonds in the usual way, wipe them
very dry, split them in halves, and spread them upon tins or dishes; dry
them in a very gentle oven, without allowing them to brown; or if the
flavour be liked better so, let them be equally coloured to a pale gold
tint: they should then be often turned while in the oven. Boil to barley
sugar in a small preserving-pan six ounces of highly-refined sugar,
throw in the almonds, mix them with it well without breaking them, turn
the nougat on to a dish slightly rubbed with oil, spread it out quickly,
mark it into squares, and cut it before it is cold; or pour it into a
mould, and with an oiled lemon spread it quickly, and very thin over it,
and turn it out when cool. It must at all times be carefully preserved
from damp; and should be put into a dry tin box as soon as it is cold.
Sugar, 6 oz.; almonds, 12 oz.
Another and more expeditious way of making it, is to boil the sugar to
caramel without any water, as directed at page 563: the proportion of
almonds can be diminished at pleasure, but the nougat should always be
well filled with them.
GINGER CANDY.
Break a pound of highly-refined sugar into lumps, put it into a
preserving-pan, and pour over it about the third of a pint of spring
water; let it stand until the sugar is nearly dissolved, then set it
over a perfectly clear fire, and boil it until it becomes a thin syrup.
Have ready in a large cup a teaspoonful of the very best ginger in
powder; mix it smoothly and gradually with two or three spoonsful of the
syrup, and then stir it well into the whole. Watch the mixture
carefully, keep it stirred, and drop it often from a spoon to ascertain
the exact point of boiling it has reached. When it begins to fall in
_flakes_, throw in the freshly-grated rind of a very large lemon, or of
two small ones, and work the sugar round quickly as it is added. The
candy must now be stirred constantly until it is done: this will be when
it falls in a mass from the spoon, and does not _sink_ when placed in a
small heap on a dish. It must be poured, or _laded_ out, as
expeditiously as possible when ready, or it will fall quite into powder.
If this should happen, a little water must be added to it, and it must
be reboiled to the proper point. The candy, if dropped in cakes upon
sheets of very dry foolscap or other thick writing-paper laid upon cold
dishes, may be moved off without difficulty while it is still just warm,
but it must not be touched while quite hot, or it will break.
Sugar, highly refined, 1 lb.; water, 1/3 of a pint; ginger, 1
teaspoonful; rind of 1 large lemon.
ORANGE-FLOWER CANDY.
Beat in three-quarters of a pint, or rather more, of water, about the
fourth part of the white of an egg, and pour it on two pounds of the
best sugar broken into lumps. When it has stood a little time, place it
over a very clear fire, and let it boil for a few minutes, then set it
on one side, until the scum has subsided; clear it off, and boil the
sugar until it is very thick, then strew in by degrees three ounces of
the _petals_ of the orange-blossom, weighed after they are picked from
their stems. Continue to stir the candy until it rises in one white mass
in the pan, then lay it, as quickly as it can be done, in cakes with a
large spoon, upon thick and _very dry_ sheets of writing paper placed
quite flat upon the backs of dishes, or upon trays.[177] Take it off
before it is entirely cold, and lay the candy reversed upon dishes, or
place the cakes on their edges round the rim of one until they are
perfectly cold; then secure them from the air without delay in close
shutting tin boxes or canisters. They will remain excellent for more
than a year. The orange-flowers will turn brown if thrown too soon into
the syrup: it should be more than three parts boiled when they are
added. They must be gathered on the day they are wanted for use, as they
will soon become discoloured from keeping.
Footnote 177:
As the heat of the boiling sugar would injure these, no good ones
should be used for the purpose.
Sugar, 2 lbs.; water, 3/4 pint; 1/4 white of egg; orange-blossoms, 3 oz.
_Obs._—When sugar of the finest quality is used for this confection, as
it ought to be, it will not require the white of egg to clarify it.
ORANGE-FLOWER CANDY.
(_Another Receipt._)
The French, who are very fond of the delicious flavour of the
orange-blossom, leave the petals in the candy; but a more delicate
confection, to English taste, is made as follows:—Throw the
orange-flowers into the syrup when it has boiled about ten minutes, and
after they have simmered in it for five more, pour the whole out, and
leave them to infuse until the following day, or even longer, if more
convenient; then bring the syrup to the point of boiling, strain it from
the blossoms through a muslin, and finish it by the foregoing receipt.
COCOA-NUT CANDY.
Rasp very fine a sound fresh cocoa-nut, spread it on a dish, and let it
dry naturally for two or three days, as it will not bear the heat of an
oven, and is too oily for use when freshly broken. Four ounces of it
will be sufficient for a pound of sugar for most tastes, but more can be
used at pleasure. Boil the sugar as for the orange-flower candy, and
when it begins to be very thick and white, strew in the nut, stir and
mix it _well_, and do not quit it for an instant until it is finished.
The pan should not be placed upon the fire but over it, as the nut is
liable to burn with too fierce a heat.
For almond-candy proceed in exactly the same way, but let the almonds,
either whole or split, be perfectly well dried in a gentle oven, and do
not throw them into the sugar until it approaches the candying point.
PALACE-BONBONS.
Take some fine fresh candied orange-rind, or citron, clear off the sugar
which adheres to it, cut it into inch-squares, stick these singly on the
prong of a silver fork or on osier-twigs, dip them into liquid
barley-sugar, and place them on a dish rubbed with the smallest possible
quantity of very pure salad oil. When cold, put them into tin boxes or
canisters well dried, with paper, which should also be very dry, between
each layer.
EVERTON TOFFIE.
