SWEET DISHES.

[In making blanc-mange, custards, ice-creams, &c., do not boil the milk in a sauce-pan, but set it, in a tin pail, into a kettle of boiling water. The milk does not rise, when boiled thus, as it does in a sauce-pan, but when the top is covered with foam, it boils enough.

In making ice cream, it is an improvement to churn the cream until it becomes frothy, before adding the other ingredients.]

Apple Island.

Stew apple enough to make a quart, strain it through a sieve, sweeten it with fine white sugar, and flavor it with lemon or rose. Beat the whites of six eggs to a hard froth, and stir into the apple slowly; but do not do this till just before it is to be served. The apples should be stewed with as little water as possible. Put it into a glass dish. Serve a nice boiled custard, made of the yolks of the eggs, to eat with it.

Apple Snow.

Put twelve large apples, without paring, into cold water enough to stew them. Boil them slowly; when they are very soft strain them through a sieve; beat the whites of twelve eggs to a stiff froth, then add to them half a pound of fine white sugar, and when these are well mixed, add the apple, and beat all together, until white as snow. Then lay it in the centre of a deep dish, heap it high as you can, and pour around it a nice boiled custard made of a quart of milk, and eight of the yolks of the eggs.

Floating Island.

Put the juice of two lemons, the whites of two eggs, three spoonfuls of currant jelly, and a gill and a half of fine sugar together and beat to a stiff froth; then put it into the middle of the dish, dress it with sweetmeats, and just before it is served, pour into the dish cream enough to float it.

Arrow-root Blanc-mange.

To three large spoonfuls of pure Jamaica arrow-root, a quart of milk, a large spoonful of fine sugar, a spoonful of rose-water, and a little salt. Reserve a gill of milk to wet the arrow-root, and boil the rest. When it boils up, stir in the arrow-root, and boil it up again a minute or two; add the sugar, salt, and rose-water, and put it into the mould.

Isinglass Blanc-mange.

Wash an ounce and a half of calf's-foot isinglass, and put it into a quart of milk over night. In the morning add three peach leaves, and boil it, slowly, twenty minutes or half an hour. Strain it into a dish upon a small teacupful of fine sugar. If it is to be served soon, add two or three beaten eggs while it is hot. Put it into the mould and set in a cool place. In hot weather this should be made over night if wanted at dinner the next day, as it hardens slowly.

Calf's Foot Blanc-mange.

Put four calf's feet into four quarts of water; boil it away to one quart, strain it, and set it aside. When cool, remove all the fat, and in cutting the jelly out of the pan, take care to avoid the sediment. Put to it a quart of new milk, and sweeten it with fine sugar. If you season it with cinnamon or lemon peel, put it in before boiling; if with rose or peach-water, afterwards; or, if you choose, boil peach leaves in it. Boil it ten minutes, strain it through a fine sieve into a pitcher, and stir it till nearly cold. Then put it into moulds.

Gelatine Blanc-mange.

Allow a quart of milk. Take a quarter of a paper of English gelatine, and put it into a gill of the milk to soften. In a quarter of an hour, set the remainder of the milk in a tin pail into a kettle of hot water, with a few sticks of cinnamon in it. When the milk boils (or foams up) add a small teaspoon of salt, and stir in the cold milk and gelatine. Stir it steadily a few minutes, till the particles of gelatine are dissolved, then put it into moulds. If lemon or some other essence is preferred to the cinnamon, add it after the pail is taken out of the hot water. A beaten egg is an improvement.

Moss Blanc-mange.

In making this blanc-mange as little moss should be used as will suffice to harden the milk. If the moss is old, more is necessary than if it is fresh. Allow half a teacupful for a quart of milk. Wash it, and put it in soak over night; in the morning, tie it up in a piece of muslin, and boil it in the milk, with sticks of cinnamon, the rind of a lemon, or peach leaves. Boil it gently twenty minutes or half an hour. Then put in half a salt-spoonful of salt, strain it upon a large spoonful of crushed sugar, and put it into a mould immediately, as it soon begins to harden. Eat it with sugar and milk or cream.

Charlotte Russe.

Make a boiled custard of a pint of milk and four eggs; season it with vanilla, or any essence you prefer; make it very sweet, and set it away to cool. Put a half an ounce of isinglass or English gelatine into a gill of milk where it will become warm. When the gelatine is dissolved, pour it into a pint of rich cream, and whip it to complete froth. When the custard is cold, stir it gently into the whip. Line a mould that holds a quart with thin slices of sponge cake, or with sponge fingers, pour the mixture into it, and set it in a cold place.

