Part 2 — CHAPTER XX Entremets (Sweets)

CHAPTER XX Entremets (Sweets)

Pastry, Confectionery, and Ices are so closely allied to Cookery, and they are so surely its complements, that it is impossible to omit them when dealing with Entremets, even though the latter be limited to the kind proper to the kitchen.

However, these subjects, which could supply matter for voluminous works, are too complex for it to be possible to cope thoroughly with them here.

I shall therefore confine myself to the expounding of their fundamental principles and the essential operations relating thereto, a knowledge of which is absolutely necessary for the successful preparation of Kitchen Entremets and Ices. The directions given hereafter are certainly too inadequate to convert an ordinary cook into a pastry-cook, a confectioner, or a “glacier”; but they will at least admit of his carrying out a complete dinner, if the necessity so to do should occur.

Elementary Preparations of Pastry which may be Applied to Entremets

2338—VARIOUS ALMOND PREPARATIONS

It is important that one should have skinned, splintered, and chopped almonds.

To Skin Almonds.—Throw them in a saucepan of boiling water, place the utensil on the side of the fire without allowing the boiling to continue, and let the almonds soak for seven or eight minutes. As soon as the skin slips when pressing them between one’s fingers, turn them out on to a strainer; cool them in cold water, and skin them. This done, wash them in cold water; drain them well; spread them on a very clean tray, and dry them in a mild oven.

Splintered Almonds.—Having skinned and washed the almonds, split them in two, and cut each half into five or six splinters. Dry the latter in the drying-box, and place them in the front of the oven for a while to colour slightly.

They serve for nougat, and sometimes take the place of pignolis.

Chopped Almonds.—Having skinned the almonds, slightly dry them and chop them with a knife; rub them through a canvas sieve, the coarseness of which should be in accordance with that required for the chopped almonds.

Spread the latter on a tray covered with a sheet of paper, and dry them in the drying-box, stirring them from time to time the while.

Grilled Almonds.—These are either splintered or chopped almonds set to bake on a tray in a moderate oven. Be sure to stir them frequently, that they may colour evenly, and withdraw them when they are of a nice golden shade.

Pralined Almonds.—Proceed as for grilled almonds, but sprinkle them frequently with icing sugar, which turns to caramel under the influence of the heat of the oven, and swathes the almonds in a pale-brown coat of sugar.

2339—VARIOUS PREPARATIONS OF FILBERTS AND HAZEL-NUTS

Filberts are a large kind of hazel-nut, generally covered with red skins.

After having cracked and suppressed the shells, set the filberts on a dish, and place them in the front of the oven until their skins are slightly grilled. They need then only be rubbed between the fingers in order to clear them of their skins. Chopped filberts are prepared like chopped almonds, and should be included in the permanent “mise en place” of the pastry cook.

2340—VARIOUS BUTTERS

Softened Butter.—More particularly in winter, when it is very hard, butter should be softened, i.e., thoroughly kneaded in a towel, to:—

1. Extract the butter-milk, which is always present in more or less large quantities.

2. Make it sufficiently soft to mix with the various ingredients of which the pastes are made up.

Pomaded Butter.—After having well softened it as above, put it in a bowl or basin, previously rinsed with hot water and thoroughly wiped. Work the butter with a spatula or a wooden spoon until it acquires the consistence of a pomade—a necessary condition for certain of its uses.

Clarified Butter.—In pastry, clarified butter is used more especially for the buttering of moulds. Put the butter to be clarified into a saucepan, and cook it over a very slow fire until (1) the caseous substances liberated in the cooking process have accumulated and solidified on the bottom of the saucepan; (2) it appears limpid, of a golden colour, and exhales a slight, nutty smell.

Strain it through muslin, and put it aside until required.

2341—THE BUTTERING AND GLAZING OF MOULDS

All moulds, large and small, should be buttered so as to ensure the easy turning-out of cakes cooked in them. Clarified butter, owing to its purity, is the best for the purpose. It may be applied with a brush, care being taken that all the inside surfaces get uniformly covered with it. One unbuttered spot is sufficient to make a moulding stick, or to completely spoil a cake.

For certain cakes, chopped or splintered almonds are sprinkled in the mould. For others, especially biscuits, the moulds are flour-dusted—that is to say, a veil of very dry flour or fecula is allowed to settle on the layer of butter, which, at the turning out, appears like a glazed crust upon the cake.

2342—HOW TO BEAT THE WHITES OF EGGS

The best utensil for the purpose is a copper or nickel basin in which the whisk may act at all points owing to the spherical shape of the receptacle. Tinned or enamelled utensils set up a kind of greasiness which does not allow of one’s bringing the whites to the stiffness necessary for some purposes.

Begin whisking the whites gently, and draw them up with the whisk until all their molecules have disaggregated and they begin to stiffen. They may then be whisked until they are sufficiently stiff to be taken up bodily by the whisk.

Preventive Means.—To facilitate the beating of whites of eggs, there may be added to them at the start a pinch either of salt or alum per ten whites. When, towards the close of the operation, the whites begin to granulate, owing to any one of the various causes, add immediately one tablespoonful of powdered sugar per ten whites, and then whisk briskly, to restore them to their normal state.

2343—VEGETABLE COLOURING MATTERS

Every pastry-cook’s stock should include a series of vegetable colouring matters, comprising carmine, liquid spinach green, yellow, &c.

When required, the blending of these colours yields the intermediate tones. The colours may be bought.

2344—THE COOKING OF SUGAR

From the state of syrup to the most highly-concentrated state in which it is used in pastry sugar passes through various stages of cooking, which are:—The small thread (215° F.) and the large thread (222° F.), the small ball (236° F.) and the large ball (248° F.), the small crack (285° F.) and the large crack (315° F.). When the last state is overreached, the sugar has become caramel (360° F.).

Put the necessary quantity of loaf sugar in a small, copper saucepan; moisten with enough water to melt it, and boil. Carefully remove the scum which forms, and which might cause the sugar to granulate.

As soon as the sugar begins to move stiffly in boiling, it is a sign that the water has almost entirely evaporated, and that the real cooking of the sugar has begun.

From this moment, with moistened fingers or a little piece of moistened linen, take care to remove the crystallised sugar from the sides of the utensil, lest it makes the remaining portion turn.

The cooking of the sugar then progresses very rapidly, and the states of its various stages, coming one upon the other in quick succession at intervals of a few minutes, may be ascertained as follows:—

It has reached the small-thread stage, when a drop of it held between the thumb and the first finger forms small resistless strings when the thumb and finger are drawn apart.

It has reached the large-thread stage, when, proceeding in the same way, the strings formed between the parted finger and thumb are more numerous and stronger.

From this moment recourse must be had to cold water in order to ascertain the states of the sugar.

When a few minutes have elapsed after the test for the large-thread state, dip the end of the first finger, first into cold water, then into the sugar, and plunge it again immediately into the bowl of cold water, which should be ready at hand. The sugar taken from the finger forms a kind of soft ball, and it is this state which is called the small ball.

When, upon repeating the procedure, the sugar removed from the finger rolls into a firmer ball, the large-ball stage is reached.

After the cooking has continued for a few seconds longer, the sugar lying on the finger peels off in the form of a thin, flexible film, which sticks to the teeth. This is the small-crack stage. Tests should then be made in quick succession, until the film taken from the end of the finger breaks “clean” in the teeth, like glass. This is the large-crack state, the last of the cooking stages, and as soon as it has been reached the utensil should be taken off the fire, lest a few seconds more turn the sugar to caramel.

To prevent the granulating of the sugar, a few drops of lemon juice may be added to it; or, better still, a tablespoonful of glucose per lb.

2345—GLACE A L’ANCIENNE

Put the required amount of icing sugar in a small saucepan, the quantity used being in proportion to the object to be glazed.

If it be flavoured with vanilla, orange, or lemon, dilute it with a little water, keeping it somewhat stiff; add some vanilla-flavoured sugar or grated orange-rind, and stir it up well for a few minutes. Then make it lukewarm, so that it may run easily and dry quickly, and pour it over the object to be treated.

For the above-mentioned flavours, an infusion of vanilla or orange-rind may be prepared, and this may serve in diluting the glaze. The flavours may also be used in the form of essences, provided it be remembered that they are usually very strong thus, and must be used with caution.

If liqueur glazes are in question, such as Kirsch, Rum, Anisette, or Marasquin, &c., the glaze is diluted with the liqueur and made lukewarm as directed above.

2346—GLACE AU FONDANT

Preparation of the “Fondant.”—Put some loaf sugar into a small saucepan, the quantity being in accordance with the amount of “Fondant” required.

Moisten with just enough water to melt the sugar, and set to cook as directed under “The Cooking of Sugar.”

Stop the cooking precisely at 230° F. between the large-thread stage and the small-ball stage, and pour the sugar on a moderately-oiled marble slab. Let it half cool for a few minutes; then, with a spatula, move it about well in all directions, taking care that no portion of the sugar on the marble is left untouched by the spatula, for any such portion would harden and form lumps in the Fondant.

After ten to fifteen minutes’ work with the spatula, the sugar should have become a white, slightly granulated paste. Heap the latter together, and scrape the marble slab with the blade of a strong knife. Carefully knead this paste (No. 2357) with the palm of the hand until it is very thin and smooth, whereupon the Fondant is ready for use.

It need now only be heaped in a receptacle, covered with a damp cloth, and kept somewhat dry.

To Glaze with “Fondant.”—Put the required amount of it into a saucepan; work it over a slow fire for a while, in order to soften it, and moisten it, little by little, with water when a dry flavour or an essence is used, or, otherwise, with the selected liqueur.

Warm slightly in order to make the glaze very liquid and to ensure its speedy drying, and pour it, at one tilt, over the object to be glazed.

With the help of some colour, the glaze is generally given the tint of the fruit which flavours it.

2346a—SUCRE EN GLACE (Icing Sugar)

This is sugar strained through a silken drum-sieve. The sugar strained through this silk has the delicacy of starch. At times it is used instead of Fondant for the glazing of cakes, but it is mostly used for white and caramel glazings. For this purpose the sugar is held in a tin box, covered with a lid pierced with small holes, called a sugar dredger.

To glaze white is to cover a cake, a fritter, or other object with a coat of icing sugar. This operation is effected by shaking the sugar dredger over the object to be glazed.