No. 1.—Put into a brass skillet or small preserving-pan three ounces of
very fresh butter, and as soon as it is just melted add a pound of brown
sugar of moderate quality; keep these stirred gently over a very clear
fire for about fifteen minutes, or until a little of the mixture,
dropped into a basin of cold water, breaks clean between the teeth
without sticking to them: when it is boiled to this point, it must be
poured out immediately, or it will burn. The grated rind of a lemon,
added when the toffie is half done, improves it much; or a small
teaspoonful of powdered ginger moistened with a little of the other
ingredients as soon as the sugar is dissolved and then stirred to the
whole, will vary it pleasantly to many tastes. The real Everton toffie
is made with a much larger proportion of butter, but it is the less
wholesome on that very account. If dropped upon dishes first rubbed with
a buttered paper, the toffie when cold can be raised from them easily.
Butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 1 lb.: 15 to 18 minutes. Or, sugar, 1 lb.; butter,
5 oz.; almonds, 2 oz.: 20 to 30 minutes.
No. 2.—Boil together a pound of sugar and five ounces of butter for
twenty minutes; then stir in two ounces of almonds blanched, divided,
and thoroughly dried in a slow oven, or before the fire. Let the toffie
boil after they are added, till it crackles when dropped into cold
water, and snaps between the teeth without sticking.
Sugar, 1 lb.; butter, 5 oz.; almonds, 2 oz.: 20 to 30 minutes.
CHOCOLATE DROPS.
Throw into a well heated metal mortar from two to four ounces of the
best quality of cake-chocolate broken small, and pound it with a warm
pestle until it resembles a smooth paste or very thick batter; then add
an equal weight of sugar in the finest powder, and beat them until they
are thoroughly blended. Roll the mixture into small balls, lay them upon
sheets of writing paper or upon clean dishes, and take them off when
they are nearly cold. The tops may be covered with white nonpareil
comfits, or the drops may be shaken in a paper containing some of these,
and entirely encrusted with them; but it must be recollected that they
will not adhere to them after they become hard. More or less sugar can
be worked into the chocolate according to the taste; and a Wedgwood
mortar may be used for it when no other is at hand, but one of
bell-metal will answer the purpose better.
CHOCOLATE ALMONDS.
When the chocolate has been softened, and mixed with an equal proportion
of sugar, as directed in the foregoing receipt, enclose singly in small
portions of it some almonds previously _well_ dried, or even slightly
coloured in the oven, after having been blanched. Roll them very smooth
in the hand, and cover them with the comfits, or form them like the
almond shamrocks of page 574. Filberts and pistachio-nuts may be
substituted for the almonds with good effect; but they also must be
perfectly dry.
SEVILLE ORANGE PASTE.
Wipe, and pare in the thinnest possible strips, some Seville
orange-rinds, and throw them into plenty of boiling water. When they are
extremely tender, lift them on to a large sieve reversed to drain; press
the water from them a little, and before they are quite cold, pound them
to the smoothest paste, and blend thoroughly with them as much fine
sifted sugar as can possibly be mixed with them. Roll the mass out
extremely thin, and with a very small tin-cutter form it into cakes or
leaves, or any other shapes, and then dry it in a VERY gentle oven.
Store it in close-shutting boxes as soon as it is cold. A little choice
prepared ginger may be added to it in the pounding when it is liked.
Paste of lemon or citron-rind may be made in the same way.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXVIII.
=Dessert Dishes.=
[Illustration]
DESSERT DISHES.
A WELL-SELECTED and well-arranged rice-crust, however simple in its
character, may always be rendered agreeable to the eye and to the taste:
but in no department of the table can so much that is attractive to both
be more readily combined; and at the present day an unusual degree of
luxury is often displayed in it, the details of which, however, would be
out of place here. Forced strawberries of magnificent size, and of the
best varieties, brought by culture and management all to perfection on
the same day, and served on their plants, in the pots in which they are
grown, concealed in others of porcelain or of chased silver, are amongst
the expensive novelties now commonly introduced at costly dinners of
display, and may serve as an illustration of it.[178]
Footnote 178:
To these may be added miniature fruit trees in full bearing placed
down the centre of the table, and intermingled with the choicest
exotics.
For common occasions, a few dishes of really fresh fruit tastefully
disposed and embedded in large green leaves, will be all that is
required for a plain summer or autumn rice-crust; and at other parts of
the year such as are appropriate to the season; but from the immense
variety of cakes, biscuits, confections, ices, _bonbons_, and other
_sucreries_ (some of them extremely brilliant in appearance), and of
fruit native and foreign, fresh, dried, and preserved in every possible
manner which are adapted to them, desserts may be served in any kind of
style.
PEARLED FRUIT, OR FRUIT EN CHEMISE.
Select for this dish very fine bunches of red and white currants, large
ripe cherries, and gooseberries of different colours, and strawberries
or raspberries very freshly gathered. Beat up the white of an egg with
about half as much cold water, dip the fruit into this mixture, drain it
on a sieve for an instant, and then roll it in fine sifted sugar until
it is covered in every part; give it a gentle shake, and lay it on
sheets of white paper to dry. In England, thin gum-water is sometimes
used, we believe, for this dish, instead of the white of egg; we give,
however, the French method of preparing it. It will dry gradually in a
warm room, or a sunny window, in the course of three or four hours.
_Obs._—This is an inexpensive dish, which if well prepared has the
appearance of fine confectionary. The incrustation of sugar much
increases too the apparent size of the fruit. That which is used for it
should be of the best quality, and fine and dry. When it becomes moist
from the fruit being rolled in it, it will no longer adhere to it as it
ought.
