Common Currant Loaf.
Melt ¼ lb. butter in a pint of milk, and mix it with 4 oz. yeast and 2 eggs, then stir it into 2 lbs. flour, beat well with a wooden spoon, and set it before the fire to rise; then add 1 lb. currants, and 2 oz. sifted sugar, and bake it an hour in a moderate oven.
A Rich Plum Cake.
To 1 lb. each, of currants and flour, rubbed together, add 12 oz. fresh butter beaten to a cream. Beat the whites and yolks of 16 eggs, put to them nearly 1 lb. finely powdered sugar, set this mixture over the fire, and whisk it till the eggs are warm; then take it off, beat till cold, and stir in, first, the butter, then the flour and currants; beat well, add ½ oz. bitter almonds, beaten to a paste, 2 oz. sweet almonds, blanched, and cut the long way, ½ oz. pounded cinnamon and mace, and ½ lb. candied peel, either citron, lemon, or orange, or a portion of each; add a little brandy or any highly flavoured liquor. Paper a hoop and pour in the cake. An hour and a half, or two hours will bake it.—Another: beat 1 lb. butter to a cream, put to it ¾ lb. sifted sugar, and a little rose or orange flower water, beat it; then add 8 yolks of eggs, the whites of 4, ½ lb. almonds, blanched and beaten, 1½ lb. currants, a little each, of cinnamon, mace, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger, and 1 lb. flour. You may add 2 table-spoonsful of brandy, 1 oz. citron, 1 oz. candied lemon peel, and the same of orange peel. Bake two hours.
A very good Cake.
Beat 2 lbs. fresh butter, with a little rose water, till it is like cream; rub it into 2 lbs. well dried flour; add the peel of a lemon grated, 1 lb. loaf sugar pounded and sifted, 15 eggs (beat the whites by themselves, the yolks with the sugar), a ¼ pint of brandy, the same of Lisbon or Marsala, 2½ lbs. currants, ½ lb. almonds, blanched and cut in slices, beat well together, put it into a buttered tin or dish, bake two hours. Candied lemon or citron may be added.
Pound Cake.
To 1 lb. flour add 1 lb. butter beaten to a cream, and 8 eggs: beat well, add sifted sugar, and grated lemon peel. You may add currants or carraways, to your taste. Beat well, and bake in rather a quick oven, an hour.
Common Cake.
To 2 lbs. flour, add ½ lb. butter, ½ lb. sugar, 4 eggs, 1 lb. currants, 1 oz. candied citron or lemon, 1 oz. carraway seeds, a little nutmeg, and 3 table-spoonsful yeast. Beat well, for half an hour, then put it in the ovendirectly.
A Cake without Butter.
Take the weight of 5 eggs (in their shells), in sifted sugar, and the weight of 3 in flour: beat the eggs, add first, the sugar, then the flour, the rinds of 2 large lemons grated, and a wine-glassful of sherry or brandy. Bake in a tin mould in a quick oven.—Another: to a quartern of dough add ½ lb. butter, 4 eggs, ½ lb. currants, and ½ lb. sugar, beat all well together more than half an hour, and bake in a buttered tin.
A Rich Seed Cake.
Mix 1 lb. sifted sugar into 1 lb. flour, and stir in, by degrees, 8 eggs, beaten, whisk well together, and add 3 oz. sweet almonds blanched and cut, some candied citron, lemon, and orange peel, and 12 oz. butter, beaten to a cream; a little pounded cinnamon, mace, and carraway seeds. Pour it into a papered hoop, and strew carraways on the top.—Or: put 2 lbs. flour into a deep pan, and mix in ¼ lb. sifted white sugar. Make a hole in the centre, pour in ½ pint of lukewarm milk and 2 table-spoonsful good yeast; stir a little of the flour in, cover a cloth lightly over, and let it stand an hour and a half to rise. Then work it up, with ½ lb. melted butter, a little allspice, ginger, nutmeg, and 1 oz. carraway seeds; adding warm milk sufficient to work it to a proper stiffness. Butter a hoop or dish, and pour in the cake; let it stand in a warm place another half hour to rise, then bake it. You may add 2 table-spoonsful of brandy.
A Rice Cake.
Mix 6 oz. ground rice, 4 oz. sugar, the grated peel of ½ a lemon, the yolks of 5 and whites of 3 eggs, and 1 table-spoonful orange flower water; break the eggs into a deep pan, and put the rice flour to them at once, mix it with a wooden spoon, then add the sugar and the other ingredients; beat well for twenty minutes, and it will be a fine light sponge; then immediately half fill the moulds, put them into a moderate oven, and bake three quarters of an hour, of a light brown colour.Little Rice Cakes—1 lb. ground rice, 1 lb. 2 oz. sugar, ¾ lb. butter, 8 eggs, and flour to make it into a stiff paste.—Or: 1 lb. sugar, ½ lb. flour, ½ lb. ground rice, 6 oz. butter, 8 yolks and 2 whites of eggs. Both these require long beating. Roll the paste out, cut it in shapes, and bake on buttered tins. Some persons add a few drops of the essence of lemon, and of almond flavour.
