Foamy Sauce
1/2 cup b.u.t.ter.
1/2 cup boiling water.
1 cup powdered sugar.
1 teaspoonful vanilla.
White of one egg.
Rub the b.u.t.ter and sugar to a cream; add vanilla and beat well.
When it is time to serve, beat the egg stiff, stir the boiling water into the sugar and b.u.t.ter, and then put in the egg and beat till foamy, standing it on the stove as you do so, to keep it hot.
Serve in the sauce-boat.
Grandmother"s Sauce
1 cup sugar.
1/2 cup b.u.t.ter.
Yolks of two eggs.
1/4 cup boiling water.
A dusting of nutmeg.
Cream the b.u.t.ter and sugar, stir in the beaten yolk, and last the boiling water. Beat till foamy, and then dust with nutmeg.
Lemon Sauce
White of one egg.
1/2 cup powdered sugar.
Juice of half a lemon.
Beat the egg, add the sugar and lemon, and beat again.
White Sauce
1 tablespoonful of corn-starch.
1/2 cup cold water.
1 cup boiling water.
1/2 cup powdered sugar.
Pinch of salt.
2 whites of eggs.
1 teaspoonful alons extract.
Dissolve the corn-starch in the cold water, and then add the boiling water and sugar and salt, and cook for fifteen minutes, stirring all the time. Take from the fire and fold in the stiffly beaten egg-whites with the flavoring, and beat till perfectly cold.
Any flavoring will do for this sauce; pistache is very nice.
Quick Pudding Sauce
1 egg.
1/2 cup powdered sugar.
1 teaspoonful vanilla.
Put the egg in a bowl without separating it and beat till very light; then pour in the sugar very slowly, beating all the time; add the vanilla and serve at once.
This is a very nice sauce, and so simple to make that Margaret learned it among the first of her rules.
Ice-creams and Ices
Margaret had a little ice-cream freezer which was all her own, and held only enough for two little girls to eat at a tea-party, and this she could pack alone. When she made ice-cream for all the family she had to use the larger freezer, of course, and this Bridget helped her pack. But the same rule was used for either the large one or the small. First break up the ice in a thick bag with a hammer until the pieces are as large as eggs, and all about the same size. Then put two big bowls or dippers of this into a tub or pail, and add one bowl or dipper of coa.r.s.e salt, and so on, till you have enough, mixing it well with a long-handled spoon. Put the freezer in its pail and put the cover on; then fill the s.p.a.ce between with the ice and salt till it is full, pressing it down as you work. Let it stand now in a cool place, till you know the inside is very cold, and then wipe off the top carefully and pour in the cream, which must be very cold, too.
Put on the top and turn smoothly and slowly till it is stiff, which should be fifteen minutes. Then draw off the water from the pail, wipe the top of the cover again, so no salt can get in, and take out the dasher, pushing the cream down with a spoon from the sides and packing it firmly. Put a cork in the hole in the cover, and put it on tightly. Mix more ice with a little salt; only a cupful to two bowls this time, and pack the freezer again up to the top. Wring out a heavy cloth in the salty water you drew off the pail, and cover it over tightly with this, and then stand in a cool, dark place till you need it; all ice-creams are better for standing two hours.
Plain Ice-cream
3 cups of cream.
1 cup of milk.
1 small cup of sugar.
2 teaspoonfuls vanilla.
Put the cream, milk, and sugar on the fire, and stir till the sugar dissolves and cream just wrinkles on top; do not let it boil.
Take it off, beat it till it is cold, add the vanilla, and freeze.
French Ice-cream
1 pint of milk.
1 cup of cream.
1 cup of sugar.
4 eggs.
1 tablespoonful vanilla.
1 saltspoonful of salt.
Put the milk on the fire and let it just scald or wrinkle.
Beat the yolks of the eggs, put in the sugar, and beat again; then pour the hot milk into these slowly, and the salt, and put it on the fire in the double boiler and let it cook to a nice thick cream. (This is a plain boiled custard, such as you made for floating island.) Take it off and let it cool while you beat the whites of the eggs stiff, and then the cup of cream.
Put the eggs in first lightly when the custard is entirely cold, and then the whipped cream last, and the vanilla, and freeze.
Coffee Ice-cream
Make either of these creams, and flavor with half a cup of strong coffee in place of vanilla.
Chocolate Ice-cream