SALAD OF MIXED SUMMER FRUITS.
Heap a rice-crust-dish quite high with alternate layers of fine fresh
strawberries stripped from the stalks, white and red currants, and white
or red raspberries; strew each layer plentifully with sifted sugar, and
just before the dish is sent to table, pour equally over the top two
wineglassesful of sherry, Madeira, or any other good white wine. Very
thick Devonshire cream may be laid entirely over the fruit, instead of
the wine being mingled with it. Currants by themselves are excellent
prepared in this way, and strawberries also. The fruit should be gently
stirred with a spoon when it is served. Each variety must be picked with
great nicety from the stalks.
PEACH SALAD.
Pare and slice half a dozen fine ripe peaches, arrange them in a dish,
strew them with pounded sugar, and pour over them two or three glasses
of champagne: other wine may be used, but this is best. Persons who
prefer brandy can substitute it for wine. The quantity of sugar must be
proportioned to the sweetness of the fruit.
ORANGE SALAD.
Take off the outer rinds, and then strip away entirely the white inside
skin from some fine China oranges; slice them thin, and remove the
seeds, and thick skin of the cores, as this is done; strew over them
plenty of white sifted sugar, and pour on them a glass or more of
brandy: when the sugar is dissolved serve the oranges. In France ripe
pears of superior quality are sometimes sliced up with the oranges.
Powdered sugar-candy used instead of sugar, is an improvement to this
salad; and the substitution of port, sherry, or Madeira, for the brandy
is often considered so. The fruit may be used without being pared, and a
little _curaçao_ or any other liqueur may be added to the brandy; or
this last, when unmixed, may be burned after it is poured on the
oranges.
TANGERINE ORANGES.
These beautiful little oranges, of which the rinds have a most peculiar,
and to many tastes not a very agreeable flavour, are remarkably sweet
and delicate when in their perfection; but they come later into the
market than the more common varieties of the orange, and disappear from
them sooner. They make a very refined salad, and also an ornamental
rice-crust dish: their cost is somewhat higher than that of the Malta
and St. Michael oranges. There is another species of this fruit known
commonly as the _blood-orange_ which has many admirers, but it is not we
should say greatly superior to the more abundant kinds usually served at
our tables.
PEACHES IN BRANDY.
(_Rotterdam Receipt._)
Prepare and stew some fine full-flavoured peaches by the receipt of page
459, but with two ounces more of sugar to the half pint of water; when
they are tender put them, with their syrup, into glass or new stone
jars, which they should only half fill; and when they are quite cold
pour in white, or very pale, French brandy to within an inch and a half
of the brims: a few peach or apricot kernels can be added to them. The
jars must be corked down.
BRANDIED MORELLA CHERRIES.
Let the cherries be ripe, freshly gathered, and the finest that can be
had; cut off half the length of the stalks, and drop them gently into
clean dry quart bottles with wide necks; leave in each sufficient space
for four ounces of pounded white sugar-candy (or of brown, if better
liked); fill them up entirely with the best French brandy, and cork them
closely: the fruit will not shrivel if thus prepared. A few cherry, or
apricot kernels, or a small portion of cinnamon, can be added when they
are considered an improvement.
BAKED COMPÔTE OF APPLES.
(_Our little lady’s receipt._)
Put into a wide Nottingham jar, with a cover, two quarts of golden
pippins, or of the small apple which resembles them in appearance,
called the orange pippin (this is very plentiful in the county of Kent),
pared and cored, but without being divided; strew amongst them some
small strips of very thin fresh lemon-rind, throw on them, nearly at the
top, half a pound of good Lisbon sugar, and set the jar, with the cover
tied on, for some hours, or for a night, into a very slow oven. The
apples will be extremely good, if not too quickly baked: they should
remain entire, but be perfectly tender, and clear in appearance. Add a
little lemon-juice when the season is far advanced.
Apples, 2 quarts; rind, quite small lemon; sugar, 1/2 lb.: 1 night in
slow oven; or some hours baking in a _very_ gentle one.
_Obs._—These apples may be served hot as a second course dish; or cold,
with a boiled custard poured round or over them. They will likewise
answer admirably to fill _Gabrielle’s pudding_, or a _vol-au-vent à la
crême_.
DRIED NORFOLK BIFFINS.
The Norfolk biffin is a hard and very red apple, the flesh of the true
kind being partially red as well as the skin. It is most excellent when
carefully dried; and much finer we should say when left more juicy and
but partly flattened, than it is when prepared for sale. Wipe the
apples, arrange them an inch or two apart, and place them in a very
gentle oven until they become so much softened as to yield easily to
sufficient pressure to give them the form of small cakes of less than an
inch thick. They must be set several times into the oven to produce this
effect, as they must be gradually flattened, and must not be allowed to
burst: a cool brick oven is best suited to them.
NORMANDY PIPPINS.
To one pound of the apples, put one quart of water and six ounces of
sugar; let them simmer gently for three hours, or more should they not
be perfectly tender. A few strips of fresh lemon-peel and a very few
cloves are by some persons considered agreeable additions to the syrup.
Dried Normandy pippins, 1 lb.; water, 1 quart; sugar, 6 oz.; 3 to 4
hours.