Harvest Cake.
Mix into 3 lbs. flour ¼ oz. of powdered allspice; in another bowl put ¾ lb. sugar, either moist or lump, 2 oz. butter, 2 eggs, 3 table-spoonsful of yeast; beat well, then mix in the flour, with ¾ lb. currants, and warm milk and water, to make up the cake; set it by the fire an hour to rise.
Temperance Cake.
Rub ¼ lb. butter into 1 lb. flour, add ½ lb. moist sugar, ½ lb. currants, and a tea-spoonful of carbonate of soda, dissolved in a ¼ pint of warm milk; mix well, and bake it in a tin.
Sponge Cake.
The weight of 12 eggs in sifted sugar, and the weight of 6 in fine flour; beat the eggs separately, stir the sugar into the yolks, and beat well, then put in the whites and beat again, add a little nutmeg and rose-water, and just before you put the cake into the oven, stir the flour lightly into the eggs and sugar. This cake must be beaten with a whisk. Bake, in rather a quick oven, three quarters, or nearly an hour.—Or: beat, separately, the yolks and whites of 5 eggs,put them together, add grated lemon peel, and 5 oz. fine sugar, beat again an hour and a half, then stir in as lightly as possible 4 oz. flour, previously dried before the fire.—Or: boil ¾ lb. lump sugar in ½ pint of water to a syrup; beat 7 eggs well, and pour the syrup, boiling hot, into them, stirring all the time; then beat it three quarters of an hour, and just before it is put in the oven, stir in lightly 10 oz. of fine flour, pour it in a mould, and bake in a slow oven. Lemon peel may be added. Some persons put in a dessert-spoonful of essence of lemon.
Marlborough Cake.
Beat 8 eggs, strain, and put to them 1 lb. finely sifted sugar, and beat the mixture well half an hour; then put in ½ lb. well dried flour, and 2 oz. carraway seeds, beat well five minutes, pour it into shallow tin pins, and bake in a quick oven.
Gingerbread.
Put 1¼ lb. treacle on the fire, and as it gets hot, take off the scum; stir in ¼ lb. of fresh butter, and let it cool; then mix it into a paste with 1½ lb. flour, 4 oz. brown sugar, a little ginger, and allspice; cut it into shapes, and bake on tins. More butter, or a little cream may be added. Candied orange, lemon peel, or carraway seeds, may be added.—Another: mix 1 lb. flour, ½ lb. butter (rubbed in), ½ lb. brown sugar, lemon, ginger, and ½ lb. treacle; let it stand all night, and bake it the next day.Soft Gingerbread—Six tea-cupfuls of flour, 3 of treacle, 1 of cream, and 1 of butter, 2 eggs, a table-spoonful of pearl-ash, dissolved in cold water, a table-spoonful of ginger, 1 tea-spoonful of pounded cloves, and a few raisins, stoned; mix well, and bake in a rather slow oven.Gingerbread Nuts—They may be made the same way as the receipt before the last, adding more spice. Cut in small cakes, or drop them from a spoon, and bake on paper.Parliament—Melt ¾ lb. butter with 2 lbs. treacle, and 1 lb. sugar, add ½ oz. ginger, the juice and grated rind of a lemon, and sufficient flour to make it into a paste: roll out thin, cut it into cakes, and bake it.
Parkin.
Mix 4 lbs. of meal with 2 lbs. treacle, 1 lb. sugar, 1 lb. butter, and ½ oz. ginger, with a tumbler full of brandy and rum; add nutmeg and mace if you like, and bake in large cakes.
Volatile Cakes.
Melt ½ lb. butter, and stir in 4 eggs, 1 tea-spoonful of powdered volatile salts, dissolved in a tea-spoonful of milk, ½ lb. flour, ¼ lb. finely powdered loaf sugar, a few currants and carraway seeds. Mix well, and drop the cakes on tins. They will rise very much. Bake in a quick oven.
Ginger or Hunting Cakes.
To 2 lbs. sugar, add 1 lb. butter, 2 oz. ginger, and a nutmeg grated; rub these into 1 lb. flour, and wet it with a pint of warm cream, or as much as is sufficient; roll out in thin cakes, and bake in a slack oven.
Rough Cakes.
Rub 6 oz. butter into 1 lb. flour, ½ lb. sifted sugar, ½ lb. currants, and a little mace or lemon peel, break in 2 eggs, work it all into a rough paste, and drop on tins. You may add 1 oz. almonds.
Ginger Rock Cakes.
Pound 1 lb. of loaf sugar, leaving a part of it as large as hemp seed; beat the whites of 2 eggs to a froth, add a dessert-spoonful of refined ginger (sold by the druggists in bottles), mix well with a tea-spoon, drop it on tins, and bake in a moderate oven, a quarter of an hour.
Plain Biscuits.