To glaze with caramel is to cover a Soufflé, a souffléd omelet, fruit fritters, a custard, Pannequets, or other objects with a coat of icing sugar. By placing the sugar-coated object in fierce heat, a few minutes suffice to melt the sugar, which is converted into a brilliant covering of caramel.

2347—SUGAR GRAINS

These are used in pastry to border certain cakes, or to surround the sugared-paste bases on which cakes are set. For this purpose the parts to which the sugar is expected to adhere must be besmeared with cooked apricot.

To make them, roughly pound some loaf sugar, and sift the latter first through a coarse strainer, and then through a finer one, according to the size the sugar grains are required to be. The powder will, of course, fall and leave the grains clean.

2348—COLOURED SUGAR GRAINS

To colour sugar grains, spread them on a piece of paper, and add a drop of liquid vegetable-colouring or a very little coloured paste per tablespoonful of sugar. The amount of colouring matter may either be lessened or increased, according to the strength the shade is required to be.

Rub the sugar in the hand to colour it evenly; dry it in a moderately warm drying-box, and keep it in the dry in well-closed boxes.

2349—VANILLA SUGAR

The vanilla sticks which have served in preparing infusions still possess some flavour. Reserve them, therefore, for the making of vanilla sugar.

After having gently dried them in the drying-box, finely pound them with twice their weight of loaf sugar; sift through a silken sieve, and again pound the bits remaining on the silk of the sieve until every particle goes through. Keep the preparation in a well-closed box in the dry.

2350—CANDIED FRUIT

These are used in the decoration of certain cakes, and as the constituent ingredients of others.

They comprise angelica, golden and green chinois, cherries, plums, red and white pears, &c.

Candied fruit may be bought ready-prepared.

2351—APPLE JELLY FOR DECORATING

Quarter, peel, and core the apples (preferably russets), and throw them, one by one, in a bowl of fresh water to prevent their getting brown.

Then put them in a copper basin with one and one-half pints of water per two lbs. of apples, and cook them gently without touching them.

This done, pour away their juice, and return it to the basin together with two lbs. of sugar per quart. Boil; skim with great care, that the jelly may be clear, and cook over a fierce fire until the jelly has reached a stage which may be ascertained thus:—(1) When on taking the skimmer out of the basin, the jelly adhering to it seems to mass itself towards the middle of the skimmer; or:—(2) When the jelly breaks up into large drops, separated one from the other.

Then take the jelly off the fire; add some carmine to it, drop by drop, until it acquires a rosy hue; strain it again through a fine piece of linen, that it may be perfectly limpid, and finally pour it into tin receptacles to cool.

Put aside until wanted.

2352—PRALIN

(1) If it be for the purpose of covering certain cakes, or for forming a glaze on a fruit entremet, prepare it thus:—Put the whites of two eggs and three tablespoonfuls of icing sugar in a small basin. Mix and stir briskly with a small, wooden spoon, until the paste becomes somewhat thick. Then, subject to the purpose for which it is intended, add a more or less large quantity of chopped almonds, according as to whether the pralin be required thick or slightly liquid for spreading. Cover it with a piece of white paper, moistened with white of egg, that it may remain moist if kept for some time.

(2) If it is to be added to a soufflé preparation, to a souffléd omelet, to a preparation of ice, or to a custard, it is a nougat powder which is prepared as follows:—

Gently melt one lb. of powdered sugar in a small saucepan, taking care not to let it acquire a deeper shade than old gold. Mix twenty oz. of dried almonds with it; turn the whole out on to the corner of a slightly-oiled marble slab (or on an overturned saucepan-lid), and leave to cool. When the nougat is quite cold, pound it and rub it through a sieve.

Pound and rub what remains in the sieve until the whole goes through.

Put the powder in a well-closed box, and place the latter in a dry place.

2353—CURRANTS AND SULTANAS

Sultanas and currants should always be at hand, ready and cleaned. To clean them, first dredge them and then rub them in a towel, closed to form a sort of purse. Now, turn them into a sieve or colander, which shake vigorously, that the flour and the detached stems may be eliminated; then examine them, one by one, to make sure that no stems remain.

Currants should be examined with very particular care, as small stones often get in among them.

Put the currants and the sultanas aside, each in a box or a drawer.

2354—ESSENCES AND FLAVOURINGS

The various essences used in pastry are bought ready-made. The flavourings consist of those products treated by infusion, such as vanilla; of grated or infused products, such as lemon and orange rinds; and liqueurs in general.

Fruit juices only become flavours when a liqueur in keeping with the fruit from which they were extracted has been added to them.

2355—GILDING PREPARATION

This consists of beaten eggs. Its purpose is to ensure the colouration of certain cakes, whereon it is smeared by means of a brush. In some cases this gilding may be combined with a little water, as, for instance, when the heat of the oven is too fierce, and cakes are required of a light colour. In some cases, especially in that of small, dry cakes, it consists entirely of egg-yolks diluted with a few drops of water.

The Pastes

2356—ORDINARY SHORT PASTE

Sift one lb. of flour over the mixing-board; make a hollow in its midst, and put therein one-sixth oz. of salt, one-third pint of cold water, and one-half lb. of butter well softened—especially in winter. Mix the flour gradually with the butter and the water; mass the whole a moment or two, and knead it (see No. 2357) twice. Then roll it up in a ball; wrap it in a piece of linen that its surface may not dry, and put it aside in the cool.

Remarks: A kneaded paste should be prepared either one day, or at least a few hours, in advance, in order that it may lose that elasticity which it acquires from the kneading.

Pastes, after they have rested awhile, are much more easily treated, and bake a much more definite and lighter colour, than those that are used as soon as they are prepared.

2357—THE KNEADING OF PASTES

The object of kneading paste is to combine the ingredients of which it is composed thoroughly, and also to smooth it. Proceed as follows:—

When the paste is mixed, roll it into a mass; put it in front of one; then press it away from one, little by little, between the board and the palm of the hand. For the paste to be perfectly smooth, it ought to be treated twice in this way.

2358—FINE, SHORT OR FLAWN PASTE (For Fruit Tarts)

Sift one lb. of flour on to the mixing-board, and hollow it out. Put in the hollow one-third oz. of salt, one and one-half oz. of powdered sugar, an egg, one-fourth pint of cold water, and ten oz. of butter. First, thoroughly mix the butter, the egg, the water, and the seasoning, and then gradually combine the flour with it.

Knead the paste; press it out twice; roll it into a ball, and wrap it up as before with the view of setting it aside in the cool to rest.

2359—DRESSING PASTE (Pâte à Pâté)

Take one lb. of sifted flour, four oz. of butter, one egg, one-third oz. of salt, and one-fourth pint of water. Mix as already directed; knead twice; roll up the paste, and set it in the cool to rest. This paste should be kept somewhat firm.

2360—DRESSING PASTE WITH LARD

Take one lb. of sifted flour, four oz. of lard, one-quarter pint of tepid water, one egg, one-third oz. of salt, and proceed exactly as in the case of No. 2359.

2361—DUMPLING AND PUDDING PASTES

Break up ten oz. of very dry beef suet, and carefully clear it of all little pieces of skin and connective tissue. Chop it up as finely as possible; sift one lb. of flour on to the mixing-board; hollow it out; and put into the hollow one-half oz. of salt, one and one-half oz. of sugar, one-third pint of water, and the chopped suet. Mix up these various ingredients, and, by degrees, combine the flour with them.

Mass the paste together, without kneading it, and put it aside in the cool until it is wanted.

2362—DRY SUGARED PASTE FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES

Take one lb. of sifted flour, seven oz. of butter, five oz. of powdered sugar, three eggs, and one-half tablespoonful of orange-flower water.

Mix in the usual way, knead it twice; roll it into a ball, and keep it wrapped up, in the cool, until required.

2363—PASTE FOR SMALL GUMMED TEA-CAKES

Take one lb. of sifted flour, ten oz. of butter, ten oz. of sugar, one egg, the yolks of four, and a tablespoonful of orange-flower water.

Mix up gradually; mass the paste together, and roll it out into a thin layer, twice. Roll it up, and let it rest awhile in the cool before it is used.

2364—GUMMING

In the case of certain small cakes, especially those served at tea, it is usual to gum their surfaces in order to make them glossy. For this purpose a thin solution of gum arabic is used, and it is smeared over the cakes as they leave the oven, by means of a small brush.

Cakes may also be gummed with a syrup formed from milk and sugar, which mixture may be used instead of gum arabic with advantage.

2365—GALETTE PASTE

Hollow out one lb. of sifted flour and put in its midst one-third oz. of salt, two oz. of powdered sugar, one-quarter pint of water, and one-half lb. of softened butter.

Mix, taking care to include the flour only by degrees; thoroughly knead, that the ingredients may be well combined, and mass the paste together without making it too elastic. Leave it to rest in the cool for at least an hour; then roll it out thrice, at intervals of eight minutes, for the reasons given under the directions for puff-paste.

2366—PUFF-PASTE

(1) Sift one lb. of flour on to the mixing-board. Make a hollow in it, and put therein one-third oz. of table salt and about one-half pint of cold water, and mix without kneading. Mass the paste together, and let it rest for twenty minutes, that it may lose its elasticity, which will be all the more pronounced for its having been very much worked. It is to avoid this elasticity, therefore, that the mixing of puff-paste should be effected with the smallest amount of kneading possible.

(2) Spread the prepared paste on a flour-dusted board, in the shape of an even galette. Spread thereon one lb. of softened butter, without completely covering the paste; draw the edges of the paste towards the centre, in such wise as to enclose the butter completely, and to form a square thickness of paste.

(3) Leave to rest for a further ten minutes and then begin the working of the paste; rolling it out to the length of one and one-half feet, and keeping it one in. thick. Fold this layer over thrice, and press upon it with the roller so as to join the superposed layers. The whole of this operation constitutes one turn.

Begin another turn immediately, turning the paste the reverse way, and folding it as before. Set it to rest in the cool for eight or ten minutes, and then effect two more turns.

Ten minutes after the two last turns (there should be six in all), the puff-paste is ready to be cut up and used.

Remarks relative to puff-paste: Good puff-paste should be buttered to the extent of one lb. per one and one-half lbs., i.e., one lb. of butter for every one lb. of flour mixed with one-half pint of water. The consistence of the paste and the butter should be exactly the same, if they are to be evenly mixed; the butter ought therefore to be softened—more particularly in winter.

In preparing puff-paste, remember to put it in a cool place while it is resting; but never directly upon ice; for, though the ice would not affect the paste, it might seriously affect the butter.

