1504. Fruit jellies are compounds of the juices of fruits combined with sugar, concentrated, by boiling, to such a consistency that the liquid, upon cooling, a.s.sumes the form of a tremulous jelly.
1505. Before fruits are candied, they must first be boiled in syrup, after which they are taken out and dried on a stove, or before the fire; the syrup is then to be concentrated, or boiled to a candy height, and the fruit dipped in it, and again laid on the stove to dry and candy: they are then to be put into boxes, and kept dry.
1506. Conserves consist of fresh vegetable matters beat into a uniform ma.s.s with refined sugar, and they are intended to preserve the virtues and properties of recent flowers, leaves, roots, peels, or fruits, unaltered, and as near as possible to what they were when fresh gathered, and to give them an agreeable taste.
1507. The last-mentioned, but not the least-important preparation of fruit, is the _compote,_ a confiture made at the moment of need, and with much less sugar than would be ordinarily put to preserves. They are most wholesome things, suitable to most stomachs which cannot accommodate themselves to raw fruit or a large portion of sugar: they are the happy medium, and far better than ordinary stewed fruit.
CONFECTIONARY.
1508. In speaking of confectionary, it should be remarked that all the various preparations above named come, strictly speaking, under that head; for the various fruits, flowers, herbs, roots, and juices, which, when boiled with sugar, were formerly employed in pharmacy as well as for sweetmeats, were called _confections_, from the Latin word _conficere_, "to make up;" but the term confectionary embraces a very large cla.s.s indeed of sweet food, many kinds of which should not be attempted in the ordinary cuisine. The thousand and one ornamental dishes that adorn the tables of the wealthy should be purchased from the confectioner: they cannot profitably be made at home. Apart from these, cakes, biscuits, and tarts, &c., the cla.s.s of sweetmeats called confections may be thus cla.s.sified:--1. Liquid confects, or fruits either whole or in pieces, preserved by being immersed in a fluid transparent syrup; as the liquid confects of apricots, green citrons, and many foreign fruits. 2. Dry confects are those which, after having been boiled in the syrup, are taken out and put to dry in an oven, as citron and orange-peel, &c. 3. Marmalade, jams, and pastes, a kind of soft compounds made of the pulp of fruits or other vegetable substances, beat up with sugar or honey; such as oranges, apricots, pears, &c. 4.
Jellies are the juices of fruits boiled with sugar to a pretty thick consistency, so as, upon cooling, to form a trembling jelly; as currant, gooseberry, apple jelly, &c. 5. Conserves are a kind of dry confects, made by beating up flowers, fruits, &c., with sugar, not dissolved. 6.
Candies are fruits candied over with sugar after having been boiled in the syrup.
DESSERT DISHES.
1509. With moderns the dessert is not so profuse, nor does it hold the same relationship to the dinner that it held with the ancients,--the Romans more especially. On ivory tables they would spread hundreds of different kinds of raw, cooked, and preserved fruits, tarts and cakes, as subst.i.tutes for the more substantial comestibles with which the guests were satiated. However, as late as the reigns of our two last Georges, fabulous sums were often expended upon fanciful desserts. The dessert certainly repays, in its general effect, the expenditure upon it of much pains; and it may be said, that if there be any poetry at all in meals, or the process of feeding, there is poetry in the dessert, the materials for which should be selected with taste, and, of course, must depend, in a great measure, upon the season. Pines, melons, grapes, peaches, nectarines, plums, strawberries, apples, pears, oranges, almonds, raisins, figs, walnuts, filberts, medlars, cherries, &c. &c., all kinds of dried fruits, and choice and delicately-flavoured cakes and biscuits, make up the dessert, together with the most costly and _recherche_ wines. The shape of the dishes varies at different periods, the prevailing fashion at present being oval and circular dishes on stems. The patterns and colours are also subject to changes of fashion; some persons selecting china, chaste in pattern and colour; others, elegantly-shaped gla.s.s dishes on stems, with gilt edges. The beauty of the dessert services at the tables of the wealthy tends to enhance the splendour of the plate. The general mode of putting a dessert on table, now the elegant tazzas are fashionable, is, to place them down the middle of the table, a tall and short dish alternately; the fresh fruits being arranged on the tall dishes, and dried fruits, bon-bons, &c., on small round or oval gla.s.s plates. The garnishing needs especial attention, as the contrast of the brilliant-coloured fruits with nicely-arranged foliage is very charming. The garnish _par excellence_ for dessert is the ice-plant; its crystallized dewdrops producing a marvellous effect in the height of summer, giving a most inviting sense of coolness to the fruit it encircles. The double-edged mallow, strawberry, and vine leaves have a pleasing effect; and for winter desserts, the bay, cuba, and laurel are sometimes used. In town, the expense and difficulty of obtaining natural foliage is great, but paper and composite leaves are to be purchased at an almost nominal price.