To 1 lb. flour, put the yolk of 1 egg, and milk sufficient to mix it to a stiff paste, knead it smooth, then roll out thin, cut it in round shapes, prick with a fork, and bake them in a slow oven.—Or: to 1 lb. flour add ¼ lb. butter, beaten to a cream, 5 oz. loaf sugar, 5 eggs, and somecarraway seeds: beat well for an hour, and pour the biscuits on tins, each one a large spoonful. If not sufficiently thin and smooth, add another egg, or a little milk.—Or: rub 4 oz. fresh butter very smooth into 8 oz. flour, add 3 oz. sifted sugar, and a table-spoonful of carraways: then add the yolks of 4 eggs, and a table-spoonful of cream. Bake in a quick oven.
Indian Corn Biscuits.
To ½ lb. butter, add 6 oz. pounded sugar, and 3 eggs; when well mixed, add ¾ lb. corn flour, a little nutmeg, and carraway seeds, beat well, and bake on little tins.—Or: into ¾ lb. flour, rub 4 oz. butter, add 4 oz. sifted sugar, and nearly 1 oz. carraway seeds; make into a paste with 3 eggs, roll out thin, and cut them in any shape you like.
Dr. Oliver's Biscuits.
Put 2 lbs. flour into a shallow pan, mix 1 table-spoonful of yeast with a little warm water, and pour it into a hole in the middle of the flour, work a little of the flour into the yeast, and set the pan before the fire a quarter of an hour. Melt ¼ lb. butter in milk to mix the flour into a stiff paste, and bake on tins.
Lemon Biscuits.
Beat the yolks of 12, and the whites of 6 eggs, with 1 lb. loaf sugar: when the oven is ready, add 2 table-spoonsful rose water, 12 oz. flour, the juice and rind of 2 lemons, grated, a few almonds if you choose. Bake in a quick oven.—Or: mix 1 lb. sifted sugar with ¼ lb. butter melted, the rind of a lemon grated, 2 eggs, and a very little flour: roll into little flat cakes, and bake on tins.
Rusks.
Boil a quart of milk, let it cool, then put to it ½ pint of yeast, 2 eggs, 2 oz. coriander seeds, 2 oz. carraway seeds, a little ginger, and ¼ lb. finely pounded sugar, beat these together and add flour to make a stiff paste: divide it intolong thin bricks, put these on tins and set them before the fire a short time to rise, then bake them. When cold, cut in slices, and dry them in a slack oven.—Or: melt ½ lb. butter in a quart of milk, let it cool, add 1 egg, ½ pint yeast, and 4 oz. sifted sugar, beat this a few minutes, then work in flour to make a light dough, and set it by the fire to rise. Make this into little loaves, bake them on tins, in a quick oven; when half done take them out of the oven, split, and put them back to finish.
Maccaroons, and Ratafia Cakes.
Blanch, and pound, with the whites of 4 eggs, 1 lb. of sweet almonds, 2 lbs. fine sugar, and beat it to a paste; add 8 more whites of eggs and beat well again. Drop it from a knife, on buttered paper, and bake on tins.Ratafia Cakes.—The same as maccaroons, only use half bitter and half sweet almonds.
Jumbles.
Rub ½ lb. flour, ½ lb. sifted sugar, with ¼ lb. butter, add a table-spoonful brandy and 2 eggs; keep out part of the flour to roll them out with; twist them up, and bake on tins. If too soft, leave out 1 white of egg.
Small Plum Cakes.
Mix 2 lbs. flour with 1 lb. sugar, rub in 1 lb. butter, 1 lb. currants, add 6 eggs. When well mixed, roll out the paste equally thin and flat; cut it into small round cakes with a wine-glass, and bake them in a moderate oven.—Or: do notcut, butpullit into small cakes.
Small Carraway Cakes.
Mix 1 lb. flour, 14 oz. butter, 5 or 6 table-spoonsful of yeast, 3 yolks of eggs and 1 white, into a paste, with cream. Set it before the fire half an hour, to rise; add a small tea-cupful of sugar and ½ lb. carraway seeds. Roll out into cakes, wash them over with rose water and sugar, and prick the top, with a knife. The oven rather quick.
Shrewsbury Cakes.
Beat ½ lb. butter to a cream, mix it with 6 oz. sifted sugar, 8 oz. flour, pounded cinnamon, carraway seeds, 2 eggs, and a little rose water. Roll out the paste a ¼ inch thick, cut the cakes into shapes, and bake on tins in a slack oven.
Shortbread.
Melt 1 lb. butter and pour it on 2 lbs. flour, ½ a tea-cupful of yeast, and 1 oz. carraway seeds; sweeten to your taste, and knead well. Roll out thin, cut this into 4 pieces, pinch round the edges, prick well with a fork, and bake on tins.—Or: rub 1½ lb. butter, melted without water, into the 4th of a peck of flour, add 6 oz. sifted sugar, 2 oz. each of candied orange, citron and blanched almonds, all these cut in rather large pieces; work it together, but not too much, or the cake will not be crisp; roll the paste out, about 1½ inch thick, divide it into cakes, pinch the edges neatly, and mark them on the top with a fork; strew carraways, strips of citron, and little bits of almonds on the top, and bake on buttered papers.