_Obs._—These pippins, if stewed with care, will be converted into a rich
confection: but they will be very good and more refreshing with less
sugar. They are now exceedingly cheap, and may be converted into
excellent second course dishes at small expense. Half a pound, as they
are light and swell much in the stewing, will be sufficient to serve at
once. Rinse them quickly with cold water, and then soak them for an hour
in the pan in which they are to be stewed, in a quart of fresh water;
place them by the side of the stove to heat gradually, and when they
begin to soften add as much sugar as will sweeten them to the taste:
they require but a small portion. Lemon-rind can be added to them at
pleasure. We have many receipts for other ways of preparing them, to
which we cannot now give place here. It answers well to bake them slowly
in a covered jar. They may be served hot in a border of rice.
STEWED PRUNEAUX DE TOURS, OR TOURS DRIED PLUMS.
These plums, which resemble in form small dried Norfolk biffins, make a
delicious _compôte_: they are also excellent served dry. In France they
are stewed until tender in equal parts of water, and of the light red
wine of the country, with about four ounces of sugar to the pound of
fruit: when port wine is used for them a smaller proportion of it will
suffice. The sugar should not be added in stewing any dried fruits until
they are at least half-done, as they will not soften by any means so
easily in syrup as in unsweetened liquid.
Dried plums, 1 lb.; water, 1/2 pint, and light claret, 1/2 pint, or
water, 1/4 pint, and port wine, 1/4 pint: 1-1/2 hour. Sugar, 4 oz.: 2
hours, or more.
_Obs._—Common French plums are stewed in the same way with or without
wine. A little experience will teach the cook the exact quantity of
liquid and of sugar which they require.
TO BAKE PEARS.
Wipe some large sound iron pears, arrange them on a dish with the stalk
end upwards, put them into the oven after the bread is withdrawn, and
let them remain all night. If well baked, they will be excellent, very
sweet, and juicy, and much finer in flavour than those which are stewed
or baked with sugar: the _bon chrétien_ pear also is delicious baked
thus.
STEWED PEARS.
Pare, cut in halves, and core a dozen fine pears, put them into a close
shutting stewpan with some thin strips of lemon-rind, half a pound of
sugar in lumps, as much water as will nearly cover them, and should a
very bright colour be desired, a dozen grains of cochineal, bruised, and
tied in a muslin; stew the fruit as gently as possible, four or five
hours, or longer should it not be perfectly tender. Wine is sometimes
added both to stewed pears and to baked ones. If put into a covered jar,
well tied down and baked for some hours, with a proper quantity of
liquid and sugar, they will be very good.
BOILED CHESTNUTS.
Make a slight incision in the outer skin only, of each chestnut, to
prevent its bursting, and when all are done, throw them into plenty of
boiling water, with about a dessertspoonful of salt to the half gallon.
Some chestnuts will require to be boiled nearly or quite an hour, others
little more than half the time: the cook should try them occasionally,
and as soon as they are soft through, drain them, wipe them in a coarse
cloth, and send them to table quickly in a hot napkin.
_Obs._—The best chestnuts are those which have no internal divisions:
the finest kinds are quite _entire_ when shelled.
ROASTED CHESTNUTS.
The best mode of preparing these is to roast them, as in Spain, in a
coffee-roaster, after having first boiled them from seven to ten
minutes, and wiped them dry. They should not be allowed to cool, and
will require but from ten to fifteen minutes’ roasting. They may, when
more convenient, be finished over the fire as usual, or in a Dutch or
common oven, but in all cases the previous boiling will be found an
improvement. Never omit to cut the rind of each nut slightly before it
is cooked. Serve the chestnuts very hot in a napkin, and send salt to
table with them.
ALMOND SHAMROCKS.
(_Very good, and very pretty._)
Whisk the white of a very fresh egg to a froth sufficiently solid to
remain standing in high points when dropped from the whisk; work into it
from half to three-quarters of a pound of very fine dry sifted sugar, or
more should it be needed, to bring the mixture to a consistency in which
it can be worked with the fingers. Have ready some fine Jordan almonds
which have been blanched, and thoroughly dried at the mouth of the oven;
roll each of these in a small portion of the icing until it is equally
covered, and of good form; then lay them on sheets of thick writing
paper, placing three together in the form of the shamrock, or trefoil,
with a small bit of sugar twisted from the centre almond to form the
stalk. When all are ready, set them into a _very_ slow oven for twenty
minutes or longer: they should become quite firm without taking any
colour. They make an excellent and _very_ ornamental dish. To give them
flavour and variety, use for them sugar which has been rasped on the
rinds of some sound lemons, or Seville oranges, or upon citron, and
dried before it is reduced to powder; or add to the mixture a drop of
essence of roses, and a slight colouring of prepared cochineal. A little
spinach-juice will give a beautiful green tint, but its flavour is not
very agreeable. Filbert or pistachio nuts will answer as well as
almonds, iced in this way.
SMALL SUGAR SOUFFLÉS.
These are made with the same preparation of egg and sugar as the
almond-shamrocks, and may be flavoured and coloured in the same way. The
icing must be sufficiently firm to roll into balls scarcely larger than
a nut: a little sifted sugar should be dusted on the fingers in making
them, but it must not remain on the surface of the _soufflés_. They are
baked usually in very small round paper cases, plaited with the edge of
a knife, and to give them brilliancy, the tops are slightly moistened
before they are set into the oven, by passing the finger, or a
paste-brush, just dipped in cold water, lightly over them. Look at them
in about a quarter of an hour, and should they be quite firm to the
touch in every part, draw them out; but if not let them remain longer.
They may be baked on sheets of paper, but will not preserve their form
so well.
For 1 white of egg, whisked to a _very_ firm froth, 8 to 10 oz. of
sifted sugar, or more: _soufflés_, baked in extremely gentle oven, 16 to
30 minutes, or longer if needful.
