Part 18

Compote of Cherries is made in the same way, with the finest red cherries, only they require to boil up several times. When clear, drain them with the skimmer; lay them in the compote dishes; add a gill of red currant juice to the syrup; boil it till it is a weak jelly; then throw it over the cherries when nearly cold.

Orange Baskets Filled with Fruits.--Select seven oranges, not too large, but all the same size. With a very sharp knife pare the fruit as thin as possible--so thin that it still remains yellow, and only the shining outer surface is removed (in fact, it may be lightly grated off, but that is more trouble), to render them transparent; cut two quarters out of the upper part of the orange, so as to leave a narrow band half an inch wide, which will form the handle; pass the knife carefully round inside the band, so as to remove the strip of pulp. With the bowl of a teaspoon detach the remaining pulp from the inside without in any way damaging the shape of the basket. As you prepare them, drop them in a saucepan of cold water, and then put them into boiling water, and simmer three minutes gently. This is only to soften the peel and enable you to stamp out the edges with a perforating cutter, if you have one, which will give them an openwork effect; if not, just scallop them with scissors, and snip out a sort of trellis-work to increase the basket effect. Put them into a preserving-kettle with weak syrup à lissé, boil them gently till they look clear, then put them aside in the syrup till next day; boil the syrup twice alone at intervals of several hours, and throw it over the baskets. These baskets may be kept ready prepared for months by putting them in wide jars and covering them with syrup. When required for use, they must be taken out, drained thoroughly, and then filled with a variety of small fruits, such as cherries, strawberries, currants, etc., which have been mixed with a little apple or orange jelly. In winter, ambrosia--a mixture of cut-up banana, grated cocoa-nut, orange quarters, etc.--may be served in them, or a mixture of preserved fruits that are firm, such as Chinese oranges, limes, ginger, etc. In all cases serve them on a compote dish, and throw over them syrup flavored with maraschino.

Lemon Baskets are prepared precisely as the orange baskets, but they require longer boiling, and the syrup they are served with should be flavored with citronelle or the rasped peel of green limes.

Orange Baskets Glacé.--These are not much more trouble than the baskets simply preserved, but if successfully done they can be very effectively filled with candies or ice-cream. Prepare the baskets as in last recipe, drain them on a napkin, very carefully remove all moisture from the inside, and set them over a register, or in an oven with the door open, to dry. Boil two pounds of sugar with a pint of water and two tablespoonfuls of vinegar till it begins to change color (this is some little time after the brittle stage is reached, and is called caramel); lightly oil the skimmer, and drop a basket in the candy; remove as quickly as possible, but see that the whole is well coated, yet has as little superfluous candy as possible, for which reason the baskets must be warm when they are dipped, also the skimmer. You must not leave the candy on the fire after it begins to change color, but the work of coating the baskets had better be done quite near the fire, with the pot containing the candy on some part of it where it will be kept hot, but not cook. They must be slipped on to an oiled dish, and, needless to say, most carefully handled.

Other baskets are made with nougat, others with pastry, and the Swiss make what they call Vacherin with almond paste, and serve whipped cream in them; but the idea may be extended and improved upon by serving dried fruits or candies, or ice-cream in them, and they are a decided improvement on the paper baskets so often used for the last purpose, being eatable.

Swiss Vacherin.--Take half a pound of almond paste, three quarters of a pound of confectioners’ sugar, and the white of one egg. Shave the almond paste, stir the egg and sugar together, and flavor with a little orange-flower water or wine; work all together with the hand into a smooth, stiff paste that will roll out; if there is a disposition to crack or crumble, use more white of egg and almond paste. Roll it just as you would pie crust on the pastry board, using confectioners’ sugar in place of flour. Line small cups or tartlet moulds, or anything that will make a good form for baskets, which have been very slightly oiled. Put them aside to harden and dry. Chop a tablespoonful of blanched pistachio-nuts till they are as fine as corn-meal, mix with an equal quantity of granulated sugar. Trim the edges of the cups or baskets with scissors, turn them out of the moulds, very carefully dip the edges in a saucer containing white of egg beaten to liquid--the edges only need to be just wet. Have the chopped pistachio-nuts and sugar also in a saucer, dip the wet edge of the cup lightly into it, and shake gently. If properly done, the cups will now have a pretty green border. When these are filled with whipped cream, sweetened, flavored, and colored, they are called Swiss Vacherin. Filled with plain whipped cream, and the top covered with strawberries, they are called “Chantilly cups,” but they may be used in many decorative ways, to hold preserves or candied fruits, etc., etc.