Derby Short Cakes.
Rub 1 lb. butter into 2 lbs. flour, ½ lb. sifted sugar, 1 egg, and milk to make it into a paste. Roll out thin, cut the cakes in slices, and bake on tins, twenty minutes.
Cinnamon Cakes.
Beat 6 eggs, with a coffee-cupful of rose water, add 1 lb. sifted sugar, ¼ oz. pounded cinnamon, and sufficient flour to make it into a paste. Roll out thin, and stamp it into small cakes. Bake on paper.
Rout Cakes.
Beat 1 lb. butter to a cream, and stir in the yolks of 12 eggs, 12 oz. flour, some grated lemon peel, and a few pounded almonds, or some orange flower water. Mix well, and pour it into a mould not more than an inch high, and lined with paper; bake it, and when it has cooled, cut it intoshapes, with a sharp knife; moisten the sides of these with sugar, and crisp them before the fire.
Queen Cakes.
1 lb. well dried flour, 1 lb. butter, worked to a cream, 1 lb. sifted sugar, and 8 eggs. Beat the yolks and whites separately, put half the sugar into the butter, and the other half into the eggs, beat them well, then beat all together, except the flour, which must be lightly dredged in as you continue beating the mixture, and shaking in ½ lb. currants.
Buns.
Mix ½ lb. moist sugar with 2 lbs. flour, make a hole in the centre, and stir in ½ pint of lukewarm milk and afulltable-spoonful of yeast. Cover it for two hours, in a warm place. Melt to an oil, 1 lb. butter, stir it into the mixture in the middle of the pan, and, by degrees, work it into a soft dough, dust it over with flour, cover with a cloth, and let it stand another hour. Make it into buns the size of a large egg, then lay them on a floured paste-board, and put them before the fire to rise to the proper size; bake on tins, in a hot oven; when done, brush them over with milk.—Cross Buns: in the same way, adding to the plain buns, about 1 oz. of ground allspice, mace, and cinnamon; when half baked, take them out of the oven, and press the form of a cross on the top; brush them over with milk when done.—Another for Plain Buns: melt 6 oz. butter, mix it well with 4 eggs, ½ lb. sifted sugar, 1 lb. flour, and a tea-spoonful of volatile salts dissolved in a tea-spoonful of warm milk; add ¼ lb. currants, with seeds to taste, and bake ten minutes. A tea-spoonful of essence of lemon, and one drop of essence of almond may be added.—Seed or Plum Buns: mix into the same quantity of bun dough as the first receipt, 1 oz. carraway seeds, or currants, or Smyrna raisins. Butter small tart pans, mould the dough into buns, put one into each pan, and set them to rise; ice them, with white of egg, dust fine sugar over, and dissolve that by sprinkling water lightly over. Bake them ten minutes, in a quick oven. Mark the edges, and ice the top, or not, as you choose.—Bath Buns: rub ½ lb. butterinto 1 lb. flour, wet it with 4 eggs, and a wine-glassful of yeast, set it before the fire to rise; add 4 oz. sifted sugar, and a few carraway seeds. Make into buns, brush them over with white of egg, and strew sugar carraways over the top.
Sally Lumm's Tea Cakes.
Warm a pint of new milk, or cream, with 2 oz. butter; then add ¼ lb. flour to make it a stiff dough. Roll to the size you choose, and bake it on a tin. When done, cut it in 3 or more slices, butter, and send it to table directly; if it wait before the fire it will quickly be spoiled.—Some add eggs, a little yeast, and sugar, to make it eat shorter.
Breakfast Cakes.
Rub 3 oz. butter into 1 lb. flour, and a little salt. Mix 1 egg with a table-spoonful of yeast, and a little warm milk, and wet the flour, using as much milk as is required to make a light batter, as for fritters; beat well with the hand, then cover, and let it stand three or four hours, in a warm place, to rise. Add flour to make it into a paste to roll out. Make the cakes the size you choose, let them stand half an hour before the fire, prick them in the middle, with a skewer, and bake in a quick oven.—Or: mix 1 pint of cream, 2 eggs, a table-spoonful of yeast, and a little salt, into ½ lb. flour. Cover and let it rise. Bake on tins.—Or: melt ¼ lb. butter in new milk enough to wet up 2 lbs. flour, add 4 eggs, 4 table-spoonsful yeast, and wet up the flour; let it stand ten minutes, make it into 6 cakes, prick them with a fork, and let them stand covered near the fire, half an hour; bake in a moderate oven, a quarter of an hour.
Yorkshire Cakes.
Mix 1½ pint of warm milk, with a tea-spoonful of good yeast, into flour to make a thick batter; let it stand, covered, in a warm place, to rise. Rub 6 oz. butter into a little flour, add 3 eggs, mix well, then mix it with the batter, add flour enough to work it into a stiff dough, and let it stand again a quarter of an hour; then knead again,and break it into small cakes, roll round and smooth, then put them on tins, cover lightly, and set them by the fire fifteen minutes, to rise, before you put them into the oven.
