The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887), Hugo Ziemann [world of reading .TXT] 📗

clear water until a straw will pierce them; put into a baking dish with half a cupful of loaf sugar to every eight quinces; pour over them the liquor in which they were boiled, cover closely and bake in the oven one hour; then take out the quinces and put them into a covered dish; return the syrup to the saucepan and boil twenty minutes; then pour over the quinces and set them away to cool.

GOOSEBERRY FOOL.

Stew a quart of ripe gooseberries in just enough water to cover them; when soft, rub them through a colander to remove the skins and seeds; while hot stir into them a tablespoonful of melted butter and a cupful of sugar. Beat the yolks of three eggs and add that; whip all together until light. Fill a large glass fruit dish and spread on the top the beaten whites mixed with three tablespoonfuls of sugar. Apples or any tart fruit is nice made in this manner.

MERINGUES OR KISSES.

A coffeecupful of fine white sugar, the whites of six eggs; whisk the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and with a wooden spoon stir in quickly the pounded sugar; and have some boards put in the oven thick enough to prevent the bottom of the meringues from acquiring too much color. Cut some strips of paper about two inches wide; place this paper on the board and drop a tablespoonful at a time of the mixture on the paper, taking care to let all the meringues be the same size. In dropping it from the spoon, give the mixture the form of an egg and keep the meringues about two inches apart from each other on the paper. Strew over them some sifted sugar and bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. As soon as they begin to color, remove them from the oven; take each slip of paper by the two ends and turn it gently on the table and with a small spoon take out the soft part of each meringue. Spread some clean paper on the board, turn the meringues upside down and put them into the oven to harden and brown on the other side. When required for table, fill them with whipped cream, flavored with liquor or vanilla and sweeten with pounded sugar. Join two of the meringues together and pile them high in the dish. To vary their appearance, finely chopped almonds or currants may be strewn over them before the sugar is sprinkled over; and they may be garnished with any bright-colored preserve. Great expedition is necessary in making this sweet dish, as, if the meringues are not put into the oven as soon as the sugar and eggs are mixed, the former melts and the mixture would run on the paper instead of keeping its egg-shape. The sweeter the meringues are made the crisper will they be; but if there is not sufficient sugar mixed with them, they will most likely be tough. They are sometimes colored with cochineal; and if kept well-covered in a dry place, will remain good for a month or six weeks.

JELLY KISSES.

Kisses, to be served for dessert at a large dinner, with other suitable confectionery, may be varied in this way: Having made the kisses, heap them in the shape of half an egg, placed upon stiff letter paper lining the bottom of a thick baking pan; put them in a moderate oven until the outside is a little hardened; then take one off carefully, take out the soft inside with the handle of a spoon, and put it back with the mixture, to make more; then lay the shell down. Take another and prepare it likewise; fill the shells with currant jelly or jam; join two together, cementing them with some of the mixture; so continue until you have enough. Make kisses, cocoanut drops, and such like, the day before they are wanted.

This recipe will make a fair-sized cake basket full. It adds much to their beauty when served up to tint half of them pale pink, then unite white and pink. Serve on a high glass dish.

COCOANUT MACAROONS.

Make a "kiss" mixture, add to it the white meat, grated, and finish as directed for KISSES.

ALMOND MACAROONS.

Half a pound of sweet almonds, a coffeecupful of white sugar, the whites of two eggs; blanch the almonds and pound them to a paste; add to them the sugar and the beaten whites of eggs; work the whole together with the back of a spoon, then roll the mixture in your hands in balls about the size of a nutmeg, dust sugar over the top, lay them on a sheet of paper at least an inch apart. Bake in a cool oven a light brown.

CHOCOLATE MACAROONS.

Put three ounces of plain chocolate in a pan and melt on a slow fire; then work it to a thick paste with one pound of powdered sugar and the whites of three eggs; roll the mixture down to the thickness of about one-quarter of an inch; cut it in small, round pieces with a paste-cutter, either plain or scalloped; butter a pan slightly, and dust it with flour and sugar in equal quantities; place in it the pieces of paste or mixture, and bake in a hot but not too quick oven.

LEMON JELLY. No. 1.