Calf's-foot Jelly.

Scald four calf's feet only enough to take off the hair, (more will extract the juices). Clean them nicely. When this is done, put them into five quarts of water and boil them until the water is half wasted; strain and set it away till the next day, then take off the fat and remove the jelly, being careful not to disturb the sediment; put the jelly into a sauce-pan with sugar, wine, and lemon juice and rind to your taste. Beat the whites and shells of five eggs, stir them in, and set it on the coals, but do not stir it after it begins to warm. Boil it twenty minutes, then add one teacupful of cold water and boil five minutes longer; set off the saucepan, and let it stand covered close half an hour. It will thus become so clear that it will need to run through the jelly bag but once.

Another (made of English Gelatine).

To one of the papers of gelatine containing an ounce and a half, put a pint of cold water; after fifteen minutes, add a quart of boiling water, and stir till the gelatine is dissolved. Then add a coffee-cup of sugar, the juice of a lemon, and the grated rind, or any other spice or essence you prefer, and just boil it up a minute. If the jelly is for an invalid, and wine is a part of the appropriate regimen, omit the lemon and spices, and add two gills of wine, after it is boiled. The gelatine is so pure, that the jelly need not be passed through a jelly-bag. This will keep several weeks in winter, and is convenient for persons who are in the habit of providing little delicacies for the sick.

Almond Custards.

Blanch and beat in a marble mortar, with two spoonfuls of rose-water, a quarter of a pound of almonds; beat the yolks of four eggs with two table-spoonfuls of sugar, mix the almonds with the eggs and sugar, and then add the whole to a pint of cream, set into a kettle of hot water in a pail. Stir it steadily till it boils. Serve in little cups.

Boiled Custards.

Put a quart of milk into a tin pail or a pitcher that holds two quarts; set it into a kettle of hot water. Tin is better than earthen, because it heats so much quicker. Put in a few sticks of cinnamon, or three peach leaves. When the milk foams up as if nearly boiling, stir in six eggs which have been beaten, with two spoonfuls of white sugar; stir it every instant, until it appears to thicken a little. Then take out the pail, and pour the custard immediately into a cold pitcher, because the heat of the pail will cook the part of the custard that touches it, too much, so that it will curdle. This is a very easy way of making custards, and none can be better. But in order to have them good, you must attend to nothing else until they are finished. You may make them as rich as you choose. A pint of milk, a pint of cream, and eight eggs will make them rich enough for any epicure. So, on the other hand, they are very good with three or four eggs only to a quart of milk, and no cream.

Another (good, and very simple).

Boil a quart of milk in the way directed in the preceding receipt, excepting one gill; beat three or four eggs with three spoonfuls of fine sugar; wet three teaspoonfuls of arrow-root in the reserved gill of milk, then mix the beaten eggs and arrow-root together, and add a little salt. When the milk in the pail boils, stir them in, and continue to stir a minute or two, till the custard thickens. Then take the pail to the table and pour the custard into china cups (as glass will crack), or else into a cold pitcher. Use what seasoning you please. The old fashion of using cinnamon is economical and very good. Boil some pieces of cinnamon a few minutes only, in two or three spoonfuls of water. Put some of this into the custard, and put what is left into a vial for another time.

The Sandwich Island arrow-root is as good as the Bermuda for such purposes, and costs a third less.

Another (still more economical).

Put a quart of milk, excepting two gills, to boil in a kettle of water; with the reserved milk mix three large spoonfuls of flour till it is entirely smooth; add a little salt, and when the milk boils stir it in. Let the mixture remain in the boiling kettle half an hour, or if most convenient, still longer, while you attend to other things; but remember to stir it often. Beat one or two eggs with two or three spoonfuls of sugar, and stir in. Then take the pail to the table, and when the custard has stood a few minutes to cool, add any essence you prefer.

Baked Custards.

Boil the milk with a stick of cinnamon in it, then set it off from the fire, and while it cools a very little, beat (for a quart of milk) five or six eggs, with three large spoonfuls of fine sugar; then stir the milk and eggs together, and pour into custard-cups, or into a single dish that is large enough. If you bake in a brick oven, it is a good way to set custard, in cups, into it, after the bread and other things have been baked. They will become hard in a few hours, and be very delicate. If you bake in a stove, or range oven, it is best to use a dish, and bake it in a very moderate heat, else it will turn, in part, to whey.