Roehampton Rolls.
To 1 lb. of flour, add the whites of 3 eggs, 3 oz. butter, and 1 spoonful of yeast, wet it with milk into a stiff dough; let this rise, before the fire, an hour, make it into rolls, and bake ten minutes.—Or: to ½ pint of yeast add 2 eggs, 2 lumps of sugar, a piece of butter the size of an egg, and 2 quarts of milk, beat well, and strain in as much fine flour as it will take up, mix well, and divide it into rolls; set them before the fire, an hour, then bake half an hour.
Muffins.
Mix a pint of scalded milk, with ¼ pint fresh yeast, and flour to make a thick batter. Set it in a warm place to rise. Rub 2 oz. butter in a little flour and add it to the batter, with flour to make it into dough; cover and let it stand again; knead well, and make it into muffins: put them on tins, let them stand a quarter of an hour, then bake them.
Crumpets.
Mix a quart of good milk into flour to make a thick batter, add a little salt, 1 egg, and a table-spoonful of small beer yeast; beat well, cover, and let it stand near the fire half an hour, to rise. Hang the girdle, or put the frying-pan over the fire, and when hot wipe it clean with a wet cloth. Tie a piece of butter in muslin, and rub it over the girdle: then pour on it a tea-cupful of batter, and as it begins to cook, raise the edge all round, with a sharp knife; when one side is done, turn it and bake the other side. When done, put it in a plate before the fire, rub the girdle with the buttered rag, and pour in another cupful of batter, then spread butter over the one in the plate, and so on, till they are all baked. Send a few at a time, quite hot, to table. Crumpets made thus are lighter than in the common way. Rye flour makes excellent cakes this way, and likewise Indian Corn meal. N.B.—Receipts for various ways of cookingIndian Cornflour or meal will be found in "Cobbett's Cottage Economy."
Scotch Slim Cakes.
Rub 3 oz. butter into ½ lb. flour, mix it into a light dough with 2 eggs and warm milk. Roll lightly out, and cut them round, the size of a saucer, bake them, as directed, for crumpets. Butter, and serve them quite hot.
CONFECTIONARY.
As I should always have recourse to the confectioner for all ornamental dishes, I shall give under this head, only such things as may be prepared at home with comparatively little risk of failure, and consequent waste of materials; observing, at the same time, that the plainest custard requires as much attention as the richest cream, and that all sweet dishes require to be flavoured with judgment. It is impossible to produce delicate creams, jellies, &c., &c., unless the ingredients, particularly cream, milk, and eggs, be perfectly fresh, and unless there beenoughof them. If served in glasses or dishes, use only eggs; but, if the cream is to be turned out of a shape, isinglass must be used to stiffen it. The quantity greatly depends upon the size of the shape; 1 oz. to a pint is the general allowance, but more is often necessary.—The sugar used in jellies ought to be clarified, for one point of excellence is clearness.—To prevent oiling, put a little rose water into the mortar in which you pound almonds.—Where there is much practice in making sweet dishes, all the vessels should be kept wholly for that purpose. Jelly bags and sieves delicately clean, always dipped into, and wrung out of, hot water, before they are used.
Common Custards.
To ½ pint new milk, put a little piece of lemon peel cutvery thin, a little cinnamon, and 8 bitter almonds blanched and pounded. Simmer the milk ten minutes. Then strain, and when cool, put to it a pint of cream, the yolks of 5 eggs, 2 table-spoonsful sifted sugar, and set it in a saucepan over the fire. Stir one way, all the time; take care that it do not burn, and not boil. When thick enough it will be done, and a minute or two too much will cause it to turn. When taken from the fire, add half a glass of brandy, and stir a quarter of an hour before you pour it into cups. In case of no cream, use 3 more eggs.—Or:mix a table-spoonful of rice flour in a little cold milk, and add the beaten yolks of 6 eggs. Have ready boiled, a quart of new milk, with a bit of lemon peel, and cinnamon; let it cool, then stir the eggs and some sugar into it: let it thicken over the fire, but not boil, stirring all the time. Take it off the fire, pour it into a jug, and stir till cool. Serve in cups, or a glass dish, and grate nutmeg over. Some persons boil custards in a jug, set into a deep saucepan of water, which is kept boiling.
Rich Custards to Bake, or Boil.
Boil a quart of cream with mace and cinnamon. Take it off the fire, add sugar to taste, and let it stand till no warmer than milk from the cow; then add 10 eggs, well beaten. Strain it, and fill the cups very full. The oven must be as hot as for tarts, and the cups often turned; or finish by boiling them in a jug stood in boiling water, but keep stirring all the while. Brandy is an improvement, in the proportion of a wine-glassful to a quart. Some flavour with ratafia, peach water, or orange flower water. A dessert-spoonful of isinglass will add to the firmness of custards made entirely of milk.