Wash and prepare four calf's feet, place them in four quarts of water, and let them simmer gently five hours. At the expiration of this time take them out and pour the liquid into a vessel to cool; there should be nearly a quart. When cold, remove every particle of fat, replace the jelly into the preserving-kettle, and add one pound of loaf sugar, the rind and juice of two lemons; when the sugar has dissolved, beat two eggs with their shells in one gill of water, which pour into the kettle and boil five minutes, or until perfectly clear; then add one gill of Madeira wine and strain through a flannel bag into any form you like.

LEMON JELLY. No. 2.

To a package of gelatine add a pint of cold water, the juice of four lemons and the rind of one; let it stand one hour, then add one pint of boiling water, a pinch of cinnamon, three cups of sugar; let it all come to a boil; strain through a napkin into molds, set away to get cold. Nice poured over sliced bananas and oranges.

WINE JELLY.

One package of gelatine, one cupful of cold water soaked together two hours; add to this three cupfuls of sugar, the juice of three lemons and the grated rind of one. Now pour over this a quart of boiling water and stir until dissolved, then add a pint of sherry wine. Strain through a napkin, turn into molds dipped in cold water and place in the ice box for several hours.

One good way to mold this jelly is to pour some of it into the mold, harden it a little, put in a layer of strawberries or raspberries, or any fresh fruit in season, pour in jelly to set them; after they have set, another layer of jelly, then another of berries, and so fill each mold, alternating with jelly and berries.

CIDER JELLY.

This can be made the same, by substituting clear, sweet cider in place of the wine.

ORANGE JELLY.

Orange jelly is a great delicacy and not expensive. To make a large dish, get six oranges, two lemons, a two-ounce package of gelatine. Put the gelatine to soak in a pint of water, squeeze the orange juice into a bowl, also the lemon juice, and grate one of the lemon skins in with it. Put about two cupfuls of sugar with the gelatine, then stir in the orange juice, and pour over all three pints of boiling water, stirring constantly. When the gelatine is entirely dissolved, strain through a napkin into molds or bowls wet with cold water, and set aside to harden. In three or four hours it will be ready for use and will last several days.

VARIEGATED JELLY.

After dividing a box of Cox's gelatine into halves, put each half into a bowl with half a cupful of cold water. Put three-quarters of an ounce or six sheets of pink gelatine into a third bowl containing three-fourths of a cupful of cold water. Cover the bowls to keep out the dust and set them away for two hours. At the end of that time, add a pint of boiling water, a cupful of sugar, half a pint of wine, and the juice of lemon to the pink gelatine, and, after stirring till the gelatine is dissolved, strain the liquid through a napkin. Treat one of the other portions of the gelatine in the same way. Beat together the yolks of four eggs and half a cupful of sugar, and, after adding this mixture to the third portion of gelatine, stir the new mixture into a pint and a third of boiling milk, contained in a double boiler. Stir on the fire for three minutes, then strain through a fine sieve, and flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla extract. Place in a deep pan two molds, each holding about three pints, and surround them with ice and water. Pour into these molds, in equal parts, the wine jelly which was made with the clear gelatine, and set it away to harden. When it has become set, pour in the pink gelatine, which should have been set away in a place not cold enough to make it harden. After it has been transferred and has become hard, pour into the molds the mixture of eggs, sugar and gelatine, which should be in a liquid state. Set the molds in an ice chest for three or four hours. At serving time, dip them into tepid water to loosen the contents, and gently turn the jelly out upon flat dishes.

The clear jelly may be made first and poured into molds, then the pink jelly and finally the egg jelly.

STRAWBERRY JELLY.

Strawberries, pounded sugar; to every pint of juice allow half a package of Cox's gelatine.

Pick the strawberries, put them into a pan, squeeze them well with a wooden spoon, add sufficient pounded sugar to sweeten them nicely, and let them remain for one hour that the juice may be extracted; then add half a pint of water to every pint of juice. Strain the strawberry juice and water through a napkin; measure it and to every pint allow half a package of Cox's gelatine dissolved in a teacupful of water. Mix this with the juice, put the jelly into a mold and set the mold on ice. A little lemon juice added to the strawberry juice improves the flavor of the jelly, if the fruit is very ripe; but it must be well strained before it is put with the other ingredients, or it will make the jelly muddy. Delicious and beautiful.

RECIPE FOR CHEESE CUSTARD.

For three persons, two ounces of grated parmesan cheese; the whites of three eggs beaten to a stiff froth, a little pepper, salt and cayenne, a little milk or cream to mix; bake for a quarter of an hour.