Little China Dishes.--This quaint recipe is from the immortal Mrs. Glasse, and on trial was found so unique and agreeable a variety to our modern fancies that with some little changes to suit our present ideas I give the last-century dainty. If you have any pretty-shaped little tin dishes, without fluting, to mould and bake them in, they are very little trouble to make. Take the yolks of two eggs, two small tablespoonfuls of sherry, and one of rose-water, beat together only enough to mix, then use as much fine flour as will make a firm paste that can be rolled out exceedingly thin. Cover some nicely shaped little tins slightly buttered, press to the form, be careful the paste fits without creases, and bake in a cool oven. When the paste is crisp, with very little change of color, they are done. Do not touch them till they are cold, as they may be brittle. Stir the white of an egg with a tablespoonful of rose-water and confectioners’ sugar enough to make a smooth icing; squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, and when the little dishes are cold, ice the under side only just thick enough to mask the pastry; when they are dry and hard, turn them over and ice the inside; do this with great smoothness, to look as much like porcelain as possible. If you choose, when the icing is quite hard, you can wet the edge of the dishes with white of egg and dip them in chopped pistachio-nuts and sugar, like the Chantilly baskets, or in nonpareils (the smallest size). They may be used to serve anything sweet, from jelly to candies.

Almond Trifles.--With the almond paste used for Chantilly cups many trifles may be made with very little trouble; for instance, mix a tablespoonful of flour with the paste; roll it out; cut into circles; pinch up two sides; place a little handle over the centre, and in each open end, which must be bent slightly upward, place a candied cherry. Or cut a number of thin strips of paste, stick them together in the middle with white of egg, pass a strip of almond paste round so that the strips look like fagots of sticks, let them just color in the oven, sift sugar over them, and put them away. The paste may be rolled as thick as a pipe-stem and tied in knots, the surface just moistened, and sugar sifted over them; these also must only just take color in the oven. These are only suggestions for using up the trimmings from the cups.

XXXI.

MISCELLANEOUS SWEETS.--Continued.

Raspberry Charlotte Russe.--The simplest and quite the most effective way of making charlottes of any kind is the following: Take a strip of light cartridge or drawing paper from two to three inches wide, measure it round a mould the size you wish the charlotte to be, and cut it an inch larger; piece the two ends together, lapping an inch. Lay this paper circle on an ornamental dish (the one you wish to use), split lady-fingers, and stand them around it inside like a picket-fence, only as close together as they will go, inserting a pin from the outside through the paper and each cake as you do it. When you have lined the paper completely you will have a close frame of lady-fingers held in place by pins. Whip a pint of perfectly sweet cream that is at least twenty-four hours old and has been thoroughly chilled on ice. Sweeten the cream with two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, and flavor it with a tablespoonful of raspberry juice (not syrup) mixed with a tablespoonful of powdered sugar; sometimes the raspberry juice will color the cream a beautiful faint pink, which cannot be improved upon, but if it is not bright enough in tint stir in one or two drops of cochineal. If the weather is warm stand the vessel containing the cream in ice; then beat without stopping to skim the froth as it rises. In about ten to fifteen minutes the cream ought to be perfectly solid if all the conditions were observed, and the beating carried on in a cool, airy room. If, however, the cream is not solid enough to keep shape, set it on ice for an hour and beat again. Fill the centre of the frame of lady-fingers, piling it high; decorate either with chopped pistachio-nuts lightly sprinkled, or with rings of angelica. The raspberry juice used for flavoring is to be obtained at first-class druggists’, where the best quality of soda-water is sold. It is unsweetened, and although I have kept it two or three months in cool weather, it often will not keep many weeks; it is therefore better to buy it by the gill or half-pint, if your druggist will sell it so, than to buy a large bottle, although it is so useful for making raspberry jelly, raspberry shrub, and many other things, that even a bottle is not likely to be wasted. It must not be confused with raspberry syrup, which is heavily sweetened, but not nearly so fragrant. Before serving the charlotte remove the pins and take the paper off.