Lemon Custards.
Beat the yolks of 8 eggs till they are as white as milk, add the grated rinds and juice of 2 lemons, sweeten to taste; pour in a pint of boiling water and stir over the fire till it thickens, add a wine-glassful of white wine, and the same of brandy, stir over the fire again for a few minutes, then pour it into cups.
Orange Custards.
Beat the rind of a Seville orange (previously boiled), to a paste, and mix it with a dessert-spoonful of brandy, the juice of a lemon, 5 oz. sugar, and the yolks of 5 eggs; beat it well, a quarter of an hour, and pour in, by degrees, a pint of boiling cream; keep on beating till cold, then pour it into cups, and set them in a deep dish in boiling water, till very thick.
Spanish Custards.
Set 1½ pint of thin cream over the fire, leaving out a tea-cupful; put in 6 or 8 bitter almonds, and ¼ oz. isinglass dissolved in a basin with boiling water enough to cover it; simmer for three-quarters of an hour, or till the isinglass is dissolved; mix smoothly into the cold cream a table-spoonful of ground rice, pour it into the hot cream, stirring all the time, and simmer it gently till it thickens sufficiently. Flavour with 2 table-spoonsful of orange flower, or rose water, or what you like; strain through a coarse hair sieve, and stir till nearly cold, when pour it into cups dipped in cold water. Let these stand in a cool place; when firm, turn them out on a dish, stick them with blanched almonds sliced, and garnish with preserved cucumber, citron, or other preserve; when about to serve, pour a little cold cream into the dish.—Or: boil a pint of cream with a stick of cinnamon, let it cool, strain it, add 3 table-spoonsful of rice flour, the whites of 3 eggs well beaten, sugar, and a little rose water; set it over the fire, and simmer till as thick as hasty pudding; wet a mould with rose water, pour the custard in; when cold, turn it out.
Custards with Apples.
Pare, core, and either stew or bake some apples, in an earthen pan, with as little water as possible, and sugar to sweeten. When they are fallen, put them into a pie dish, and let them stand to get cold; pour over an unboiled custard, and set the dish into the oven, or before the fire, until the custard is fixed.
Custard with Rice.
Boil some rice in milk till quite tender, with cinnamon and a very few bitter almonds; when cold, sweeten it, and form a thick high wall round a glass dish, and pour a boiled custard in the centre. Just before it goes to table, strew coloured comfits, in stripes, up the wall.
A Trifle.
Whisk a quart of good cream with 6 oz. powdered sugar, a glass of white wine, the juice and grated peel of 1 lemon, and a little cinnamon. Take off the froth as it rises, and lay it on a sieve, reversed, over a bowl. This should be done early in the morning, or the day before, that the froth may be firm. Place in a deep trifle dish 3 or 4 sponge cakes, some maccaroons, and ratafia cakes, also a few sweet almonds blanched and split, then pour over enough white wine, with a little brandy, to moisten them; when the wine is soaked up, spread over the cakes a layer of raspberry jam, or any good preserve, and pour over that arichand boiled custard. Heap the whip lightly on as high as the dish will allow. The preserve used or left out, according to taste.
Gooseberry or Apple Trifle.
Scald the fruit, and pulp it through a sieve, sweeten it, and put a thick layer in a glass dish. Mix ½ pint of milk, ½ pint of cream, and the yolk of 1 egg, scald it over the fire, stirring all the time, add sugar, and let it become cold, then lay it on the fruit, and on it a whip, as directed in the last receipt.—Or: scald, pulp, and sweeten the fruit, then stir it over the fire, into a thin custard: when cooked enough, pour it into a glass dish, to get cold. If apple, grate nutmeg and cinnamon, or lemon peel, over the top, add also lemon juice, and lay a whip on the top.
A Tipsy Cake.
Put a stale sponge cake into a deep china or glass dish, pour round it some raisin wine or Marsala, and brandy to your taste, but enough to saturate the cake: when it issoaked up, strew sifted sugar over, and pour in the dish a rich custard. Ornament the top of the cake by sticking a light flower in the centre, or bits of clear currant jelly;or, sweet almonds blanched and split.
Crême Patisserie.
Boil a quart of new milk with cinnamon and lemon peel. Rub a heaped table-spoonful of flour quite smooth with a little cold milk; stir the boiled milk, by degrees, into it; add 5 eggs, and sugar to taste. Stir it over a slow fire till it thickens; pour it into a dish, and stir it slowly a few minutes. Flavour with vanilla, orange-flower water, ratafia, or brandy. This is flavoured withteaorcoffee, in the following manner: put a heaped table-spoonful of green tea into the milk, boil it up, cover the saucepan, simmer it a few minutes, then strain it. This will give a strong flavour of tea. For coffee: make a breakfast-cupful of very strong coffee, and put it into the milk just before it boils: use no other flavouring ingredient, and sweeten the cream sufficiently.—Or: boil in a pint of thin cream, the peel of a large lemon grated or pared very thin, sugar to taste, and a very small piece of cinnamon. Work up a table-spoonful of flour with the juice of the lemon; pour the boiling cream to it, by degrees, and stir it over the fire till the flour is cooked; pour it into a dish, and stir slowly till nearly cold; garnish with candied sweetmeats.
