CUSTARDS, CREAMS, JELLIES, ETC.
BAKED CUSTARD.
One quart of milk; four eggs; one teacup of sugar; half a teaspoonful of salt; nutmeg.
Boil the milk. Beat the eggs very light, and add the sugar and salt. Pour on the milk very slowly, stirring constantly. Bake in a pudding-dish or in cups. If in cups, set them in a baking-pan, and half fill it with boiling water. Grate nutmeg over each. The secret of a good custard is in slow baking and the most careful watching. Test often with a knife-blade, and do not bake an instant after the blade comes out smooth and clean. To be eaten cold. Six eggs are generally used; but four are plenty.
BOILED CUSTARD.
One quart of milk; three or four eggs; one cup of sugar; one teaspoonful of vanilla; half a teaspoonful of salt; one teaspoonful of corn-starch.
Boil the milk. Dissolve the corn-starch in a little cold water, and boil in the milk five minutes. It prevents the custard from curdling, which otherwise it is very apt to do. Beat the eggs and sugar well together, stir into the milk, and add the salt and flavoring. Take at once from the fire, and, when cool, pour either into a large gla.s.s dish, covering with a meringue of the whites, or into small gla.s.ses with a little jelly or jam at the bottom of each. Or the whites can be used in making an apple-float, as below, and the yolks for the custard.
For _Cocoanut Custard_ add a cup of grated cocoanut; for _Chocolate_, two tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate dissolved in half a cup of boiling water.
TIPSY PUDDING.
Make a boiled custard as directed. Half fill a deep dish with any light, stale cake. Add to a teacup of wine a teacup of boiling water, and pour over it. Add the custard just before serving.
APPLE FLOAT.
Six good, acid apples stewed and strained. When cold, add a teacupful of sugar, half a teaspoonful of vanilla, and the beaten whites of three or four eggs. Serve at once.
BLANCMANGE.
One quart of milk; one cup of sugar; half a package of gelatine; half a teaspoonful of salt; a teaspoonful of any essence liked.
Soak the gelatine ten minutes in half a cup of cold water. Boil the milk, and add gelatine and the other ingredients. Strain into molds, and let it stand in a cold place all night to harden. For chocolate blancmange add two tablespoonfuls of sc.r.a.ped chocolate dissolved in a little boiling water.
SPANISH CREAM.
Make a blancmange as on p. 238; but, just before taking from the fire, add the yolks of four eggs, and then strain. The whites can be used for meringues.
WHIPPED CREAM.
One pint of rich cream; one cup of sugar; one gla.s.s of sherry or Madeira.
Mix all, and put on the ice an hour, as cream whips much better when chilled. Using a whip-churn enables it to be done in a few minutes; but a fork or egg-beater will answer. Skim off all the froth as it rises, and lay on a sieve to drain, returning the cream which drips away to be whipped over again. Set on the ice a short time before serving.
CHARLOTTE RUSSE.
Make a sponge cake as on p. 216, and line a Charlotte mold with it, cutting a piece the size of the bottom, and fitting the rest around the sides. Fill with cream whipped as above, and let it stand on the ice to set a little. This is the easiest form of Charlotte. It is improved by the beaten whites of three eggs stirred into the cream. Flavor with half a teaspoonful of vanilla if liked.
BAVARIAN CREAM.
Whip a pint of cream to a stiff froth. Boil a pint of rich milk with a teacupful of sugar, and add a teaspoonful of vanilla. Soak half a box of gelatine for an hour in half a cup of warm water, and add to the milk. Add the yolks of four eggs beaten smooth, and take from the fire instantly.
When cold and just beginning to thicken, stir in the whipped cream. Put in molds, and set in a cold place. This can be used also for filling Charlotte Russe. For chocolate add chocolate as directed in rule for boiled custard; for coffee, one teacup of clear, strong coffee.
STRAWBERRY CREAM.
Three pints of strawberries mashed fine. Strain the juice, and add a heaping cup of sugar, and then gelatine soaked as above, and dissolved in a teacup of boiling water. Add the pint of whipped cream, and pour into molds.
FRUIT CREAMS.
Half a pint of peach or pine-apple marmalade stirred smooth with a teacupful of sweet cream. Add gelatine dissolved as in rule for strawberry cream, and, when cold, the pint of whipped cream. These creams are very delicious, and not as expensive as rich pastry.
OMELETTE SOUFFLeE.
Six whites and three yolks of eggs; three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar sifted; a few drops of lemon or vanilla. Beat the yolks, flavoring, and sugar to a light cream; beat the whites to the stiffest froth. Have the yolks in a deep bowl. Turn the whites on to them, and do not stir, but mix, by cutting down through the middle, and gradually mixing white and yellow. Turn on to a tin or earthen baking-dish with high sides, and bake in a moderate oven from ten to fifteen minutes. It will rise very high, and must be served the instant it is done, to avoid its falling.
FRIED CREAM.
One pint of milk; half a cup of sugar; yolks of three eggs; two tablespoonfuls of corn-starch and one of flour mixed; half a teaspoonful of vanilla, and two inches of stick-cinnamon; a teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter.
Boil the cinnamon in the milk. Stir the corn-starch and flour smooth in a little cold milk or water, and add to the milk. Beat the yolks light with the sugar, and add. Take from the fire; take out the cinnamon, and stir in the b.u.t.ter and vanilla, and pour out on a b.u.t.tered tin or dish, letting it be about half an inch thick. When cold and stiff, cut into pieces about three inches long and two wide. Dip carefully in sifted cracker-crumbs; then in a beaten egg, and in crumbs again, and fry like croquettes. Dry in the oven four or five minutes, and serve at once. Very delicious.
PEACH FRITTERS.
Make a batter as on p. 208. Take the fruit from a small can of peaches, lay it on a plate, and sprinkle with a spoonful of sugar and a gla.s.s of wine. Let it lie an hour, turning it once. Dip each piece in batter, and drop in boiling lard, or chop and mix with batter. Prepare the juice for a sauce as on p. 172. Fresh peaches or slices of tender apple can be used in the same way. Drain on brown paper, and sift sugar over them, before they go to table.
FREEZING OF ICE CREAM AND ICES.
With a patent freezer ice cream and ices can be prepared with less trouble than puff paste. The essential points are the use of rock-salt, and pounding the ice into small bits. Set the freezer in the centre of the tub. Put a layer of ice three inches deep, then of salt, and so on till the tub is full, ending with ice. Put in the cream, and turn for ten minutes, or till you can not turn the beater. Then take off the cover, sc.r.a.pe down the sides, and beat like cake for at least five minutes. Pack the tub again, having let off all water; cover with a piece of old carpet.
If molds are used, fill as soon as the cream is frozen; pack them full of it, and lay in ice and salt. When ready to turn out, dip in warm water a moment. Handle gently, and serve at once.
ICE CREAM OF CREAM.
To a gallon of sweet cream add two and a quarter pounds of sugar, and four tablespoonfuls of vanilla or other extract, as freezing destroys flavors.
Freeze as directed.
ICE CREAM WITH EGGS.