Part 36

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

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

COCOANUT MACAROONS.

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

ALMOND MACAROONS.

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

CHOCOLATE MACAROONS.

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

LEMON JELLY. No. 1.

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

LEMON JELLY. No. 2.

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

WINE JELLY.

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

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

CIDER JELLY.

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

ORANGE JELLY.

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

VARIEGATED JELLY.

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

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

STRAWBERRY JELLY.

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

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

RECIPE FOR CHEESE CUSTARD.

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

ICE CREAM AND ICES

ICE-CREAM.

One pint of milk, the yolks of two eggs, six ounces of sugar and one tablespoonful of cornstarch. Scald but do not boil. Then put the whites of the two eggs into a pint of cream; whip it. Mix the milk and cream, flavor and freeze. One teaspoonful of vanilla or lemon is generally sufficient.

The quantity, of course, can be increased to any amount desired, so long as the relative proportions of the different ingredients are observed.

PURE ICE-CREAM.

Genuine ice-cream is made of the pure sweet cream in this proportion: Two quarts of cream, one pound of sugar; beat up, flavor and freeze.

For family use, select one of the new patent freezers, as being more rapid and less laborious for small quantities than the old style turned entirely by hand. All conditions being perfect, those with crank and revolving dashers effect freezing in eight to fifteen minutes.

FRUIT ICE-CREAM.

_Ingredients._--To every pint of fruit juice allow one pint of cream; sugar to taste.

Let the fruit be well ripened; pick it off the stalks and put it into a large earthen pan. Stir it about with a wooden spoon, breaking it until it is well mashed; then, with the back of the spoon, rub it through a hair-sieve. Sweeten it nicely with pounded sugar; whip the cream for a few minutes, add it to the fruit, and whisk the whole again for another five minutes. Put the mixture into the freezer and freeze. Raspberry, strawberry, currant, and all fruit ice-creams are made in the same manner. A little powdered sugar sprinkled over the fruit before it is mashed assists to extract the juice. In winter, when fresh fruit is not obtainable, a little jam may be substituted for it; it should be melted and worked through a sieve before being added to the whipped cream; and if the color should not be good, a little prepared cochineal may be put in to improve its appearance. In making berry flavoring for ice-cream, the milk should never be heated; the juice of the berries added to _cold_ cream, or fresh rich milk, mixed with _cold_ cream, the juice put in just before freezing, or when partly frozen.

CHOCOLATE ICE-CREAM. No. 1. (Very fine.)

Add four ounces of grated chocolate to a cupful of sweet milk, then mix it thoroughly to a quart of thick sweet cream; no flavoring is required but vanilla. Sweeten with a cupful of sugar; beat again and freeze.

CHOCOLATE ICE-CREAM. No. 2.

Beat two eggs very light and cream them with two cupfuls of sugar. Scald a pint of milk and turn on by degrees, mixing well with the sugar and eggs. Stir in this half a cupful of grated chocolate; return to the fire and heat until it thickens, stirring briskly; take off and set aside to cool. When thoroughly cold, freeze.

COCOANUT ICE-CREAM.

One quart of cream, one pint of milk, three eggs, one cupful and a half of sugar and one of prepared cocoanut, the rind and juice of a lemon. Beat together the eggs and grated lemon rind and put with the milk in the double boiler. Stir until the mixture begins to thicken. Add the cocoanut and put away to cool. When cool add the sugar, lemon juice and cream. Freeze.

CUSTARD ICE-CREAM.

Sweeten one quart of cream or rich milk with half a pound of sugar and flavor to taste; put it over the fire in a farina-kettle; as soon as it begins to boil, stir into it a tablespoonful of cornstarch or rice flour which has been previously mixed smooth with a little milk; after it has boiled a few minutes, take it off the fire and stir in very gradually six eggs which have been beaten until thick; when quite cold, freeze it as ice-cream.

STRAWBERRY ICE-CREAM.

Mix a cupful of sugar with a quart of ripe strawberries, let them stand half a day, then mash and strain them through a coarse towel, then add to the juice a full cupful of sugar and when dissolved, beat in a quart of fresh thick cream. Raspberries, pineapple and other fruits made the same.

FRUIT CREAM.

Make a rich, boiled custard; flavor with wine and vanilla; pour it into a freezer. When half frozen, add pounded almonds, chopped citron and brandy, peaches or chopped raisins. Have the freezer half full of custard and fill up with the fruit. Mix well and freeze again. Almost any kind of fruits that are preferred may be substituted for the above.