Chocolate Cream.
Boil a quart of cream, having first scraped into it 1 oz. scented chocolate; add nearly ¼ lb. lump sugar, and 8 whites of eggs; whisk well, and, as the froth rises, take it off, and put into glasses.
A Plain Cream.
Boil together, or separately, a pint of cream and a pint of new milk, with lemon peel, cinnamon, and sugar to taste; then add 12 sweet and 3 bitter almonds, pounded to a paste, with a little rose water, also a table-spoonful of rice flour rubbed smooth in cold milk; scald it, pour into a jug to cool. Serve in glasses, or a glass dish.
Italian Cream.
Boil 1½ pint of sweet cream with ½ pint of new milk, the rind of a lemon cut thin, and sugar to taste; then let it cool. Beat the yolks of 8 eggs, add them to the cream, set it over the fire, stir till it thickens, and put in about 1 oz. of melted isinglass, to stiffen it. Whisk well, and strain it through a fine sieve into a mould, to turn out. First try a little in a saucer to ascertain if more isinglass be wanted. It may be flavoured withcuraçoaornoyeau.
Ginger Cream.
The same as chocolate cream; using only cream, no milk. Flavour it by boiling in the cream either preserved, or essence of ginger. Serve it in cups.—Or: after the cream has thickened over the fire, add isinglass, as directed for Italian cream, and strain it into a mould.
Lemon Cream.
Beat the whites of 9 eggs with one yolk, till as thin as water, but not frothed, add 9 table-spoonsful cold water, and the juice of 2 lemons, with sugar to taste: strain it through a fine sieve, put in a piece of lemon peel, and stir it over the fire, till as thick as cream. Do not let it stay long on the fire, to get too thick.—Or: steep the peel of 2 lemons, cut very thin, in a pint of water, all night, then sweeten and boil it; stir in the whites of 6 eggs beaten to a froth, and keep stirring over the fire till thick, then add the yolks. You may add ¼ oz. of isinglass, which makes it more like ice.—Or: boil up a pint of thick cream with the beaten yolks of 2 eggs, 4 oz. sugar, and the thin rind of a lemon; stir till nearly cold, and pour it upon the juice of a lemon, in a bowl; stir it till cold.—White lemon creamis made by using whites of eggs only.
Orange Cream.
Pare a large orange very thin, put the peel into a bason, and squeeze 4 oranges over it; pour in 1 pint of cream, and set it over the fire; before it quite boils take out the peel, or the cream may be too bitter. Let the cream become cold,then stir in the yolks and whites of 4 eggs, and sugar to taste. Set it over the fire again, and just scald it. Pour into cups.—Or: squeeze and strain the juice of 11 oranges, sweeten well with pounded loaf sugar, and stir over a slow fire till the sugar be melted, taking off the scum as it rises; when cold mix it with the beaten yolks of 12 eggs, mixed with a pint of cream, stir it over the fire again to thicken, and serve in a glass dish or cups.—Or: boil ¾ oz. of isinglass in ½ pint of water, till half reduced, and when nearly cold stir in the juice of 4 oranges and 1 lemon well sweetened, and a pint of cream previously beaten to a froth, stir it over a slow fire till it begins to thicken, and then pour it into a mould.—N.B. the juice of any fruit may he used in the same way, always adding the juice of a lemon.
Lemon or Orange Cream frothed.
Squeeze the juice of a large lemon, or orange, into a glass or china dish. Sweeten a pint of cream, and let it just boil; pour it out to get cold, put it into a tea-pot, hold it up as high as possible, and pour it upon the juice.
Alamode Cream.
Grate 2 lemons into a bason, squeeze in the juice, add ¼ lb. sifted sugar; melt ½ oz. isinglass in a tea-cupful of hot water, strain it on the lemon, stirring all the time, then pour in a pint of cold cream, but stir all the while, or it may be lumpy. Pour it in a glass dish, and keep it in a cool place. Garnish with almonds and apple paste.
Velvet Cream.
Put into a deep glass or china dish, 3 table-spoonsful of lemon juice, a little grated peel, and preserved apricot cut small, 3 table-spoonsful of white wine or brandy, and powdered sugar. Scald a pint of cream, put in ¼ oz. of melted isinglass, stir it over the fire a few minutes, and continue to stir till no warmer than new milk; then strain, and pour it into the dish. Made the day before it is wanted.
Vanilla Cream.
Boil ½ a stick of vanilla in a tea-cupful of milk till theflavour is as strong as you like, and mix it with a jelly made of calf's feet, or made with 1 oz. of isinglass in a pint of water and a pint of cream, sweeten to taste, stir it till nearly cold, then pour it into a mould which has stood in cold water. The day before it is wanted.