It would harden it to the extent of preventing its perfect mixture with the mass, and lumps would form. Puff-paste should be rolled out very regularly, with the view of thoroughly distributing the butter throughout the preparation, and thus ensuring its uniform rising.

Puff-paste should not be worked too speedily; for, if it be so worked, it will be found to acquire an elasticity which not only makes it difficult to cut up, but also tends to make it shrink in the baking.

2367—PUFF-PASTE TRIMMINGS OR HALF PUFF-PASTE

These are very useful in pastry work, for tartlets, barquettes, croûtons, &c. When the puff-paste is cut up, the trimmings should therefore be rolled into a ball, and put aside in the cool. Nevertheless they must be used within the space of two days in summer and four days in winter.

2368—ORDINARY BRIOCHE PASTE

(1) Sift one lb. of flour on to the board; take a quarter of it, make a hollow in it, and put therein one-quarter oz. of very fresh, dry yeast. Mix the yeast and the flour with a little tepid water, so as to obtain a soft paste which is the leaven. Roll this paste into a ball; make two slits in its top, at right angles to one another, and place it in a small basin.

Cover the latter, and put it in a somewhat warm place, that the leaven may be sure to ferment.

(2) Make a hollow in the remaining flour, and put into it one-quarter oz. of salt, and one and one-half oz. of sugar, together with two tablespoonfuls of milk to melt it, one-third of the whole amount of the butter to be used, namely, four oz., and four eggs.

Begin by thoroughly mixing the butter, eggs and seasoning, and then combine the flour therewith, by degrees. When the paste forms a compact mass, knead and pull it about with the hands, that it may be light. When, at the end of a few minutes, it has acquired a certain resilience, make a hole in the middle of it and add one egg. Mix the latter with the paste; work it afresh, and after an interval of two minutes add one more egg in the same way. The total number of eggs for the quantities of other ingredients given above should be six.

(3) Add the remaining butter (eight oz.) to the paste; the former being manied and even softened, just sufficiently to make it of the same consistence as the paste.

Spread it on the latter, and mix the two; kneading small portions at a time, and combining those portions so as to mix the two elements completely.

At this stage, overturn the paste and spread the leaven (which should now be equal to twice its original bulk) upon it.

Mix it well as in the case of the butter, without working the paste.

Finally, put the paste into a basin; cover it, and place it in a temperate room.

For it to have the desired lightness, this paste should ferment for from ten to twelve hours. However, at the end of five or six hours, the process is arrested by the working of the paste; that is to say, by turning it out upon a flour-dusted board and beating it with the palm of the hand.

It is then returned to the basin to ferment afresh, for five or six hours; and then it is once more beaten just before being used.

2369—MOUSSELINE BRIOCHE PASTE

Mousseline brioche paste is made from the ordinary kind, combined with a little butter and developed in the mould by fermentation before the baking process—which procedure makes it exceedingly light and delicate.

This paste is used in the preparation of certain timbales for fruit sweets, and it is prepared as follows:—

Take the required amount of ordinary brioche paste, and add to it, per lb. of paste, two oz. of best butter, softened to the consistence of an ointment, that it may thoroughly mix with the paste. Roll the paste into a ball, and put it in a liberally-buttered mould, only filling two-thirds of the latter with it. The remaining third of the mould gets filled by the rising of the paste. Place the mould in a temperate room, until the paste has risen to the edges of the mould; besmear the surface of the paste with a brush dipped in melted butter, and bake in a moderate oven.

2370—ORDINARY BRIOCHE PASTE (For Rissoles, Small Patties à la Dauphine, and Various other Preparations)

Quantities: one lb. of flour, seven oz. of butter, four fair-sized eggs, salt, a pinch of powdered sugar; one-third oz. of very dry, fresh yeast, and a little tepid milk.

(1) Make the leaven with a quarter of the flour, the yeast and the lukewarm milk, and set it to ferment while the paste is being prepared.

(2) Prepare the paste as already directed, and keep it fermenting as before for ten hours, taking care to arrest the process once.

The work is the same as in the preceding case, in every particular, except in regard to the amount of butter, which in this instance is only half as much; in regard to the amount of sugar, which should only be just sufficient to ensure the colouring of the paste; and finally in regard to its firmness, which should admit of the paste being worked with a rolling-pin.

2371—SAVARIN PASTE

Quantities: One lb. of flour; twelve oz. of butter; one-half oz. of very dry, fresh yeast; eight eggs; about one-third pint of milk; one-half oz. of salt, and one oz. of sugar.

Procedure: Savarin paste may be prepared in several ways; but the one given below is as simple and expeditious as could be desired.

Sift the flour into a basin (or a round wooden bowl, better suited to the work); hollow it out; add the yeast, and dissolve the latter by means of tepid milk, stirring slightly with the tip of the finger.

Add the eggs; mix the whole; work the paste by hand for a few minutes; detach those portions of it which have adhered to the side of the utensil, and add them to the whole.

Distribute the softened butter in small quantities over the paste. Cover, and place in a temperate room until the paste has grown to twice its original bulk. Then add salt; knead the paste, that it may thoroughly absorb the butter, and pat it briskly until it is sufficiently elastic to be taken up in one lump.

At this stage add the sugar, and work the paste again that the former may thoroughly mix with it. The sugar should only be added at the close of the operation; for, since it impairs the cohesiveness of the paste, it would render the latter much more difficult to work were it added at the start.

THE USES OF THIS PASTE

If it be for Savarins with syrup, it is customary to sprinkle the previously-buttered moulds with slightly-grilled, chopped or splintered almonds. Take the paste in small quantities at a time, and line the moulds with it to the extent of one-third of their height.

The remaining two-thirds of each mould become covered when the paste rises owing to fermentation.

Proceed in the same way for Savarins which are to be kept dry, for fruit crusts or other uses; but then the sprinkling of the moulds with almond may be omitted.

2372—PÂTE A BABA

Quantities: One lb. of flour; one-half lb. of butter; seven eggs; two-thirds oz. of yeast; one-fifth pint of milk; one-third oz. of salt; two-thirds oz. of sugar; three oz. of currants and sultanas in equal quantities.

Procedure: Proceed exactly as for Savarin paste, and add the currants and sultanas at the last with the sugar. In moulding, a few pipped Malaga raisins may be laid on the bottom of the moulds. As in the case of the Savarin, the paste should only fill one-third of the mould.

2373—ORDINARY PÂTE A CHOUX

Quantities.—One pint of water; eight oz. of butter; one-third oz. of salt; one oz. of sugar; one lb. of sifted flour; sixteen fair-sized eggs, and a tablespoonful of orange-flower water.

Procedure.—Put the water, butter, salt, and sugar in a saucepan and boil. When the liquid boils and rises, take the saucepan off the fire; add the flour, and mix. Return the saucepan to a moderate fire, and stir the paste until it ceases to stick to the spoon, and the butter begins to ooze slightly.

Take the saucepan off the fire; add the eggs, two at a time, taking care to mix each couple thoroughly with the paste before inserting the succeeding couple. When all the eggs have been absorbed, finish the paste with orange-flower water.

2374—COMMON PÂTE A CHOUX (For Souffléd

Proceed as directed above, but reduce the quantity of butter to three oz., and the number of eggs to twelve; avoid drying this paste overmuch.

2375—RAMEQUINS AND GOUGÈRE PASTE

This is prepared exactly like ordinary “Pâte à Choux,” except that:—

1. Milk takes the place of water.

2. The sugar and orange-flower water are omitted.

3. For the quantities given (No. 2373), eight oz. of fresh Gruyère, cut into dice, are added to the paste, after all the eggs have been added to it.

2376—PÂTE A GÉNOISE FINE

Put into a copper basin one lb. of powdered sugar and sixteen eggs. Mix the two; place the basin upon hot cinders or on the hob, and whisk its contents until they reach the “ribbon” stage (see remarks below). Then add the selected aroma (vanilla sugar, orange rind, or liqueur, in the proportion of one tablespoonful of vanilla sugar or orange rind, and one liqueur-glass of liqueur, to the quantities given above), twelve oz. of sifted flour, and eight oz. of melted butter, the latter being carefully poured into the paste without allowing it to bubble. Mix these ingredients with the paste, raising the latter by means of a spatula that it may not get heavy.

Bake it in buttered and dredged moulds.

Remarks.—A preparation of Biscuit or Génoise reaches the “ribbon” stage when it becomes thick, draws out in ribbon-form, and takes some time to level itself again when a spoon is pulled out of it. This state of the paste is also indicative of its lightness.

2377—ORDINARY GÉNOISE PASTE FOR CUTTING UP

Quantities.—One lb. of sugar, twelve eggs, thirteen oz. of flour, eight oz. of butter, and the quantity of flavouring thought sufficient.

Proceed exactly as in the preceding recipe, in everything pertaining to the working of the paste.

This paste is baked in buttered and dredged cases, in which it is spread in layers one and one-quarter inches thick, that it may rise to about one and three-quarter inches thick, while baking.

2378—LADY’S-FINGER BISCUIT PASTE

Stir one lb. of sugar and sixteen egg-yolks in a basin until the preparation has whitened slightly and has reached the ribbon stage. Now add a tablespoonful of orange-flower water; mix therewith twelve oz. of sifted flour, followed by sixteen egg-whites, whisked to a stiff froth. Take care to effect the mixture by raising and cutting the preparation with the spatula, that the former may be quite light.

To Shape the Biscuits.—Put the paste, little by little, into a canvas piping-bag, fitted with a pipe of one-half inch bore. Close the bag; lay the biscuits on sheets of strong paper; sprinkle them with powdered sugar, and rid them of any superfluous sugar by holding the sheets end upwards.

Jerk a few drops of water upon the biscuits by means of a moistened brush in order to assist the beading of the sugar, and remember that a very moderate oven is the best for the effecting of this beading.

2379—SAVOY-BISCUIT PASTE

Stir one lb. of sugar and fourteen egg-yolks in a basin until the preparation reaches the ribbon stage. Flavour with vanilla sugar; add six oz. of very dry, sifted flour mixed with six oz. of fecula, and finally mix therewith the fourteen egg-whites, which should be in a very stiff froth.

Carefully set the preparation in buttered and fecula-dredged moulds, filling the latter only two-thirds full, and leaving the remaining third to be covered by the rising of the paste while baking.

Bake in a regular, moderate oven.