TUTTI FRUTTI ICE-CREAM.

Take two quarts of the richest cream and add to it one pound of pulverized sugar and four whole eggs; mix well together; place on the fire, stirring constantly, and just bring to boiling point; now remove immediately and continue to stir until nearly cold; flavor with a tablespoonful of extract of vanilla; place in freezer and, when half frozen, mix thoroughly into it one pound of preserved fruits, in equal parts of peaches, apricots, gages, cherries, pineapples, etc.; all of these fruits are to be cut up into small pieces and mixed well with frozen cream. If you desire to _mold_ this ice sprinkle it with a little carmine, dissolved in a teaspoonful of water, with two drops of spirits of ammonia; mix in this color, so that it will be streaky or in veins like marble.

ICE-CREAM WITHOUT A FREEZER.

Beat the yolks of eight eggs very light, and add thereto four cupfuls of sugar, and stir well. Add to this, little by little, one quart of rich milk that has been heated almost to boiling, beating all the while; then put in the whites of eight eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Then boil the mixture in a pail set inside another containing hot water. Boil about fifteen minutes or until it is as thick as a boiled custard, stirring steadily meanwhile. Pour into a bowl to cool. When quite cold, beat into it three pints of rich sweet cream and five teaspoonfuls of vanilla, or such other flavoring as you prefer. Put it into a pail having a close-fitting cover and pack in pounded ice and salt,--_rock salt_, not the common kind,--about three-fourths ice and one-forth salt. When packed, before putting the ice on top of the cover, beat the custard as you would batter, for five minutes steady; then put on the cover and put the ice and salt over it, and cover the whole with a thick mat, blanket or carpet and let it stand for an hour. Then carefully uncover and scrape from the bottom and sides of the pail the thick coating of frozen custard, making every particle clear, and beat again very hard, until the custard is a smooth, half-congealed paste. Do this thoroughly. Put on the cover, ice, salt and blanket, and leave it for five or six hours, replenishing the ice and salt if necessary.

_Common Sense in the Household._

FROZEN PEACHES.

One can or twelve large peaches, two coffeecupfuls of sugar, one pint of water and the whites of three eggs beaten to a stiff froth; break the peaches rather fine and stir all the ingredients together; freeze the whole into form.

Frozen fruit of any kind can be made the same way; the fruit should be mashed to a smooth pulp, but not thinned too much. In freezing, care should be taken to prevent its getting lumpy.

FROZEN FRUITS.

The above recipe, increasing the quantity of peaches, raspberries or whatever fruit you may use, and adding a small amount of rich cream, make fine frozen fruits. In freezing, you must be especially careful to prevent its getting lumpy.

LEMON ICE.

The juice of six lemons and the grated rind of three, a large sweet orange, juice and rind; squeeze out all the juice and steep it in the rind of orange and lemons a couple of hours; then squeeze and strain through a towel, add a pint of water and two cupfuls of sugar. Stir until dissolved, turn into a freezer, then proceed as for ice-cream, letting it stand longer, two or three hours.

When fruit jellies are used, gently heat the water sufficiently to melt them; then cool and freeze. Other flavors may be made in this manner, varying the flavoring to taste.

PINEAPPLE SHERBET.

Grate two pineapples and mix with two quarts of water and a pint of sugar; add the juice of two lemons and the beaten whites of four eggs. Place in a freezer and freeze.

RASPBERRY SHERBET.

Two quarts of raspberries, one cupful of sugar, one pint and a half of water, the juice of a large lemon, one tablespoonful of gelatine. Mash the berries and sugar together and let them stand two hours. Soak the gelatine in cold water to cover. Add one pint of the water to the berries and strain. Dissolve the gelatine in half a pint of boiling water, add this to the strained mixture and freeze.

ORANGE-WATER ICE.

Add a tablespoonful of gelatine to one gill of water; let it stand twenty minutes and add half a pint of boiling water; stir until dissolved and add four ounces of powdered sugar, the strained juice of six oranges and cold water enough to make a full quart in all. Stir until the sugar is dissolved; pour into the freezing can and freeze. (See LEMON ICE.)

ALMOND ICE.

Two pints of milk, eight ounces of cream, two ounces of orange-flower water, eight ounces of sweet almonds, four ounces of bitter almonds; pound all in a marble mortar, pouring in from time to time a few drops of water; when thoroughly pounded add the orange-flower water and half of the milk; pass this, tightly squeezed, through a cloth; boil the rest of the milk with the cream and keep stirring it with a wooden spoon; as soon as it is thick enough, pour in the almond milk; give it one boiling, take it off and let it cool in a bowl or pitcher before pouring it into the mold for freezing.