Charlotte Russe with Gelatine.--Prepare a frame as in last recipe, also beat a pint of cream sweetened and flavored with wine or to taste; melt in a pint of milk half an ounce of gelatine. The French gelatine is very pure, easy to melt, and no more expensive than any other good kind, and for delicate uses preferable to them. Make the gelatine and milk into a custard with two eggs, sweeten with two tablespoonfuls of sugar, flavor to taste, and put to get cold, stirring it once in a while; when it begins to thicken round the sides of the vessel beat with the egg-beater till foamy. You have now a vessel of whipped custard and one of whipped cream, both cold; now mix the cream into the custard, a little at a time, giving the spoon a light upward movement; do not stir it; that deadens the cream; your object is to keep it light; when all is mixed, fill the frame of cake with the spongy mixture; decorate it either with drops and pipings of the mixture applied to the smooth surface, or with candied fruits cut into forms or various colored jellies.

Of course a charlotte russe can be varied in many ways. It may be filled with the custard made with chocolate, and so be brown charlotte, or the filling may have apricot or currant jelly whipped into it with the gelatine; this is an admirable change.

Almond Turban.--Make half a pound of fine puff-paste, give it nine turns, roll it the last time to the thickness of a dollar; have ready half a pound of almonds, blanched and chopped; put them in a bowl with half a pound of powdered sugar and the whites of two eggs, adding a very little more if the icing is too stiff to spread; spread the almond icing on the pastry as thick as a twenty-five-cent piece; with a sharp knife cut the pastry into strips two and a half inches long and one in breadth; bake these in a moderate oven a very pale brown; make a circle on a dish of some firm marmalade or jam; when the almond cakes are cold, dress them in a crown on the jam, which serves to keep them in place; fill the centre of the turban with vanilla ice-cream or simple whipped cream.

Fine Small Cakes for Dessert.--It may not be worth the while of a busy housekeeper within reach of a first-class confectioner’s to make these, because, although when of fine quality they are always expensive, yet they are also tedious to make. Many, however, live in country towns, where there is no possibility of obtaining anything better than the sandy products of the country bakery.

A few really fine cakes can be made at a time, and kept in an air-tight box, with layers of paper between, for some time. In speaking, however, of the tediousness I would not discourage the reader, for there are few more tedious things in cooking than the rolling out, making, and baking of thin cookies or ginger-snaps, and the result attained so inadequate.

Rout Biscuits.--Boil a pound of sugar in half a pint of milk; grate into it the rind of a lemon when cold; rub half a pound of butter into a pound and a half of flour and a pound of almond paste grated fine; put as much carbonate of soda as would lie on a silver dime into the milk, and mix with the flour and almond paste; beat two eggs, and make the whole into a firm, smooth paste; print this paste with very small butter moulds if you have them, making little cakes just like the tiny pats of butter one gets at city restaurants. Bake on a well-buttered pan in a quick oven a very pale yellow.

Macaroons.--These must be exempted from the charge of being tedious, they are so easily and quickly made. One pound of almond paste grated, one pound and a half of sugar, and the whites of seven eggs. Some confectioners use a teaspoonful of flour, with the idea that the macaroons are not so apt to fall. I recommend a trial of both methods; they will both be good. Stir the sugar and the beaten white of eggs together just enough to mix, then by degrees add the grated paste, mashing with the back of a fork till it forms a perfectly smooth paste. Oil several sheets of paper cut to the size of your baking-pans. Dripping-pans may be used if you have no regular baking-sheets. Lay a sheet of paper at the bottom of the pan. Put half a teaspoonful of the macaroon paste on a scrap of buttered paper in the oven. If it spreads too much it requires a very little more sugar; if it does not spread at all, or so little as to leave the surface rough, it is too stiff, and requires perhaps half the white of an egg, or the finger dipped in water and laid on each macaroon after they are on the paper is often sufficient--a little practice is all that is necessary. Lay the paste in half-teaspoonfuls on the oiled or greased paper. If the trial one indicated that they were slightly too stiff, lay a wet finger on each, sift powdered sugar over, and then put a pinch of chopped and blanched almonds in the centre with just enough pressure to keep them in place. As the macaroon spreads in the oven the almonds scatter themselves.