Mixed fruits of the larger sort are now frequently served on one dish.
This mode admits of the display of much taste in the arrangement of the fruit: for instance, a pine in the centre of the dish, surrounded with large plums of various sorts and colours, mixed with pears, rosy-cheeked apples, all arranged with a due regard to colour, have a very good effect. Again, apples and pears look well mingled with plums and grapes, hanging from the border of the dish in a _neglige_ sort of manner, with a large bunch of the same fruit lying on the top of the apples. A dessert would not now be considered complete without candied and preserved fruits and confections. The candied fruits may be purchased at a less cost than they can be manufactured at home. They are preserved abroad in most ornamental and elegant forms. And since, from the facilities of travel, we have become so familiar with the tables of the French, chocolate in different forms is indispensable to our desserts.
ICES.
510. Ices are composed, it is scarcely necessary to say, of congealed cream or water, combined sometimes with liqueurs or other flavouring ingredients, or more generally with the juices of fruits. At desserts, or at some evening parties, ices are scarcely to be dispensed with. The princ.i.p.al utensils required for making ice-creams are ice-tubs, freezing-pots, spaddles, and a cellaret. The tub must be large enough to contain about a bushel of ice, pounded small, when brought out of the ice-house, and mixed very carefully with either _salt, nitre,_ or _soda._ The freezing-pot is best made of pewter. If it be of tin, as is sometimes the case, the congelation goes on too rapidly in it for the thorough intermingling of its contents, on which the excellence of the ice greatly depends. The spaddle is generally made of copper, kept bright and clean. The cellaret is a tin vessel, in which ices are kept for a short time from dissolving. The method to be pursued in the freezing process must be attended to. When the ice-tub is prepared with fresh-pounded ice and salt, the freezing-pot is put into it up to its cover. The articles to be congealed are then poured into it and covered over; but to prevent the ingredients from separating and the heaviest of them from falling to the bottom of the mould, it is requisite to turn the freezing-pot round and round by the handle, so as to keep its contents moving until the congelation commences. As soon as this is perceived (the cover of the pot being occasionally taken off for the purpose of noticing when freezing takes place), the cover is immediately closed over it, ice is put upon it, and it is left in this state till it is served. The use of the spaddle is to stir up and remove from the sides of the freezing pot the cream, which in the shaking may have washed against it, and by stirring it in with the rest, to prevent waste of it occurring. Any negligence in stirring the contents of the freezing-pot before congelation takes place, will destroy the whole: either the sugar sinks to the bottom and leaves the ice insufficiently sweetened, or lumps are formed, which disfigure and discolour it.
1511. The aged, the delicate, and children should abstain from ices or iced beverages; even the strong and healthy should partake of them in moderation. They should be taken immediately after the repast, or some hours after, because the taking these substances _during_ the process of digestion is apt to provoke indisposition. It is necessary, then, that this function should have scarcely commenced, or that it should be completely finished, before partaking of ices. It is also necessary to abstain from them when persons are very warm, or immediately after taking violent exercise, as in some cases they have produced illnesses which have ended fatally.
[Do ladies know to whom they are indebted for the introduction of ices, which all the fair s.e.x are pa.s.sionately fond of?--To Catherine de"
Medici. Will not this fact cover a mult.i.tude of sins committed by the instigator of St. Bartholomew ?]
RECIPES.
CHAPTER x.x.xI.
TO MAKE SYRUP FOR COMPOTES, &c.
1512. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of sugar allow 1-1/2 pint of water.
_Mode_.--Boil the sugar and water together for 1/4 hour, carefully removing the sc.u.m as it rises: the syrup is then ready for the fruit.