_Obs._—We have confined our receipts here to the most simple
preparations suited to desserts. All the confectionary of the preceding
chapter being appropriate to them (with the exception of the toffie), as
well as various _compôtes_, clear jellies, and _gateaux_ of fruit turned
from the moulds; and we have already enumerated the many other dishes of
which they may be composed.
ICES.
[Illustration:
Ice Pail and Freezer.
]
There is no _real_ difficulty in making ices for the table; but for want
of the proper means of freezing them, and of preventing their being
acted on by a too warm atmosphere afterwards, in many houses it cannot
very easily be accomplished unless the weather be extremely cold.
A vessel called a freezing-pot, an ice-pail, a strong wooden mallet, and
a copper spatula, or an ice-spoon, are all that is positively required
for this branch of confectionary. Suitable moulds for iced puddings, and
imitations of fruit, must be had in addition when needed.
When the composition which is to be frozen is ready, the rough ice must
be beaten quite small with the mallet, and either mingled quickly with
two or three handsful of powdered saltpetre, or used with a much larger
quantity of salt. The freezing-pot must then be firmly placed in the
centre of the ice, which must be pressed closely into the vacant space
around it until it reaches the top. The cover of the ice-pot, or
freezer, may then be removed, and the preparation to be iced poured into
it. It should then be turned by means of the handle at the top, quickly
backwards and forwards for eight or ten minutes; then the portion which
will have frozen to the inside must be scraped well from it with the
ice-spoon and mingled with the remainder: without this the mass would be
full of lumps instead of being perfectly smooth as it ought to be. The
same process must be continued until the whole of its contents are
uniformly frozen.
The water-ices which are made in such perfection on the continent, are
incomparably superior to the ice-creams, and other sweet compositions
which are usually served in preference to them here. One or two receipts
which we append will serve as guides for many others, which may easily
be compounded with any variety of fresh summer fruit.[179]
Footnote 179:
The ices for desserts should be moulded in the form of fruit or other
shapes adapted to the purpose; the natural flavour and colouring are
then given to the former, but it is only experienced cooks or
confectioners generally who understand this branch of ice-making, and
it is better left to them. All the necessary moulds may be procured at
any good ironmongers, where the manner of using them would be
explained: we can give no more space to the subject.
_Red Currant Ice._—Strip from the stalks and take two pounds weight of
fine ripe currants and half a pound of raspberries; rub them through a
fine sieve, and mingle thoroughly with them sufficient cold syrup to
render the mixture agreeably sweet, and,—unless the pure flavour of the
fruit be altogether preferred,—add the strained juice of one large or of
two small lemons, and proceed at once to freeze the mixture as above.
Currants, 2 lbs.; raspberries, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 3/4 to 1 lb.; boiled for
6 or 8 minutes in 1/2 pint of water and left till quite cold. (Juice of
lemon or lemons at pleasure.)
Strawberry and raspberry water-ices are made in precisely the same
manner.
To convert any of these into English ice-creams, merely mingle the juice
and pulp of the fruit with sufficient pounded sugar to sweeten them, or
with the syrup as above, and then blend with them gradually from a pint
and a half to a quart of fresh sweet cream, and the lemon-juice or not
at choice. _The Queen’s Custard_, _the Currant_, and _the Quince_ or
_Apple Custard_ of pages 481 and 482 may all be converted into good ices
with a little addition of cream and sugar; and so likewise may _the
Countess Cream_ of page 472, and _the Bavarian Cream_ of page 477, by
omitting the isinglass from either of them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXIX.
=Syrups, Liqueurs, &c.=
[Illustration:
Antique Wine Vase.
]
STRAWBERRY VINEGAR, OF DELICIOUS FLAVOUR.
TAKE the stalks from the fruit which should be of a highly flavoured
sort, quite ripe, fresh from the beds, and gathered in dry weather;
weigh and put it into large glass jars, or wide-necked bottles, and to
each pound pour about a pint and a half of fine pale white wine vinegar,
which will answer the purpose better than the entirely colourless kind
sold under the name of _distilled vinegar_, but which is often, we
believe, merely pyroligneous acid greatly diluted.[180] Tie a thick
paper over them, and let the strawberries remain from three to four
days; then pour off the vinegar and empty them into a jelly-bag, or
suspend them in a cloth, that all the liquid may drop from them without
pressure; replace them with an equal weight of fresh fruit, pour the
vinegar upon it, and three days afterwards repeat the same process,
diminishing a little the proportion of strawberries, of which the
flavour ought ultimately to overpower that of the vinegar. In from two
to four days drain off the liquid very closely, and after having
strained it through a linen or a flannel bag, weigh it, and mix with it
an equal quantity of highly-refined sugar roughly powdered; when this is
nearly dissolved, stir the syrup over a very clear fire until it has
boiled for five minutes, and skim it _thoroughly_; pour it into a
delicately clean stone pitcher, or into large china jugs, throw a thick
folded cloth over and let it remain until the morrow. Put it into pint
or half-pint bottles, and cork them lightly with new velvet corks; for
if these be pressed in tightly at first, the bottles will sometimes
burst:[181] in four or five days they may be closely corked, and stored
in a dry and cool place. Damp destroys the colour and injures the
flavour of these fine fruit-vinegars, of which a spoonful or two in a
glass of water affords so agreeable a summer beverage, and one which, in
many cases of illness, is so acceptable to invalids. They make also most
admirable sauces for her Majesty’s pudding, common custard, batter, and
various other simple and sweet light puddings.
Footnote 180:
For these fine acidulated fruit-syrups vinegar of the purest quality,
but only of medium strength, is required.