2380—PÂTE A BISCUIT MANQUE

Stir one lb. of sugar with eighteen egg-yolks in a basin until the preparation is white and light. Add three tablespoonfuls of rum, thirteen oz. of sifted flour, and ten oz. of melted butter, carefully poured away. Mix, raising it with the spatula in so doing.

Set the preparation in special buttered and dredged moulds, filling the latter only two-thirds full with it. Bake in a moderate oven.

2381—PUNCH BISCUIT PASTE

Stir one lb. of sugar, twelve egg-yolks, and three eggs in a basin, until the whole becomes frothy. Aromatise with a bare tablespoonful of orange sugar, the same amount of lemon sugar, and three tablespoonfuls of best rum, and add twelve oz. of sifted flour, ten oz. of melted butter, and the whites of eight eggs whisked to a stiff froth. Mix with the usual precautions, that the paste may not be heavy.

Bake the preparation in buttered moulds, in cases or in rings, according to the purpose it is intended for. Use a moderate oven.

2382—ORDINARY MERINGUE

Whisk the whites of eight eggs until they are as stiff as it is possible to make them. Sprinkle them with one lb. of powdered sugar, and mix them with the latter carefully, that they may retain all their lightness.

2383—MERINGUE A L’ITALIENNE

Cook one lb. of sugar to the large-ball stage, and meanwhile whisk the whites of eight eggs to a stiff froth, so as to have them ready simultaneously with the sugar.

Pour the cooked sugar into the egg-whites, slowly and without a pause, and mix up briskly with the whisk.

2384—MERINGUE A L’ITALIENNE (another recipe)

Mix one lb. of very best powdered sugar and the whites of eight eggs in an untinned copper basin. Place the utensil on hot cinders or on the side of the stove, that the preparation may be lukewarm while in progress.

Whisk the meringue until it is sufficiently consistent to span the members of the whisk. If it is not to be used at once, transfer the paste to a small basin; cover it with a round piece of paper, and set it in the cool.

2385—ALMOND PASTE

Instead of the antiquated and difficult method of making almond pastes in the mortar, a crushing machine is now used which not only yields a much smoother paste, but also greatly simplifies the work. Almond paste, which consists of almonds, sugar, and egg-whites, in quantities varying in accordance with the purpose of the paste, is now sold ready-made. It has only to be finished with a little sugar, white of egg, and other things, subject to the use to which it is to be put.

2386—MELTING ALMOND PASTE (For Stuffing and Imitating Fruit)

Pass eight oz. of dry, skinned almonds through the crusher.

Place them in the mortar, together with the selected aromatic essence; either a tablespoonful of vanilla sugar or a small glassful of liqueur; and add to them, little by little, working the while with the pestle, one lb. of sugar cooked to the small-crack stage.

With this generic recipe, the melting paste may be varied at will by an increase or decrease in the quantity of sugar.

2387—PISTACHIOS

These should belong to the pastry-cook’s stock, but, as a rule, they are only prepared just before being served. To skin them, proceed as in the case of almonds.

2388—PISTACHIO PASTE FOR INFUSION

As soon as the pistachios are skinned, washed, and dried, crush them in the mortar to a very smooth paste, which set in boiled milk, to infuse.

As the colour of pistachios is weak, it is strengthened in preparations containing them with a few drops of vegetable green, while its aroma is thrown into relief with a trifle of vanilla.

2389—MELTING PISTACHIO PASTE

Put seven oz. of pistachios and two oz. of almonds through the crusher; both should have been just skinned. Put the paste into the mortar; add to it two tablespoonfuls of syrup, strongly flavoured with vanilla, followed by eight oz. of sugar, cooked to the small-crack stage, and added to the paste little by little.

Transfer the paste to a marble slab, and finish it by combining three tablespoonfuls of icing sugar with it.

The Preparation and Cooking of Various Pastry Crusts used in Cookery

2390—VOL-AU-VENT CRUST

Prepare the puff-paste as directed under No. 2366. Make the layer of paste of an even thickness of four-fifths inch; set thereon an overturned plate or a saucepan-lid, the size of which should be that intended for the Vol-au-vent, and cut the paste obliquely, following round the edges of the lid or plate with a small knife. Turn the layer of paste over, and set it on a slightly moistened round baking sheet; groove it all round; gild it, and describe a circle on top of it with the point of a knife, one and one-quarter inches away from the edge, to form the cover of the Vol-au-vent. Streak this cover criss-cross-fashion; also streak the body of the Vol-au-vent with the point of a small knife, and bake it in a rather hot oven.

Upon withdrawing the Vol-au-vent from the oven, remove its cover, and clear it of the soft crumb which will be found on its inside.

2391—BOUCHEE OR SMALL-PATTY CRUSTS

Bouchées are really small Vol-au-vents. Roll out the paste, making it a good one-third inch thick. Cut this layer with a grooved round cutter three inches in diameter; set the roundels of stamped-out paste on a moistened tray; gild, and make a circular incision in each of them, one-half inch from their edges, either with the point of a small knife or with an even, round cutter dipped in hot water.

Bake in a hot oven, and clear the insides of the bouchées of their crumb on taking them out of the oven. “Mignonnes Bouchées,” which are used as a garnish, are stamped out with a round cutter two inches in diameter, and are slightly thicker than ordinary bouchées.

2392—SMALL HOT PATTIES

Roll out the puff-paste to a thickness of one-sixth inch, and stamp it out with an even round cutter three inches in diameter. With the trimmings resulting from this operation, rolled somewhat more thinly, make an equal quantity of roundels, and lay them on a tray. Slightly moisten the edges of these roundels with a brush; garnish their centres with some forcemeat, rolled to the size of a hazel-nut; cover the forcemeat with the roundels stamped out from the first; press upon these with the back of a round cutter two inches in diameter; gild them, and bake them in a hot oven for twelve or fourteen minutes.

2393—CROÛTES ET CROUSTADES

For tartlet crusts, which are put to various uses, take either even or grooved, large or small moulds, subject to the requirements.

Roll out a piece of short paste to a thickness of one-fifth inch; stamp it out with a grooved round cutter of a size in proportion to the moulds used; line the buttered moulds with these roundels of paste; pierce the paste on the bottom of each with the point of a small knife; line with good-quality paper; fill up with lentils, split peas, or rice, and bake in a moderate oven. When the paste is baked, withdraw the dry vegetable used and the paper, and place the crusts in the drying-box, that they may be quite dry; or gild them inside, and set them in the front of the oven for a few minutes.

2394—TIMBALE CRUST

Butter a Charlotte-mould, and decorate its sides with some sort of design made from noodle-paste trimmings to which a little powdered sugar has been added. Shape a piece of short paste (of a size in proportion to the mould) like a ball; roll it out to a disc; sprinkle it with flour, and fold it in two. Draw the ends gently towards the centre, so as to form a kind of skullcap, and take care to not crease the paste. Make this skullcap of an even thickness of one-third inch, and place it in the mould.

Press it well upon the bottom and sides of the mould, that it may acquire the shape of the latter; line the mould inside with good buttered paper; fill up with lentils or split peas, letting them project in a dome above the edges of the paste, and cover with a round sheet of paper.

Prepare a round layer of paste, one-fifth inch thick, a little larger diametrally than the timbale one. Slightly moisten the inside edges of the timbale; cover it with the prepared disc of paste, and seal it well down to the edges of the timbale, pressing it between the fingers in such wise as to form a crest reaching one-half inch beyond the brim of the mould all round.

Pinch this crest with paste-pincers inside and out.

With a round or oval grooved fancy-cutter stamp out some imitation leaves from a very thin layer of paste, and imitate the veins of the leaves with the back of a knife; or stamp out some triangles of paste; shape them like leaves, and set these (slightly overlapping one another) upon the dome of the timbale in superposed rows.

Finish with three roundels of paste, stamped out with a grooved round cutter of a different size from the first, and make a hole in the centre of each roundel with a round, even fancy-cutter. Gild and bake in a moderate oven. When the outside of the timbale is well browned, detach and remove the cover formed by the leaves. Withdraw the split peas and the paper; gild the timbale inside, and leave it to dry in the front of the oven or in the drying-box.

2395—FLAWN CRUST

With short or any other kind of paste prepare a layer one-sixth inch thick, the diameter of which should be one-fourth as long again as that of the flawn-ring used. Raise this layer, and place it upon the previously-buttered flawn-ring, pressing it with the fingers, that it may assume the shape of the mould. Then roll the pin across the ring, in order that the overlapping paste may be cut away; press the thickness of paste that has been formed between the fingers in such a way as to make it project above the edges of the flawn-ring, and form a regular crest. Pinch this crest with the pastry pincers, and set the flawn-ring on a small round baking sheet.

Prick it with the point of a small knife; line its bottom and sides with slightly-buttered, good paper; fill the ring with dry lentils or split peas, and bake in a moderately hot oven for about twenty-five minutes.

Then remove the lentils and paper, as also the ring, and return the flawn to the oven for a few minutes to brown, if it is not already sufficiently coloured.

If the paste be required very dry, place the flawn in the drying-box for a little while, or gild it inside, and set it in the front of the oven for a few minutes.

2396—THE LINING AND COVERING OF RAISED AND DRESSED PIES

The moulds for Raised Pies are oval or round. If they are round, make a layer of patty paste, one-half inch thick, in proportion to the size of the mould.

Sprinkle this paste with flour, fold it in two, and shape it like a skullcap, after the manner described under “Timbale Crust.” It is only necessary to press this skullcap of paste into the buttered mould in order to give it the shape of the latter. If the mould is oval, proceed in the same way, giving the skullcap an oval shape.

When the raised pie is filled, first cover the garnish with a somewhat thin, round, or oval layer of paste, in accordance with the shape of the mould, and seal it well down upon the moistened edges. Then cut away the superfluous paste of the crest, so as to make the latter even and neat, and pinch it outside and in. Raised pies are covered in two ways—either with a layer of puff-paste, or with leaves of paste stamped out with a round cutter or a knife, the veins being imitated with the back of a knife.

In the first case, prepare a layer of puff-paste one-third inch thick, equal in size to the inside of the patty. Drop this layer of paste upon the cover of the pie, after having slightly moistened it; gild and streak it, and make a slit in the top for the escape of steam.

In the second case, prepare the paste leaves as directed above, and lay them on the pie (slightly overlapping one another) in superposed rows, starting from the bottom. On the top of the pie set three or four indented roundels of paste, graduated in size, and stuck one upon the other, each roundel having a hole in its centre for the escape of steam.