Burnt Cream.
Boil a stick of cinnamon with a large piece of lemon peel, in a pint of cream; when nearly cold, stir in gently the yolks of 6 eggs; sweeten it, take out the spice and peel, strew pounded sugar over, and brown it with a salamander.
Snow Cream.
Pare, core, and stew, 10 or 12 apples and pulp them; beat the pulp nearly cold, stir in enough finely powdered sugar to sweeten, a little lemon peel, and the whites of 12 eggs, already beaten, whisk, till it becomes stiff, and lay it in heaps in a glass dish.
Currant and Raspberry Cream.
Mash the fruit and strain ¼ pint of juice through a fine sieve, add rather more than ½ pint of cream, sugar to taste, and a little brandy; whisk it the same as a trifle.—Or: put a very little sifted sugar into 1½ pint of cream, a tea-cupful of raspberry jelly, the grated rind of 1 and the juice of ½ a lemon, whisk well, for half an hour, till it be thick and solid, then pour it into a glass dish or cups.
Strawberry Cream.
The same as the last.—Or: sweeten some cream, and make a strong whip. Beat up what remains of the cream with yolk of egg (3 to ½ a pint), and scald it; let it cool, mix the fruit with it, pour it into glasses or a dish, and lay the fruit on the top. The pulp of apples, apricots, and plums may be mixed with cream, in this way.—Or: it may be formed in a mould by adding melted isinglass to the cream, just scalding, then straining it: when nearly cold, add the fruit and put it into a shape.
Clouted Cream.
Put 2 blades of mace and a wine-glassful of rose water, into a ¼ pint of new milk, scald and strain it; let it cool, stir in the yolks of 2 eggs, and a quart of cream. Stir it over the fire till scalding hot, and it is done. Excellent with fruit stewed, or with fruit pies.
Creams and jellies areiced, by putting the shape (the mixture beingperfectly cold), in a bucket of ice broken in small bits. Let it stand till you are ready to send it to table, then take it out, wrap a towel, dipped into hot water, round the mould, and turn it out.
Strawberry Ice Cream.
Mash the fruit, strain off the juice, and sweeten it. Mix it, in the proportion of 1 lb. of fruit to a pint of sweet cream, whip it, pour it into glasses, and freeze as directed; or, add melted isinglass, and freeze it in a shape.—Raspberry Ice Cream, the same.
Pine Apple Ice Cream.
To 1½ gill of pine apple syrup, add the juice of 1½ lemon, and a pint of cream, sweeten, then stand it in the ice, and let it freeze as thick as butter. If you would have it the shape of a pine, take the shape and fill it; then lay half a sheet of brown paper over the mould before you put it into the ice, and let it remain some time; be careful that no water gets into it.
Coffee Ice.
A refreshing preparation, and suitable to entertainments. Make some strong coffee, sweeten with sugar candy, add what cream you like, pour it into a bowl, place that in an ice pail till the coffee is frozen: serve in glasses.
Paris Curd.
Put a pint of thin cream on the fire, with the whites of 6 eggs and the juice of a lemon; stir till it becomes a curd; hang it all night in a cloth, to drain; add 2 oz. sweetalmonds, beaten to a paste, sugar to taste, and a little brandy. Mix well, and put it in shapes.
Blancmange.
Blanch 1 oz. sweet and ½ an oz. of bitter almonds and pound them with a little brandy, put them with ½ an ounce of isinglass into a bowl with ½ a pint of milk and ½ a pint of cream, and 2 oz. of pounded sugar, and let it stand 3 hours; then stir it over the fire till it begins to boil, when take it off and strain it, but keep stirring it till nearly cold, and then pour it into a mould. If you choose, have 12 bitter, no sweet almonds, a wine-glassful of brandy and a table-spoonful ratafia.—When about to turn it out, wrap a towel dipped in hot water round the mould, and draw a silver knife round the edge of the blancmange.
Rice Blancmange.
Boil 4 oz. of whole rice in water till it begins to swell, pour off the water, and put the rice into nearly a quart of new milk, with sugar, a little cinnamon and lemon peel. Boil slowly till the rice is mashed, and smooth. Do not let it burn. Put it into a mould to turn out. This may be in the centre of a dish with custard round it.
Blancmange with Preserves.
Boil 1 pint of cream with cinnamon and lemon peel; sweeten it, add 1 oz. isinglass dissolved in a little water, stir it over the fire till it is on the point of boiling, then pour it into a jug, stirring it occasionally; when milkwarm add a wine-glassful of brandy and a table-spoonful of ratafia. Have ready in a china or glass dish, some East or West India preserves, pour the blancmange on it, and set it by till the next day.
Jaunemange.
Dissolve 2 oz. isinglass in nearly a pint of boiling water; put to it ¾ pint of white wine, the juice of 2 oranges, and 1 lemon, the peel of a lemon shred fine, sugar to taste, a little cinnamon and brandy, and the yolks of 8 eggs. Simmer gently a few minutes, then strain it into moulds.