Footnote 181:
We have known this to occur, but it has been when bought fruit has
been used for the preparation.
Strawberries (stalked), 4 lbs.; vinegar, 3 quarts: 3 to 4 days. Vinegar
drained and poured on fresh strawberries, 4 lbs.: 3 days. Drained again
on to fresh fruit, 3 to 4 lbs.: 2 to 4 days. To each pound of the
vinegar, 1 lb. of highly-refined sugar: boiled 5 minutes. _Lightly_
corked, 4 to 5 days.
_Obs._—Where there is a garden the fruit may be thrown into the vinegar
as it ripens, within an interval of forty-eight hours, instead of being
all put to infuse at once, and it must then remain in it a proportionate
time: one or two days in addition to that specified will make no
difference to the preparation. The enamelled stewpans are the best
possible vessels to boil it in: but it may be simmered in a stone jar
set into a pan of boiling water, when there is nothing more appropriate
at hand; though the syrup does not usually keep so well when this last
method is adopted.
Raspberries and strawberries mixed will make a vinegar of very pleasant
flavour; black currants also will afford an exceedingly useful syrup of
the same kind.
VERY FINE RASPBERRY VINEGAR.
Fill glass jars or large wide-necked bottles, with very ripe but
perfectly sound freshly gathered raspberries, freed from their stalks,
and cover them with pale white wine vinegar: they may be left to infuse
from a week to ten days without injury, or the vinegar may be poured
from them in four or five, when more convenient. After it is drained
off, turn the fruit into a sieve placed over a deep dish or bowl, as the
juice will flow slowly from it for many hours; put fresh raspberries
into the bottles, and pour the vinegar back upon them; two or three days
later change the fruit again, and when it has stood the same space of
time, drain the whole of the vinegar closely from it, pass it through a
jelly-bag or thick linen cloth, and boil it gently for four or five
minutes with its weight of good sugar roughly powdered, or a pound and a
quarter to the exact pint, and be very careful to remove the scum
entirely as it rises. On the following day bottle the syrup, observing
the directions which we have given for the strawberry vinegar. When the
fruit is scarce it may be changed twice only, and left a few days longer
in the vinegar.
Raspberries, 6 lbs.; vinegar, 9 pints: 7 to 10 days. Vinegar drained on
to fresh raspberries (6 lbs. of): 3 to 5 days. Poured again on fresh
raspberries, 6 lbs.: 3 to 5 days. Boiled 5 minutes with its weight of
sugar.
_Obs._—When the process of sugar-boiling is well understood, it will be
found an improvement to boil that which is used for raspberry or
strawberry vinegar to candy height before the liquid is mixed with it;
all the scum may then be removed with a couple of minutes’ simmering,
and the flavour of the fruit will be more perfectly preserved. For more
particular directions as to the mode of proceeding, the chapter of
confectionary may be consulted.
FINE CURRANT SYRUP, OR SIROP DE GROSEILLES.
Express the juice from some fine ripe red currants, which have been
gathered in dry weather, and stripped from the stalks; strain, and put
it into a new, or a perfectly clean and dry earthen pitcher, and let it
stand in a cellar or in some cool place for twenty-four hours, or
longer, should it not then appear perfectly curdled. Pour it gently into
a fine hair-sieve, and let the clear juice drain through without
pressure; pass it through a jelly-bag, or a closely-woven cloth, weigh
it, and add as much _good_ sugar broken small as there is of the juice,
and when this is dissolved turn the syrup into a preserving-pan or
stewpan, and boil it gently for four or five minutes being careful to
clear off all the scum. In twelve hours afterwards the syrup may be put
into small dry bottles, and corked and stored in a cool, but dry place.
It is a most agreeable preparation, retaining perfectly the flavour of
the fresh fruit; and mixed with water, it affords, like strawberry or
raspberry vinegar, a delicious summer beverage, and one which is
peculiarly adapted to invalids. It makes also a fine isinglass jelly,
and an incomparable sweet-pudding sauce. A portion of raspberry or
cherry-juice may be mixed with that of the currants at pleasure.
CHERRY-BRANDY.
(_Tappington Everard Receipt._)
Fill to about two-thirds of their depth, some wide-necked bottles with
the small cherries called in the markets brandy-blacks; pour in
sufficient sifted sugar to fill up more than half of the remaining
space, and then as much good French brandy as will cover the fruit, and
reach to the necks of the bottles. Cork them securely, and let them
stand for two months before they are opened: the liqueur poured from the
cherries will be excellent, and the fruit itself very good. The morella
cherry-brandy of the preceding chapter would often be preferred to this.
OXFORD PUNCH.
Extract the essence from the rinds of three lemons by rubbing them with
sugar in lumps; put these into a large jug with the peel of two Seville
oranges, of two lemons cut extremely thin, the juice of four Seville
oranges and of ten lemons, and six glasses of calf’s feet jelly in a
liquid state. Stir these well together, pour to them two quarts of
boiling water, cover the jug closely, and set it near the fire for a
quarter of an hour, then strain the mixture through a sieve into a punch
bowl or jug, sweeten it with a bottle of capillaire, add half a pint of
white wine, a pint of French brandy, a pint of Jamaica rum, and a bottle
of orange shrub; stir the punch as the spirit is poured in. If not
sufficiently sweet, add sugar in small quantities, or a spoonful or two
of capillaire.
Rinds of lemons rubbed with sugar, 3; thin peel of lemons, 2; of Seville
oranges, 2; juice of 4 Seville oranges, and 10 lemons; calf’s feet
jelly, 6 glasses; water, 2 quarts: 1/4 hour. Capillaire, 1 bottle; white
wine, 1/2 pint; French brandy and Jamaica rum, each 1 pint; orange
shrub, 1 bottle.