Gild and set the pie in the oven.

The baking of raised pies made with raw forcemeat is effected in a moderately-heated oven. Bear in mind that the larger the pie is, the more moderate should be the oven.

VARIOUS CUSTARDS

Hot Custards

2397—CRÈME ANGLAISE

This custard allows of various methods of preparation which are subject to the purpose for which it is intended. It is the chief sauce for entremets, and whether it be poached in a deep dish or in a mould, it constitutes one of the oldest and best-known entremets. This last kind of custard will be examined hereafter. At present I shall only deal with the variety used either as a sauce or an accompaniment, cold or hot. It is extremely difficult to prescribe fixed quantities for this custard, for the former depend a great deal upon the consumers’ tastes, and, whereas some like a thick custard, others go to the extreme of wishing it just liquid enough to be drunk like any other beverage.

The quantities given below are suited to a custard of medium consistence, but if a thicker custard were desired, the number of egg-yolks would have to be proportionately increased, and vice-versâ.

The quantity of sugar also varies, subject to the consumers’ tastes, and, as the amount used (except in the case of unreasonable excess) does not affect the consistence of the custard, it may be graduated from three to ten or twelve oz. per quart, as taste may dictate. Six oz. of sugar per quart of milk constitutes a happy medium.

English custard admits of all the aromatic essences used for entremets, but the one which suits it best is vanilla. When this last-named flavour or that of filberts, almond pralin, or coffee is used, it is well to put the required quantity to infuse for twenty minutes in the boiling milk, after the latter has been measured off. Chocolate is first melted and then gradually added to the custard before it is cooked. Other aromatic essences or liqueurs are added to the custard after it has been strained.

English custard admits of two methods of preparation:—

Recipe A.—Put twelve raw egg-yolks and three-quarters lb. of powdered sugar in a bowl. Mix the sugar a little with the yolks, and stir the latter briskly with a spatula until they have entirely absorbed the sugar, and the resulting paste is white and has reached the ribbon stage. Then pour one quart of boiling milk into the paste, little by little, mixing the whole the while with a whisk. Then put the preparation on the fire, stirring it with a spatula, and cook it until it approaches the boil and properly coats the withdrawn spoon. Take care not to let it boil, for this would turn the preparation. In any case, when the sauce is intended for hot sweets, by adding a tablespoonful of arrowroot, it may be prevented from turning.

When the custard is cooked, as already explained, strain it, either through a strainer, into a bain-marie, if it is to be served hot, or through a sieve into a large, enamelled basin, where it should be frequently stirred to be kept smooth while cooling.

Custard prepared in this way forms the base of all ice-creams, of which I shall speak later on. It may serve as an adjunct to all cold or hot sweets which allow of a sauce. When, while it is still lukewarm, it is combined with its weight of best butter, it constitutes the delicious butter cream, which is the richest and most delicate of the pastry-cook’s confections.

Finally, if eight melted gelatine leaves per quart of cooled milk be added to it, and it be mixed with twice its volume of whipped cream, it represents the preparation for “Cream Bavarois” and “Russian Charlottes.”

Recipe B.—Melt six oz. of sugar in one quart of milk; boil, and pour the mixture, little by little, over twelve egg-yolks, whisking the latter briskly the while. When this custard is to be moulded, or is intended for a Cabinet Pudding, or some other similar preparation, which must be ultimately poached, strain it as soon as it is mixed, without cooking it.

If, on the other hand, it be intended for an accompaniment, or for the preparation of butter creams or ices, cook it as directed in Recipe A.

2398—DISHED ENGLISH CUSTARD (To Accompany Cold or Hot Stewed Fruit)

For this purpose English custard is made from only ten egg-yolks per quart of milk. Serve it in shallow silver or porcelain dishes; sprinkle its surface copiously with icing sugar, and criss-cross it with a red-hot iron.

2399—FRANGIPAN CREAM

As in the case of English custard, Frangipan custard varies in the quantities of its ingredients in accordance with its purpose and the taste of its consumers. The recipe given below is an average one, which the reader will be able to modify, in regard to consistence, by increasing or decreasing the amount of flour.

Mix one-half lb. of powdered sugar, two oz. of flour, two whole eggs, and the yolks of five in a basin. Pour one pint of boiling milk over this paste, stirring it briskly the while; add a grain of salt and the selected aromatic essence, and set the saucepan on the fire, that the Frangipan may cook. Do not cease stirring this cream while it is cooking, for it easily burns.

Let it boil a few minutes; pour it into a bowl, and combine three oz. of fresh butter and two tablespoonfuls of dry, crushed macaroons with it. When the whole is well mixed, smooth the surface of the custard with a well-buttered spoon, so that no crust may form while the cooling progresses.

2400—FRANGIPAN FOR FRIED CREAM

Proceed as above, but so apportion the quantities as to obtain a very firm cream. The quantities should be as follows:—Six oz. of flour, six oz. of sugar, ten egg-yolks, four whole eggs, one quart of milk, and one oz. of butter.

When this cream is cooked, spread it in a layer one inch thick on a buttered tray or on a marble slab; carefully butter its surface, and let it cool before using it.

Cold Custards

2401—PASTRY CREAM

Mix one lb. of powdered sugar with four oz. of flour and twelve egg-yolks, and dilute with one quart of boiling milk. Cook this cream, stirring it continually the while; and, as soon as it boils, add to it a few drops of orange-flower water and four gelatine leaves, softened in cold water. Boil the cream a few minutes; take it off the fire, and, while stirring it briskly, carefully combine with it twelve egg-whites, beaten to a stiff froth.

N.B.—Some operators call this St. Honoré cream (for, as a matter of fact, it serves chiefly in the garnishing of sweets bearing that name), and give the name of Pastry cream to the same preparation minus the egg-whites and the gelatine. I prefer to abide by the principle given above, and to consider the cream without whisked egg-whites merely as a Frangipan, with which it has many points in common.

Pastry cream may be flavoured according to fancy. The addition of the gelatine is not necessary when the cream is to be served immediately, or when it only has a moment or two to wait. But it is indispensable to prevent the decomposition of the preparation, especially in hot weather, if it have to wait at all.

2402—WHIPPED OR CHANTILLY CREAM

Nothing could be simpler or more exquisite than this preparation, which is obtained by whipping the best cream (kept fresh for twenty-four hours in ice) over ice. The cream speedily increases in volume and becomes frothy. The operation should then be stopped, lest the cream turn to butter, and there should be immediately added to the former four oz. of powdered sugar (part of which should be the vanilla kind) per quart, and then the preparation should be placed in the cool until required.

N.B.—The addition of a little dissolved or powdered tragacanth gum to the cream allows of a more frothy cream being obtained, but the result is neither as fresh nor as perfect in taste when it is not combined with a sweet or ice preparation.

Various Preparations for Entremets

2403—PREPARATIONS FOR PANCAKES AND PANNEQUETS

Preparation A.—Put into a basin one lb. of sifted flour, six oz. of powdered sugar, and a pinch of table-salt. Dilute with ten eggs and one quart of milk, added by degrees. Flavour with one heaped tablespoonful of orange, lemon or vanilla sugar, which should form part of the total weight of sugar prescribed; or with one-eighth pint of some liqueur such as brandy, kirsch, rum, &c., which should form part of the total moistening.

Preparation B.—Dilute one lb. of flour, three and one-half oz. of powdered sugar and a pinch of salt, with nine eggs and a half-pint of cream. Add one-eighth pint of brandy, two and a half-oz. of melted butter and one and a half-pints of milk. Pass the whole through a fine strainer, and finish it with one-eighth pint of orgeat syrup (or almond milk) and three oz. of finely-crushed macaroons.

Preparation C.—Dilute one lb. of flour, three and a half oz. of powdered sugar and a pinch of table salt in nine eggs. Stir the mixture well; add to it a half-pint of raw cream and one pint of milk. Finish with a half-pint of whipped cream, and flavour as fancy may suggest.

Preparation D.—Dilute one lb. of flour, three and a half oz. of powdered sugar and a pinch of salt, in five eggs and the yolks of three. Add one and three-quarter pints of milk and five egg-whites whisked to a stiff froth.

Flavour according to fancy.

2404—RICE PREPARATION FOR ENTREMETS

Wash one lb. of Carolina or Patna rice; cover it with plenty of cold water; boil, and drain it the moment it has boiled. Wash it once more in lukewarm water; drain it, and set it to cook with two pints of boiled milk, two-thirds lb. of sugar, a pinch of salt and three oz. of butter.

Flavour with a stick of vanilla or a few strips of orange or lemon rind, strung together with cotton. When the liquor begins to boil, cover the saucepan; place it in the oven, and let it cook gently for twenty or twenty-five minutes, without once touching the rice the while.

On withdrawing it from the oven, thicken it with the yolks of sixteen eggs, which should be mixed with it by means of a fork in such wise as not to break the rice grains, which ought to remain whole.

N.B.—In some cases, the milk and the sugar may be replaced (for the cooking process) by an equal amount of syrup at 12° (Saccharometer).

2405—SOUFFLÉ PREPARATIONS

Soufflé preparations are of two kinds:—

(1) Those prepared with cream, which if necessary may serve for all soufflés; (2) those with a fruit-purée base, which allow of a more pronounced flavour for fruit soufflés than if these were prepared with cream.

Cream-soufflé Preparation for Four People.—Boil one-sixth pint of milk with one oz. of sugar; add a tablespoonful of flour diluted in a little cold milk; cook for two minutes, and finish, away from the fire, with a piece of butter the size of a walnut, and two egg-yolks with three whites whisked to a stiff froth.

Soufflé Preparation for a Big Party.—Thoroughly mix half-lb. of flour, half-lb. of sugar, four eggs and the yolks of three, in a saucepan. Dilute with one quart of boiling milk; add a stick of vanilla; boil, and cook for two minutes, stirring incessantly the while.

Finish, away from the fire, with four oz. of butter, five egg-yolks, and twelve whites, whisked to a very stiff froth.

Soufflé Preparation with a Fruit Base.—Take one lb. of sugar cooked to the small-crack stage; add thereto one lb. of the pulp or purée of the fruit under treatment, and ten egg-whites, beaten to a stiff froth.