Macaroons should be baked about twenty minutes in a moderate oven. They must be taken out while they are a very pale brown, but they must also be quite “set,” or they will fall. If the oven is too quick they will brown too soon; in that case leave the oven door open, taking care that no cold draught can blow on the macaroons. You can tell if they have browned too quickly by the cracks in them being still white and sticky. When done both the cracks and surface should be the same pale color. The macaroons must be left five minutes in the pan after leaving the oven without being touched. At the end of that time they may be gently taken off the pans on the papers, from which they must not be detached until they are quite cold. Should they stick to the paper, moisten the back of it.

Fine Ginger Dessert Cakes.--Rub half a pound of fresh butter into three quarters of a pound of flour; beat three eggs with three quarters of a pound of powdered sugar and half a glass of rosewater, the grated peel of a lemon, and a teaspoonful of the best powdered ginger--use the ginger carefully, trying a level spoonful first. Then mix all into a paste. If the flavor of ginger is not strong enough, add more; they should taste well of it, without being hot in the mouth. Roll the paste a quarter of an inch thick, and cut into small oval or round cakes, sift powdered sugar over them, and bake rather slowly a very pale brown.

XXXII.

FINE CAKES AND SAUCES.

Madeleines.--Four ounces of butter, four ounces of the best flour, three ounces of sugar, a teaspoonful of orange-flower water, the yolks of four eggs, and rind of a lemon. Beat butter, sugar, and yolks of eggs together, then add the other ingredients; grate in the rind of half a lemon, and add the well-beaten whites of eggs last of all. Fill little moulds that have been buttered with washed butter, cover the tops with split almonds and sifted sugar; bake from thirty to forty minutes in a moderate oven. These cakes are sometimes served hot with apricot sauce.

Chestnut Croquettes.--Boil fifty sound chestnuts; take them out of the shells; reject all imperfect ones; keep the large pieces aside; pound the crumbs and most broken pieces with an ounce of butter till very smooth; then mix in a small cup of cream two ounces of butter and one ounce of powdered sugar; put the whole into a double boiler, and stir in the beaten yolks of six eggs. Let the mixture set. When cool, make it into balls; in the centre of each ball put a piece of the chestnut you have laid aside, dip the balls in fine cracker meal and eggs, and fry a very pale yellow. Serve with sifted sugar.

Very pretty cakes, very easily made, which come under the French term petits fours, may be given here.

Petits Fours.--Make rich cake mixture thus: Wash three quarters of a pound of butter to free it from excess of salt; squeeze it dry in a cloth; beat it with the hand till creamy; add three quarters of a pound of powdered sugar; beat till light; then beat in ten eggs, one by one, and sift in a pound of dried and sifted flour. When all are well beaten together, the paste or batter is ready for use. Line some shallow pans (those used for making rolled jelly-cake are best) with buttered paper; spread a layer of the mixture just as you would for jelly-cake, but much thicker, as when baked the sheets should not be more than the third of an inch thick. Bake slowly. When done, remove from the oven, but leave the cake undisturbed till cold. If the sheets are large, they may be cut exactly in half, spread thinly with some stiff marmalade or jelly; quince or apricot is best, but any rich flavor with some tartness will do; lay one half on the other, and press closely and very neatly together. Do each sheet of cake in the same way, varying the marmalade if you choose. Have ready a bowl of icing (either boiled French icing or what is called royal icing). Dust the top of the cakes with flour, which must be brushed off again, as it is only to absorb the grease. Flavor the icing with vanilla, and lay it on the centre of the cake; let it run over it, aiding with a knife dipped in water (shaking off the drops, however). The icing needs to be very neatly done, and must not be thicker than a twenty-five-cent piece. Now color the icing in the bowl pink, with a little cochineal, add a drop or two of extract of bitter almond or of lemon, either of which will agree with the vanilla that was in the white icing; then ice another sheet of cake in the same way; a third may be done with chocolate icing.

The beauty of these cakes will depend on the way they are cut. You may choose to make them tablets an inch wide and three inches long, or in lozenge shape--the true diamond--but in either case the cutting must be exact. The best way to have it so is to mark the lines very lightly with the point of a penknife on the icing, using a measure. Trim off the edge of the cake with a sharp knife, so that it is neat all round, no excess of marmalade oozing out, or tears of icing running down. Then warm a sharp carving-knife (I am supposing the cake is on a board), and cut through the lines you have marked, without hesitation, so that there may be no crumbs or roughness, which slow, over-careful cutting causes. When cut up you should have, if neatly done, an assortment of very delicious and ornamental cakes.

FRENCH SWEET SAUCES FOR PUDDINGS, ETC.