OXFORD RECEIPT FOR BISHOP.
[Illustration]
“Make several incisions in the rind of a lemon, stick cloves in these,
and roast the lemon by a slow fire. Put small but equal quantities of
cinnamon, cloves, mace, and allspice, with a race of ginger, into a
saucepan with half a pint of water: let it boil until it is reduced
one-half. Boil one bottle of port wine, burn a portion of the spirit out
of it by applying a lighted paper to the saucepan; put the roasted lemon
and spice into the wine; stir it up well, and let it stand near the fire
ten minutes. Rub a few knobs of sugar on the rind of a lemon, put the
sugar into a bowl or jug, with the juice of half a lemon (not roasted),
pour the wine into it, grate in some nutmeg, sweeten it to the taste,
and serve it up with the lemon and spice floating in it.”
_Obs._—Bishop is frequently made with a Seville orange stuck with cloves
and slowly roasted, and its flavour to many tastes is infinitely finer
than that of the lemon.
CAMBRIDGE MILK PUNCH.
Throw into two quarts of new milk the very thinly-pared rind of a fine
lemon, and half a pound of good sugar in lumps; bring it slowly to boil,
take out the lemon-rind, draw it from the fire, and stir quickly in a
couple of well-whisked eggs which have been mixed with less than half a
pint of cold milk, and strained though a sieve; the milk must not of
course be allowed to boil after these are mixed with it. Add gradually a
pint of rum, and half a pint of brandy; mill the punch to a froth, and
serve it immediately with quite warm glasses. At the University the
lemon-rind is usually omitted, but it is a great improvement to the
flavour of the beverage. The sugar and spirit can be otherwise
apportioned to the taste; and we would recommend the yolks of three
eggs, or of four, in preference to the two whole ones.
New milk, 2 quarts; rind, 1 large lemon; fresh eggs, 2; cold milk, 1/2
pint; rum, 1 pint; brandy, 1/2 pint.
TO MULL WINE.
(_An excellent French Receipt._)
Boil in a wineglassful and a half of water, a quarter of an ounce of
spice (cinnamon, ginger slightly bruised, and cloves), with three ounces
of fine sugar, until they form a thick syrup, which must not on any
account be allowed to burn. Pour in a pint of port wine, and stir it
gently until it is on the _point_ of boiling only: it should then be
served immediately. The addition of a strip or two of orange-rind cut
extremely thin, gives to this beverage the flavour of bishop. In France
light claret takes the place of port wine in making it, and the better
kinds of _vin ordinaire_ are very palatable thus prepared.
Water, 1-1/2 wineglassful; spice, 1/4 oz., of which fine cloves, 24, and
of remainder, rather more ginger than cinnamon; sugar 3 oz.: 15 to 20
minutes. Port wine or claret, 1 pint; orange-rind, if used, to be boiled
with the spice.
_Obs._—Sherry, or very fine raisin or ginger wine, prepared as above,
and stirred hot to the yolks of four fresh eggs, will make good
egg-wine.
A BIRTHDAY SYLLABUB.
Put into a large bowl half a pound of sugar broken small, and pour on it
the strained juice of a couple of fresh lemons; stir these well
together, and add to them a pint of port wine, a pint of sherry, and
half a pint of brandy; grate in a fine nutmeg, place the bowl under the
cow, and milk it full. In serving it put a portion of the curd into each
glass, fill it up with whey, and pour a little rich cream on the top.
The rind of a lemon may be rasped on part of the sugar when the flavour
is liked, but it is not usually added.
Juice of lemons, 2; sugar, 1/2 lb. or more; port wine, 1 pint; sherry 1
pint; brandy, 1/2 pint; nutmeg, 1; milk from the cow, 2 quarts.
_Obs._—We can testify to the excellence of this receipt.
AN ADMIRABLE COOL CUP.
Weigh six ounces of sugar in lumps, and extract the essence from the
rind of a large fresh lemon by rubbing them upon it; then put them into
a deep jug, and add the strained juice of one lemon and a half. When the
sugar is dissolved, pour in a bottle of good cider, and three large
wineglassesful of sherry; add nearly half a small nutmeg lightly grated,
and serve the cup with or without some sprigs of fresh balm or borage in
it. Brandy is sometimes added to it, but is, we think, no improvement.
If closely covered down, and placed on ice for a short time, it will be
more agreeable as a summer beverage.
THE REGENT’S, OR GEORGE THE FOURTH’S, PUNCH.
Pare as thin as possible the rinds of two China oranges, of two lemons,
and of one Seville orange, and infuse them for an hour in half a pint of
thin cold syrup; then add to them the juice of the fruit. Make a pint of
strong green tea, sweeten it well with fine sugar, and when it is quite
cold, add it to the fruit and syrup, with a glass of the best old
Jamaica rum, a glass of brandy, one of arrack, one of pine-apple syrup,
and two bottles of champagne; pass the whole through a fine lawn sieve
until it is perfectly clear, then bottle, and put it into ice until
dinner is served. We are indebted for this receipt to a person who made
the punch daily for the prince’s table, at Carlton palace, for six
months; it has been in our possession some years, and may be relied on.
Rinds and juice of 2 China oranges, 2 lemons, and of 1 Seville orange;
syrup, 1/2 pint; strong green tea, sweetened, 1 pint; best old Jamaica
rum, arrack, French brandy (vieux cognac), and pine-apple syrup, each 1
glassful; champagne, 2 bottles. In ice for a couple of hours.