Proceed thus: Having cooked the sugar to the extent stated above, add to it the fruit pulp. If the latter reduces the sugar a stage or two, cook it afresh in order to return it to the small-crack stage; and, when this is reached, pour it over the whites.

Dishing and Cooking of Soufflés.—Whatever the soufflés may consist of, dish them in a timbale, or in a special false-bottomed dish, buttered and sugared inside. Cook in a somewhat moderate oven, that the heat may reach the centre of the soufflé by degrees.

Two minutes before withdrawing the soufflé from the oven, sprinkle it with icing sugar, which, when it becomes caramel upon the surface of the soufflé, constitutes the glazing.

The decoration of soufflés is optional, and, in any case, should not be overdone.

Hot Sauces for Entremets

2406—ENGLISH SAUCE

See the Custard recipe (No. 2397).

2407—CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Dissolve half-lb. of grated chocolate in two-thirds pint of water. Add a tablespoonful of vanilla sugar; cook gently for twenty-five minutes, and complete at the last moment with three tablespoonfuls of cream and a piece of best butter, the size of a walnut.

2408—SABAYON

Mix one lb. of powdered sugar with twelve egg-yolks, in a basin, until the mixture has whitened slightly. Dilute with one quart of dry, white wine; pour the whole in a narrow bain-marie, which should be placed in a receptacle containing boiling water, and whisk it until it is four times its former size, and is firm and frothy.

N.B.—Sabayon may also be made with milk instead of white wine, and it may be flavoured according to fancy.

2409—FRUIT SAUCE

Apricots, red-currants, greengages and mirabelle plums are the best fruits for sweet sauces. Other fruits, such as peaches, William pears, apples, &c., may also be used in the form of light purées or cullises.

2410—APRICOT SAUCE

Rub some very ripe or stewed apricots through a sieve, and thin the purée with the required quantity of syrup at 28° (Saccharom.). Boil, skimming carefully the while; take off the fire when the sauce veneers the withdrawn spoon, and flavour according to fancy.

If this sauce is to be used with crusts, a little best butter may be added to it.

2411—RED-CURRANT SAUCE

Melt some red-currant jelly and flavour it with kirsch.

This sauce may be slightly thickened with arrowroot.

2412—SAUCE ORANGE

Rub some orange marmalade through a sieve; add thereto one-third of its bulk of apricot sauce, and flavour with curaçao.

2413—HAZEL-NUT SAUCE

Flavour some English custard with an infusion of grilled hazel-nuts, and add two tablespoonfuls of moulded filbert pralin per quart of custard.

2414—GREENGAGE OR MIRABELLE SAUCE

Proceed as for apricot sauce and flavour with kirsch.

2415—CHERRY SAUCE

Take the syrup of some stewed cherries, add an equal quantity of red-currant jelly, and flavour with kirsch.

2416—RASPBERRY SAUCE

Take the required quantity of melted raspberry jelly; thicken it slightly with arrowroot, and flavour with kirsch.

2417—STRAWBERRY SAUCE

Proceed as for No. 2416.

2418—THICKENED SYRUPS

These accompaniments of sweets, which are commonly used in Germany, have this in their favour, that they are economical; but they should be used in moderation. To make them, take some syrup at 15°, thickened with arrowroot, coloured according to the purpose for which it is required, and flavoured with some liqueur or essence at the last moment.

It is with this kind of sauce that flawns and all other sorts of tartlets are coated in northern countries.

HOT SWEETS

Fritters

The numerous fritter recipes for sweets may all be grouped into five leading classes, viz.:—

(1) Fruit fritters.

(2) Custard fritters.

(3) Viennese fritters.

(4) Souffléd fritters.

(5) Sundry other fritters which are more or less like the four former ones without entirely resembling them.

2419—Class 1. FRESH FRUIT AND FLOWER FRITTERS

Subject to the treatment undergone by them, fruits for fritters are of two kinds: firm fruits, such as apples and pears, and aqueous fruits, such as strawberries, &c.

2420Ex. APRICOT FRITTERS

Select some apricots that are not over-ripe; cut them in two; sprinkle them with sugar, and set them to macerate for an hour in kirsch, brandy, or rum, subject to the consumers’ tastes. A few minutes before serving, dry the halved apricots, dip them in batter (No. 234), and fry them in hot fat. Drain them on a napkin; set the fritters on a tray; cover them with icing sugar, and glaze them in a hot oven or at the salamander. Dish them on a napkin, and serve them at once.

N.B.—Proceed in precisely the same way for Apple, Pear, Peach, or Banana fritters.

2421—AQUEOUS-FRUIT FRITTERS Ex. STRAWBERRY FRITTERS

Select some large, somewhat firm strawberries; sugar them copiously; sprinkle them with kirsch, and let them macerate on ice for thirty minutes.

It is most essential that the strawberries be well sugared before macerating, because the heat of the fat sours them while the fritters are being fried, and they consequently become tart.

A few minutes before serving, drain the strawberries, dip them in batter (No. 234), and plunge them into very hot fat. Drain them, dish them on lace paper, and sprinkle them with icing sugar, by means of a dredger.

N.B.—The procedure is the same for Raspberry, Red-currant, Cherry, Orange, and Tangerine fritters. For the last-named, it is better to quarter them and peel them raw, than to slice them.

2422—FLOWER FRITTERS. Ex. ACACIA-FLOWER FRITTERS

Select some blown acacia flowers; besprinkle them with sugar and liqueur brandy, and leave them to macerate for thirty minutes.

Dip them in batter (No. 234); plunge them into plenty of hot fat; drain them; sprinkle them with best sugar and dish them on a napkin.

N.B.—Proceed as above for Elder-flower, Lily, and Vegetable-marrow-flower fritters; but in the case of the last two, the quartered corollæ, alone, are used.

2423—CUSTARD FRITTERS OR FRIED CREAM

Custard fritters may be prepared in the three following totally different ways.

1st Method.—Cut up preparation No. 2400 with a round, square, or lozenge-shaped fancy cutter, as taste may dictate. Treat the resulting pieces of custard twice à l’anglaise, using very fine and fresh bread-crumbs for the purpose. Press upon the bread-crumbs with the blade of a knife that they may adhere properly, and fry the pieces of cream in very hot fat. On taking the fritters out of the fat sprinkle them with icing sugar, and dish them on a napkin.

N.B.—Instead of treating these fritters à l’anglaise, they may be dipped into batter and treated as directed in the case of Apricot fritters.

2nd Method.—Prepare a custard as for a “crème renversée” (No. 2639), using only whole eggs, that it may be firm; and poach it in a utensil of a shape which will facilitate the cutting-up of the preparation. When the latter is quite cool, cut it up as fancy may suggest; dip the pieces in batter (No. 234) and plunge them in plenty of hot fat. Drain them on a piece of linen; sprinkle them with icing sugar; glaze them in a fierce oven, and dish them on a napkin.

3rd Method.—Prepare some common-shaped meringues, and keep them very dry.

When they have cooled, open them slightly on top, and, through the hole in each, fill them either with a Bavarois preparation, with some kind of ice-cream, or with a fruit salpicon thickened with stewed apricots or plums. Close the holes with the pieces that were cut out, and place the meringues in the refrigerator for an hour.

When about to serve them, quickly treat them à l’anglaise; set them (opened side uppermost) in a frying-basket, and dip them for a few seconds in smoking fat. Withdraw them as soon as their crusts have acquired a golden colour; sprinkle them with icing sugar; dish them on a napkin, and serve them immediately.

2424—VIENNESE FRITTERS

Quantities for the paste of Viennese fritters: one lb. of flour; six oz. of butter; half oz. of yeast; five eggs; half oz. of salt; two-third oz. of sugar; and one-sixth pint of milk. This paste is prepared exactly like Brioche paste (No. 2368).

In any case, as it has to be worked with the rolling-pin, always keep it a little firm.

2425—HOT VIENNESE FRITTERS

Roll out a piece of the paste given above to a thickness of one-fifth inch.

Spread upon it, at regular intervals, small quantities (about the size of a large walnut) either of stewed fruit or jam. Moisten slightly; cover with a second layer of paste, of the same size and thickness as the former; press upon it with the back of a round cutter, so as to ensure the joining of the two layers of paste, and then stamp the whole out with an even cutter two and a half inches in diameter.

Set the fritters on a tray covered with a flour-dusted piece of linen; let the paste ferment for thirty minutes, and then fry them in plenty of hot fat. Drain them; sprinkle them with icing sugar and dish them on a napkin.

N.B.—These fritters may be accompanied by frothy sauces, flavoured with vanilla, lemon, orange, coffee, or kirsch, &c., the type of which is the Sabayon with cream.

2426—COLD VIENNESE FRITTERS

Roll out a piece of the paste prescribed, which should be kept somewhat soft, and stamp it out with a round cutter two and a half inches in diameter. Set half of these roundels of paste on buttered sheets of paper, lying on trays; garnish them either with stewed fruit or jam; slightly moisten their edges; cover them with the remaining roundels of paste, and let the paste ferment for thirty minutes.

A few minutes before serving, grasp the ends of the sheets of paper; plunge the fritters into plenty of hot fat, and withdraw the sheets of paper as soon as the fritters fall from them.

Drain them as soon as they begin to colour; and plunge them immediately into a light, hot syrup, flavoured as fancy may dictate. Withdraw them as soon as they are beginning to be saturated, and serve them cold.

N.B.—In the case of either of these two methods of serving Viennese fritters, the latter, which are served under the name of “fritters à la Dauphine,” may be garnished with fruit salpicons or cream preparations.

Souffléd Fritters

2427—ORDINARY SOUFFLÉD FRITTERS

Put one pint of water, three and a half oz. of butter, a pinch of salt and two pinches of sugar into a saucepan. Boil; take the utensil off the fire in order to add two-thirds lb. of sifted flour, and mix up the whole. Then dry this paste as directed for pâte à choux (No. 2373); and finish it, away from the fire, with seven eggs, added one by one.

Flavour according to taste.

Take this paste in portions, the size of small walnuts; put these portions in moderately hot fat, and gradually increase the heat of the latter, so as to ensure the rising of the paste.

When the fritters are quite dry outside, drain them; dish them on a napkin, and sprinkle them with icing sugar.

2428—SOUFFLÉD FRITTERS “EN SURPRISE”

Prepare the fritters exactly like the preceding ones. When taking them out of the fat, open them slightly and garnish them, by means of the piping-bag, either with stewed fruit, jam, a very fine, thickened salpicon of fruit, or some kind of cream, especially frangipan or pastry cream.