The articles boiled in this syrup will not keep for any length of time, it being suitable only for dishes intended to be eaten immediately. A larger proportion of sugar must be added for a syrup intended to keep.
_Time_.--1/4 hour.
TO CLARIFY SUGAR OR SYRUP.
1513. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of sugar allow 1/2 pint of water and 1/2 the white of an egg.
_Mode_.--Put the sugar, water, and the white of the egg, which should, be well beaten, into a preserving-pan or lined saucepan; and do not put it on the fire till the sugar is dissolved. Then place it on the fire, and when it boils, throw in a teacupful of cold water, and do not stir the sugar after this is added. Bring it to the boiling-point again, and then place the pan by the side of the fire, for the preparation to settle. Remove all the sc.u.m, and the sugar will be ready for use. The sc.u.m should be placed on a sieve, so that what syrup runs from it may be boiled up again: this must also be well skimmed.
_Time_.--20 minutes for the sugar to dissolve; 5 minutes to boil.
_Note_.--The above two recipes are those used in the preparation of dishes usually made at home. There are many degrees of boiling sugar, which process requires great care, attention, and experience. Caramel sugar, which makes an elegant cover for sweetmeats, is difficult to prepare, and is best left to an experienced confectioner. We give the recipe, for those of our readers who care to attempt the operation.
TO BOIL SUGAR TO CARAMEL.
1514. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of lump sugar allow 1 gill of spring water.
_Mode_.--Boil the sugar and water together very quickly over a clear fire, skimming it very carefully as soon as it boils. Keep it boiling until the sugar snaps when a little of it is dropped in a pan of cold water. If it remains hard, the sugar has attained the right degree; then squeeze in a little lemon-juice, and let it remain an instant on the fire. Set the pan into another of cold water, and the caramel is then ready for use. The insides of well-oiled moulds are often ornamented with this sugar, which with a fork should be spread over them in fine threads or network. A dish of light pastry, tastefully arranged, looks very prettily with this sugar spun lightly over it. The sugar must be carefully watched, and taken up the instant it is done. Unless the cook is very experienced and thoroughly understands her business, it is scarcely worth while to attempt to make this elaborate ornament, as it may be purchased quite as economically at a confectioner"s, if the failures in the preparation are taken into consideration.
COMPOTE OF APPLES.
_(Soyer"s Recipe,--a Dessert Dish.)_
1515. INGREDIENTS.--6 ripe apples, 1 lemon, 1/2 lb. of lump sugar, 1/2 pint of water.
[Ill.u.s.tration: COMPoTE OF APPLES.]
_Mode_.--Select the apples of a moderate size, peel them, cut them in halves, remove the cores, and rub each piece over with a little lemon.
Put the sugar and water together into a lined saucepan, and let them boil until forming a thickish syrup, when lay in the apples with the rind of the lemon cut thin, and the juice of the same. Let the apples simmer till tender; then take them out very carefully, drain them on a sieve, and reduce the syrup by boiling it quickly for a few minutes.
When both are cold, arrange the apples neatly on a gla.s.s dish, pour over the syrup, and garnish with strips of green angelica or candied citron.
Smaller apples may be dressed in the same manner: they should not be divided in half, but peeled and the cores pushed out with a vegetable-cutter.
_Time_.--10 minutes to boil the sugar and water together; from 15 to 25 minutes to simmer the apples.
_Average cost_, 6d.
_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ from July to March.
APPLE GINGER.
(_A Dessert Dish_.)
1516 INGREDIENTS.--2 lbs. of any kind of hard apples, 2 lbs. of loaf sugar, 1-1/2 pint of water, 1 oz. of tincture of ginger.
_Mode_.--Boil the sugar and water until they form a rich syrup, adding the ginger when it boils up. Pare, core, and cut the apples into pieces; dip them in cold water to preserve the colour, and boil them in the syrup until transparent; but be careful not to let them break. Put the pieces of apple into jars, pour over the syrup, and carefully exclude the air, by well covering them. It will remain good some time, if kept in a dry place.
_Time_.--From 5 to 10 minutes to boil the syrup; about 1/2 hour to simmer the apples.
_Average cost_, 2s.