MINT JULEP, AN AMERICAN RECEIPT.
“Strip the tender leaves of mint into a tumbler, and add to them as much
wine, brandy, or any other spirit, as you wish to take. Put some pounded
ice into a second tumbler; pour this on the mint and brandy, and
continue to pour the mixture from one tumbler to the other until the
whole is sufficiently impregnated with the flavour of the mint, which is
extracted by the particles of the ice coming into brisk contact when
changed from one vessel to the other. Now place the glass in a larger
one, containing pounded ice: on taking it out of which it will be
covered with frost-work.”
_Obs._—We apprehend that this preparation is, like most other iced
American beverages, to be imbibed through a reed: the receipt, which was
contributed by an American gentleman, is somewhat vague.
DELICIOUS MILK LEMONADE.
Dissolve six ounces of loaf sugar in a pint of boiling water, and mix
with them a quarter of a pint of lemon-juice, and the same quantity of
sherry; then add three-quarters of a pint of cold milk, stir the whole
well together, and pass it through a jelly-bag till clear.
EXCELLENT PORTABLE LEMONADE.
Rasp, with a quarter-pound of sugar, the rind of a very fine juicy
lemon, reduce it to powder, and pour on it the strained juice of the
fruit. Press the mixture into a jar, and when wanted for use dissolve a
tablespoonful of it in a glass of water. It will keep a considerable
time. If too sweet for the taste of the drinker, a very small portion of
citric acid may be added when it is taken.
EXCELLENT BARLEY WATER.
(_Poor Xury’s receipt._)
Wipe very clean, by rolling it in a soft cloth, two tablespoonsful of
pearl barley; put it into a quart jug, with a lump or two of sugar, a
grain or two of salt, and a strip of lemon-peel, cut thin; fill up the
jug with boiling water and keep the mixture gently stirred for some
minutes; then cover it down, and let it stand until perfectly cold. In
twelve hours, or less, it will be fit for use; but it is better when
made over night. If these directions be followed, the barley-water will
be comparatively clear, and very soft and pleasant to drink. A glass of
calf’s feet jelly added to the barley is an infinite improvement; but as
lemon-rind is often extremely unpalatable to invalids, their taste
should be consulted before that ingredient is added, as it should be
also for the degree of sweetness that is desired. After the barley-water
has been poured off once, the jug may be filled with boiling water a
second time, and even a third time with advantage.
RAISIN WINE, WHICH, IF LONG KEPT, REALLY RESEMBLES FOREIGN.
First boil the water which is to be used for the wine, and let it again
become perfectly cold; then put into a sound sweet cask eight pounds of
fine Malaga raisins for each gallon that is to be used, taking out only
the quite large stalks; the fruit and water may be put in alternately
until the cask is _full_, the raisins being well pressed down in it; lay
the bung lightly over, stir the wine every day or two, and keep it full
by the addition of water that has, like the first, been boiled, but
which must always be quite cold when it is used. So soon as the
fermentation has entirely ceased, which may be in from six to seven
weeks, press in the bung, and leave the wine untouched for twelve
months; draw it off then into a clean cask, and fine it, if necessary,
with isinglass, tied in a muslin and suspended in it. We have not
ourselves had this receipt tried; but we have tasted wine made by it
which had been five years kept, and which so much resembled a rich
foreign wine that we could with difficulty believe it was English-made.
To each gallon of water (boiled and left till cold) 8 lbs. of fine
Malaga raisins; to stand 12 months; then to be drawn off and fined.
_Obs._—The refuse raisins make admirable vinegar if fresh water be
poured to them, and the cask placed in the sun. March is the best time
for making the wine.
VERY GOOD ELDERBERRY WINE.
Strip the berries, which should be ripe and fresh, and gathered on a dry
day, clean from the stalks, and measure them into a tub or large earthen
pan. Pour boiling water on them, in the proportion of two gallons to
three of berries, press them down into the liquor, cover them closely,
and let them remain until the following day; then strain the juice from
the fruit through a sieve or cloth, and, when this is done, squeeze from
the berries the greater part of the remaining juice; mix it with that
which was first poured off, measure the whole, add to it three pounds of
sugar, three-quarters of an ounce of cloves, and one ounce of ginger,
for every gallon, and boil it twenty minutes, keeping it thoroughly
skimmed. Put it, when something more than milk-warm, into a perfectly
dry and sweet cask (or if but a _very_ small quantity of wine be made,
into large stone bottles, which answer for the purpose quite well), fill
this entirely, and pour very gently into the bung hole a _large_
spoonful of new yeast mixed with a very small quantity of the wine.
VERY GOOD GINGER WINE.
Boil together, for half an hour, fourteen quarts of water, twelve pounds
of sugar, a quarter of a pound of the best ginger bruised, and the thin
rinds of six large lemons. Put the whole, when milk-warm, into a clean
dry cask, with the juice of the lemons, and half a pound of sun raisins;
add one large spoonful of thick yeast, and stir the wine every day for
ten days. When it has ceased to ferment, add an ounce of isinglass, and
a pint of brandy; bung the wine close, and in two months it will be fit
to bottle, but must remain longer in the cask should it be too sweet.
When it can be obtained, substitute for the water in this receipt cider
fresh from the press, which will give a very superior wine.
Water, 14 quarts; sugar, 12 pounds; lemon-rinds, 6: ginger, 1/4 lb.: 1/2
hour. Juice of lemons, 6; raisins, 1/2 lb.; yeast, 1 spoonful;
isinglass, 1 oz.; brandy, 1 pint.
EXCELLENT ORANGE WINE.