Various Fritters

2429—PINEAPPLE FRITTERS “A LA FAVORITE”

Cut the pineapple into roundels, one-third inch thick; cut each roundel in two; sprinkle the half-discs with sugar and kirsch, and let them macerate for thirty minutes. Then dry them and dip them into a very thick and almost cold frangipan cream, combined with chopped pistachios. Set the cream-coated roundels on a tray, and let them cool completely.

A little while before serving, detach the roundels from the tray; dip them in somewhat thin batter, and fry them in plenty of hot fat.

Drain them; sprinkle them with icing sugar; glaze them in a fierce oven, and dish them on a napkin.

2430—FRITTERS “A LA BOURGEOISE”

Cut a stale brioche crown into slices, one-third inch thick, and dip these into fresh, sugared cream, flavoured according to fancy. Drain them; dry them slightly; dip them into thin batter, and fry them in very hot fat.

Drain them; sprinkle them with sugar, and dish them on a napkin.

2431—SYLVANA FRITTERS

Hollow out some small round brioches, preserving the crusts for covers, and dip them in some thin, sugared and flavoured fresh cream. Then garnish them with a small fruit salpicon with kirsch; cover this with the reserved covers; dip them into thin batter, and fry them in plenty of hot fat.

Drain them; dish them on a napkin, and sprinkle them with icing sugar.

2432—FRITTERS “A LA GRAND-MÈRE

Spread upon a moistened tray a layer half inch thick of very reduced, stewed fruit. Cut it up according to fancy; dip the pieces in batter (No. 234), and fry them in plenty of hot fat.

On withdrawing the fritters from the fat, sprinkle them with icing sugar and set them to glaze in a fierce oven.

2433—REGINA FRITTERS

Shape some lady’s-finger biscuits (preparation No. 2378) into large half-balls, one and a half inch in diameter; bake these in a moderate oven and cool them. Then hollow out these half-balls; garnish them with apricot or some other jam; join them in couples, and dip them so as to thoroughly soak them in some fresh cream flavoured with maraschino.

Drain them; treat them à l’anglaise with very fine bread-crumbs, and fry them in plenty of hot fat.

Drain them; dish them on a napkin, and sprinkle them with icing sugar.

2434—MINION FRITTERS

Proceed as above, but substitute for biscuit half-balls soft macaroons, saturated with kirsch syrup. For the rest of the operation, follow the procedure of No. 2433.

2435—FRITTERS A LA SUZON

Make a preparation of “rice for entremets,” and spread it in a thin layer upon a tray, to cool. Divide it up into discs three and a half inches in diameter; garnish the centre of these with a very stiff fruit salpicon; roll the discs into balls, so as to enclose the salpicon; dip these balls into thin batter, and fry them in plenty of hot fat.

Drain them; dish them on a napkin, and sprinkle them with icing sugar.

Charlottes

2436—APPLE CHARLOTTE

Copiously butter a quart Charlotte-mould. Garnish its bottom with heart-shaped croûtons of bread-crumb, slightly overlapping one another; and garnish its sides with rectangles of bread of exactly the same height as the mould, and also slightly overlapping one another. The croûtons and the rectangles should be one-eighth inch thick, and ought to have been dipped in melted butter before taking their place in the mould.

Meanwhile, quarter twelve fine russet apples; peel, slice, and cook them in a sautépan with one oz. of butter, two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, and half the rind of a lemon and a little cinnamon—both tied into a faggot.

When the apples are cooked, and reduced to a thick purée, remove the faggot of aromatics and add three tablespoonfuls of stewed apricots.

Fill up the mould with this preparation, and remember to shape the latter in a projecting dome above the mould; for it settles in cooking.

Bake in a good, moderate oven for from thirty to thirty-five minutes.

2437—CHARLOTTE DE POMMES, EMILE GIRET

Prepare the Charlotte as directed above, but in a shallow mould.

When it is moulded on the dish, completely cover it with an even coat, half inch thick, of very firm “pastry cream” (No. 2401), and take care not to spoil the shape of the Charlotte.

Sprinkle the cream copiously with icing sugar; then, with a red-hot iron, criss-cross the Charlotte regularly all round; pressing the iron upon the sugar-sprinkled cream.

Surround the base of the Charlotte with a row of beads made by means of the piping-bag, from the same cream as that already used.

2438—VARIOUS CHARLOTTES

Charlottes may be made with pears, peaches, apricots, &c., after the same procedure as that directed under No. 2436. The most important point to be remembered in their preparation is that the stewed fruit used should be very stiff; otherwise it so softens the shell of bread that the Charlotte collapses as soon as it is turned out.

It is no less important that the mould should be as full as possible of the preparation used; for, as already explained, the latter settles in the cooking process.

2439—CRÈME A LA RÉGENCE

Saturate half a pound of “Biscuits àbain-marie for about thirty-five minutes.

Let the mould rest for a few minutes; turn out its contents on a dish and surround the base of the cream with a crown of stewed half-apricots, each garnished with a preserved cherry. Coat the whole with an apricot syrup, flavoured with Kirsch and Maraschino.

2440—CRÈME MERINGUÉE

Prepare some “Crème àbain-marie; turn out on a dish, and garnish the middle of the border with Italian meringue (No.2383), combined with a salpicon of preserved fruit, macerated in Kirsch.

Decorate the border by means of a piping-bag, fitted with a grooved pipe and filled with plain, Italian meringue, without the fruit; and set to brown in a moderate oven.

Serve an orange-flavoured, English custard separately.

2441—VILLAGE CUSTARD

Saturate five ounces of dry biscuits with Kirsch and Anisette, and set them in a deep dish in layers, alternated with coatings of stewed, seasonable fruit, such as pears, apples, etc.

Cover the whole with the following preparation: one-half pound of powdered sugar mixed with eight eggs and the yolks of four, and diluted with one and three-quarter pints of milk. Poach in a bain-marie, in the oven.

2442—CUSTARD PUDDING

Custard pudding is a form of the English custard mentioned under No. 2397.

The difference between the two is that for the former whole eggs are used instead of the yolks alone, and that it is prepared according to the second method only. The average quantities for the preparation are:

Six eggs and six ounces of sugar per quart of milk. The custard is cooked in pie-dishes in a bain-marie, which should be placed in the oven or in a steamer.

According as to whether the custard be required milky or thick, the number of eggs is either lessened or increased. In regard to the sugar, the guide should be the consumers’ tastes. If necessary, it may be suppressed altogether, and saccharine or glycerine may be used in its stead, as is customary for diabetic patients.

Custard is generally flavoured with vanilla, but any other flavour suited to sweets may be used with it.

Pancakes. (See preparations No. 2403.)

2443—CONVENT PANCAKES

Pour into a buttered and hot omelet-pan some preparation A, sprinkle thereon some William pears, cut into small dice; cover the latter with some more preparation A; toss the pancake in order to turn it; sprinkle it with powdered sugar, dish it on a napkin and serve it burning-hot.

2444—GEORGETTE PANCAKES

Proceed as for Convent pancakes, but substitute for pear-dice some very thin slices of pine-apple, macerated in Maraschino.

2445—GIL-BLAS PANCAKES

Make the following preparation: work three ounces of best butter in a bowl until it acquires the consistence of a pomade. Mix therewith three ounces of powdered sugar, three tablespoonfuls of liqueur brandy, a piece of butter the size of a filbert, and a few drops of lemon juice.

Make the pancakes with preparation C; spread the prepared butter upon them; fold each pancake twice, and dish them on a napkin.

2446—PANCAKES A LA NORMANDE

Proceed as for Convent Pancakes, but for the pear dice substitute fine slices of apple, previously sautéd in butter.

2447—PANCAKES A LA PARISIENNE

These are made from preparation B, and are ungarnished.

2448—PANCAKES A LA PAYSANNE

Make these from preparation B (the orgeat syrup and the macaroons being suppressed), and flavour with orange-flower water.

2449—PANCAKES A LA RUSSE

Add to preparation C, a quarter of its volume of broken biscuits saturated with kümmel and liqueur brandy, and make the pancakes in the usual way.

2450—SUZETTE PANCAKES

Make these from preparation A, flavoured with curaçao

Croquettes.

2451—CHESTNUT CROQUETTES

Peel the chestnuts after one of the ways directed (No. 2172), and cook them in a thin syrup, flavoured with vanilla. Reserve one small, whole chestnut for each croquette. Rub the remainder through a sieve; dry the purée over a fierce fire, and thicken it with five egg-yolks and one and a half oz. of butter per lb. of purée. Let it cool.

Then divide the preparation up into portions the size of pigeons’ eggs, and roll these portions into balls, with a chestnut in the centre of each.

Treat them à l’anglaise with some very fine bread-crumbs; fry them in some very hot fat, and dish them on a napkin.

Serve a vanilla-flavoured apricot sauce, separately.

2452—RICE CROQUETTES

Make a preparation as directed under No. 2404. Divide it up into two-oz. portions, moulded to the shape of such fruit as pears apples, apricots, etc.; treat these à l’anglaise, like the chestnut croquettes, and fry them in the same way.

Serve an apricot sauce or a vanilla-flavoured Sabayon separately.

2453—VARIOUS CROQUETTES

Croquettes may also be made from tapioca, semolina, vermicelli or fresh noodles, etc., in which case the procedure is that of the Rice Croquettes.

The preparation may be combined with currants and sultanas, and the croquettes are served with any suitable sauce.

Crusts.

2454—CROÛTE AUX FRUITS

Cut some slices one-fifth inch thick from a stale Savarin which has not been moistened with syrup, and allow two for each person. Set these slices on a tray; sprinkle them with icing sugar, and put them in the oven so as to dry and glaze them at the same time. Arrange them in a circle round a cushion of fried bread-crumbs, and between each lay a slice of pine-apple of exactly the same size as the slices.

Upon this crown of crusts, set some quartered apples and some stewed pears. The pears may be stewed in a pinkish syrup, which, by varying the colours, makes the croûte more sightly.

Decorate with preserved cherries, lozenges of angelica, quartered yellow and green chinois, etc. Fix a small, turned and white or pink pear on the top of the cushion, by means of a hatelet, and coat with an apricot sauce, flavoured with Kirsch.

2455—CROÛTE A LA LYONNAISE

Prepare the crusts as described above, and coat them with a smooth chestnut purée, flavoured with vanilla; then, cover them with an apricot purée, cooked to the small-thread stage; sprinkle with finely-splintered and slightly-browned almonds, and dish in a circle.

