Four calf's-feet
A pint and a half of thick cream.
Half a pound of loaf-sugar, broken up.
A glass of wine.
Half a glass of rose-water.
A tea-spoonful of mace, beaten and sifted.
Get four calf's-feet; if possible some that have been singed, and
not skinned. Scrape, and clean them well, and boil them in three
quarts of water till all the meat drops off the bone. Drain the
liquid through a colander or sieve, and skim it well. Let it stand
till next morning to congeal. Then clean it well from the
sediment, and put it into a tin or bell-metal kettle. Stir into
it, the cream, sugar, and mace. Boil it hard for five minutes,
stirring it several times. Then strain it through a linen cloth or
napkin into a large bowl, and add the wine and rose-water.
Set it in a cool place for three or four hours, stirring it very
frequently with a spoon, to, prevent the cream from separating
from the jelly. The more it is stirred the better. Stir it till it
is cool.
Wash your moulds, wipe them dry, and then wet them with cold
water. When the blancmange becomes very thick, (that is, in three
or four hours, if the weather is not too damp) put it into your
moulds.
When it has set in them till it is quite firm, loosen it carefully
all round with a knife, and turn it out on glass or china plates.
If you wish to make it with almonds, take an ounce of blanched
bitter almonds, and two ounces of sweet. Beat them in a mortar to
a fine paste, pouring in occasionally a little rose-water. When
the mixture is ready to boil, add the almonds to it gradually,
stirring them well in. Or you may stir them in, while it is
cooling in the bowl.
If it inclines to stick to the moulds, set them an instant in hot
water. It will then turn out easily.
If you choose to make it without calf's feet, you can substitute
an ounce of the best and dearest isinglass (or, if in summer, an
ounce and a quarter) boiled with the other ingredients. If made
with isinglass, you must use two ounces of sweet, and an ounce of
bitter almonds, with the addition of the grated rind of a large
lemon, and a large stick of cinnamon, broken up, a glass of wine,
and half a glass of rose-water. Those ingredients must be all
mixed together, with a quart of cream, and boiled hard for five
minutes. The mixture must then be strained through a napkin, into
a large bowl. Set it in a cool place, and stir it frequently till
nearly cold. It must then be put into the moulds.
You may substitute for the almonds, half a gill of noyau, in which
case, omit the wine.