Garnish the middle of the circle with chestnuts cooked in syrup, and pipped Malaga raisins, currants, and sultanas (washed and swelled in tepid water); the whole cohered with an apricot purée thinned with a few tablespoonsful of Malaga wine.

2456—CROÛTE AU MADÈRE

Dish the glazed crusts in a circle as already described. Pour into their midst a garnish consisting of equal parts of pipped, Malaga raisins, currants, and sultanas, swelled in tepid water and moistened with a Madeira-flavoured, apricot syrup.

2457—CROÛTE A LA MARÉCHALE

Cut from a stale mousseline brioche, some triangles of the same thickness as the ordinary crusts. Coat them with pralin (No. 2352), and then set them on a tray; sprinkle them with sugar glaze, and dry the pralin in a moderate oven.

Stick a fried-bread-crumb cushion, four inches high, on a dish, and surround it with a salpicon of pineapple, raisins, cherries, and sugared orange-rind, cohered with some stiff stewed apples, combined with a little apricot purée. Set the pralin-coated triangles upright alongside of the salpicon, and surround them with a border of half-pears, stewed in syrup, half their quantity being white and the other pink.

On the top of the cushion, set a small pear, cooked in pink syrup, which fix with a small hatelet, surround the border of half-pears with a thread of apricot purée, flavoured slightly with vanilla, and serve a sauceboat of the same purée separately.

2458—CROÛTE A LA NORMANDE

Prepare the crusts as indicated under No. 2454, coat them with very stiffly stewed apples, and dish them in a circle.

Garnish their midst with stewed apples, prepared as for a Charlotte, and upon the apples set a pyramid of quartered, white and pink apples, cooked in syrup. Cover with reduced apple syrup, thickened with a little very smooth stewed apples flavoured with Kirsch or old rum.

2459—CROÛTE A LA PARISIENNE

Coat the crusts with pralin, as explained under No. 2457, and dish them in a circle. In their midst set some thin slices of pine-apple, the ends of which should rest upon the circle of crusts; in the middle, pour a garnish of various fruits, cohered with an apricot purée, flavoured with Madeira, and coat the circle of crusts with apricot syrup flavoured with Madeira.

2460—CROÛTE AUX ABRICOTS AU MARASQUIN

Cook some Savarin paste in buttered tartlet moulds. When these tartlets are cooked, hollow them out at the top, taking care to leave a somewhat thick border all round.

Coat them inside with pralin (No. 2352), and dry them in a moderate oven. Then garnish the centre of the tartlets with frangipan cream, combined with filbert pralin. Upon this cream set a stoned apricot poached in Maraschino.

Surround the apricot with small, candied half-cherries, alternated with lozenges of angelica. Serve an apricot sauce, flavoured with Maraschino, separately.

2461—CROÛTE VICTORIA

Prepare a crust after No. 2456, and garnish the centre with candied cherries and glazed chestnuts. Serve an apricot sauce, flavoured with rum, separately.

OMELETS.

Sweet omelets may be divided into four distinct classes, which are:—

1. Liqueur omelets.

2. Jam omelets.

3. Souffléd omelets.

4. Surprise omelets

Omelets with Liqueur.

2462—Example: OMELET WITH RUM

Season the omelet with sugar and a little salt, and cook it in the usual way. Set it on a long dish, sprinkle it with sugar and heated rum, and set a light to it on bringing it to the table.

Jam Omelets.

2463—Example: APRICOT OMELET

Season the omelet as above, and, when about to roll it up, garnish it inside with two tablespoonfuls of apricot jam per six eggs. Set on a long dish; sprinkle with icing sugar, and either criss-cross the surface with a red-hot iron or glaze the omelet at the salamander.

2464—XMAS OMELET

Beat the eggs with salt and sugar and add, per six eggs: two tablespoonfuls of cream, a pinch of orange or lemon rind, and one tablespoonful of rum. When about to roll up the omelet, garnish it copiously with mincemeat, set it on a long dish; sprinkle it with heated rum, and set it alight at the table.

Souffléd Omelets.

2465—Example: SOUFFLÉD OMELET WITH VANILLA

Mix eight oz. of sugar and eight egg-yolks in a basin, until the mixture has whitened slightly, and draws up in ribbons when the spatula is pulled out of it. Add ten egg-whites, beaten to a very stiff froth, and mix the two preparations gently; cutting and raising the whole with the spoon.

Set this preparation on a long, buttered and sugar-dusted dish, in the shape of an oval mound, and take care to put some of it aside in a piping-bag.

Smooth it all round with the blade of a knife; decorate according to fancy with the contents of the piping-bag, and cook in a good, moderate oven, for as long as the size of the omelet requires.

Two minutes before withdrawing it from the oven, sprinkle it with icing sugar, that the latter, when melted, may cover the omelet with a brilliant coat.

Flavour according to fancy, with vanilla, orange or lemon rind, rum, Kirsch, &c.; but remember to add the selected flavour to the preparation before the egg-whites are added to it.

Surprise Omelets.

2466—Example: NORWEGIAN OMELET

Place an oval cushion one and one half in. thick of Génoise upon a long dish, and let the cushion be as long as the desired omelet. Upon this cushion set a pyramid of ice-cream with fruit. Cover the ice-cream with ordinary meringue (No. 2382); smooth it with a knife, making it of an even thickness of two-thirds of an inch in so doing; decorate it, by means of the piping-bag, with the same meringue, and set in a very hot oven, that the meringue may cook and colour quickly, without the heat reaching the ice inside.

2467—SURPRISE OMELET MYLORD

Proceed as directed above; but garnish the cushion of Génoise with coats of vanilla ice-cream, alternated with coats of stewed pears. Cover with meringue and cook in the same way.

2468—CHINESE SURPRISE OMELET

The procedure is the same, but the vanilla ice-cream is replaced by tangerine ice. On taking the omelet out of the oven, surround it with tangerines glazed with sugar, cooked to the large-crack stage.

2469—SURPRISE OMELET WITH CHERRIES

Garnish the cushion of Génoise with red-currant ice, flavoured with raspberries and mixed with equal quantities of cherry ice and half-sugared cherries, macerated in Kirsch.

Finish it like the Norwegian Omelet.

On taking it out of the oven, surround the omelet with drained cherries, preserved in brandy, and sprinkle it with heated Kirsch, to which set a light at the table.

2470—SURPRISE OMELET MILADY: also called MILADY PEACH

This is a surprise omelet, garnished with very firm raspberry ice, in which are incrusted a circle of fine peaches, poached in vanilla.

The whole is then covered with Italian meringue, flavoured with Maraschino, and laid in suchwise that those portions of the peaches which project from the glaze remain bare.

Decorate the surface of the omelet with the same meringue; sprinkle it with icing sugar, and set it to a glaze quickly.

2471—SURPRISE OMELET “A LA NAPOLITAINE” otherwise “BOMBE VESUVE”

Garnish the cushion of Génoise with coats of vanilla and strawberry ice, alternated with layers of broken candied-chestnut. Cover the whole with Italian meringue prepared with Kirsch, which keep flat and somewhat thick towards the centre. On top, set a barquette of a size in proportion to the omelet, made by means of the piping-bag with ordinary meringue and baked in the oven without colouration. Decorate with Italian meringue, covering the barquette in so doing, and quickly brown the omelet in the oven. When about to serve, garnish the omelet with Jubilee cherries (No. 2566), which set alight at the last moment.

2472—SURPRISE OMELET ELIZABETH

Garnish the cushion of Génoise with vanilla ice and crystallised-violets.

Cover it with meringue; decorate its surface with crystallised-violets, and treat the omelet as in No. 2466.

When about to serve it, cover the omelet with a veil of spun sugar.

2473—SURPRISE OMELET “A L’ISLANDAISE”

Make the cushion of Génoise round instead of oval; set it on a round dish, and garnish it with some sort of ice, which should be shaped like a truncated cone. Cover with meringue; set a small case on the top, made from meringue, as explained under No. 2471, but round instead of oval; conceal all but its inside with meringue, decorating the omelet in so doing, and set to brown quickly.

When about to serve, pour a glassful of heated rum into the meringue case and set it alight.

2474—SYLPHS’ OMELET

Dip a freshly-cooked savarin into a syrup of maraschino, and stick it on a base of dry paste exactly equal in size.

In the centre of the savarin set a cushion of Génoise sufficiently thick to reach half-way up the former.

At the last moment, turn out upon this cushion an iced strawberry mousse, made in an iced madeleine-mould, the diameter of which should be that of the bore of the savarin. Cover the mousse with a coat of Italian meringue with kirsch, shaping it like a cone of which the base rests upon the top of the savarin.

By means of a piping-bag, fitted with a small pipe, quickly decorate the cone, as also the savarin, with the same meringue; colour it in the oven, and serve it instantly.

2475—VARIOUS SURPRISE OMELETS

With the generic example given this kind of omelets may be indefinitely varied by changing the ice preparation inside.

The superficial appearance remains the same, but every change in the inside garnish should be made known in the title of the dish.

Pannequets.

2476—PANNEQUETS WITH JAM

Prepare some very thin pancakes; coat them with some kind of jam, roll them up, trim them aslant at either end, and cut them into two lozenges.

Place these lozenges on a tray, sprinkle them with icing sugar, set them to glaze in a fierce oven, and dish them on a napkin.

2477—PANNEQUETS A LA CRÈME

Coat the pancakes with frangipan cream, and sprinkle the latter with crushed macaroons. For the rest of the procedure follow No. 2476.

2478—PANNEQUETS MERINGUÉS

Coat the pancakes with Italian meringue, flavoured with kirsch and maraschino; roll them up, cut them into lozenges as above, and set them on a tray. Decorate them by means of the piping-bag with the same meringue; sprinkle them with icing sugar, and set them to colour quickly in the oven.

2479—PUDDINGS

English puddings are almost innumerable; but many of them lie more within the pastrycook’s than the cook’s province, and their enumeration here could not serve a very useful purpose. The name Pudding is, moreover, applied to a whole host of preparations which are really nothing more than custards—as, for example, “custard pudding.” If both of the foregoing kinds of puddings be passed over, puddings proper which belong to hot sweets may be divided into eight classes, of which I shall first give the generic recipes, from which all pudding entremets given hereafter are derived. The eight classes are:—