CURRANT ICE.

A refreshing ice is made of currants or raspberries, or equal portions of each. Squeeze enough fruit in a jelly-bag to make a pint of juice; add a pint each of the water and sugar; pour the whole, boiling hot, onto whites of three eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, and whip the mixture thoroughly. When cool, freeze in the usual manner. Part red raspberry juice is a much finer flavor.

Any juicy fruit may be prepared in this manner.

DUMPLINGS AND PUDDINGS

It depends as much upon the judgment of the cook as on the materials used to make a good pudding. Everything should be the best in the way of materials, and a proper attention to the rules, with some practice, will ensure success.

Puddings are either boiled, baked or steamed; if boiled, the materials should be well worked together, put into a thick cloth bag, previously dipped in hot water, wringing it slightly and dredging the inside _thickly_ with flour; tie it firmly, allowing room for it to swell; drop it into a kettle of _boiling_ water, with a small plate or saucer in the bottom to keep it from sticking to the kettle. It should not cease boiling one moment from the time it is put in until taken out, and the pot must be tightly covered, and the cover not removed except when necessary to add water from the _boiling_ tea-kettle when the water is getting low. When done, dip immediately in cold water and turn out. This should be done just before placing on the table.

Or butter a tin pudding-mold or an earthen bowl; close it tight so that water cannot penetrate; drop it into boiling water and boil steadily the required time. If a bowl is used it should be well buttered and not quite filled with the pudding, allowing room for it to swell; then a cloth wet in hot water, slightly wringing it, then floured on the inner side, and tied over the bowl, meeting under the bottom.

To steam a pudding, put it into a tin pan or earthen dish; tie a cloth over the top, first dredging it in flour, and set it in a steamer. Cover the steamer closely; allow a little longer time than you do for boiling.

Molds or basins for baking, steaming or boiling should be well buttered before the mixture is put into them. Allow a little longer time for steaming than for boiling.

Dumplings boiled the same way, put into little separate cloths.

Batter puddings should be smoothly mixed and free from lumps. To ensure this, first mix the flour with a very small portion of milk, the yolks of the eggs and the sugar thoroughly beaten together, and added to this; then add the remainder of the milk by degrees, then the seasoning, then the beaten whites of eggs last. Much success in making this kind of pudding depends upon a strict observance of this rule; for, although the materials may be good, if the eggs are put into the milk before they are mixed with the flour, there will be a custard at the top and a soft dough at the bottom of your dish.

All sweet puddings require a _little_ salt to prevent insipidity and to draw out the flavor of the several ingredients, but a grain too much will spoil any pudding.

In puddings where wine, brandy, cider, lemon juice or any acid is used, it should be stirred in last and gradually, or it is apt to curdle the milk or eggs.

In making _custard puddings_ (puddings made with eggs and milk), the yolks of the eggs and sugar should be thoroughly beaten together before any of the milk or seasoning is added, and the beaten whites of eggs last.

In making puddings of bread, rice, sago, tapioca, etc., the eggs should be beaten very light, and mixed with a portion of the milk, before adding them to the other ingredients. If the eggs are mixed with the milk, without having been thus beaten, the milk will be absorbed by the bread, rice, sago, tapioca, etc., without rendering them light.

The freshness of all pudding ingredients is of much importance, as one bad article will taint the whole mixture.

When the _freshness_ of eggs is _doubtful_, break each one separately in a cup before mixing them all together. Should there be a bad one amongst them, it can be thrown away; whereas, if mixed with the good ones, the entire quantity would be spoiled. The yolks and whites beaten separately make the articles they are put into much lighter.

Raisins and dried fruit for puddings should be carefully picked and, in many cases, stoned. Currants should be well washed, pressed in a cloth and placed on a dish before the fire to get thoroughly dry; they should be then picked carefully over, and _every piece of grit or stone_ removed from amongst them. To plump them, some cooks pour boiling water over them and then dry them before the fire.

[Illustration: STATE DINING ROOM.]

[Illustration: THE BLUE ROOM.]

Many baked pudding recipes are quite as good boiled. As a safe rule boil the pudding _twice as long_ as you would bake it; and remember that a boiling pudding should never be touched after it is once put on the stove; a jar of the kettle destroys the lightness of the pudding. If the water boils down and more must be added, it must be done so carefully that the mold will not hit the side of the kettle, and it must not be allowed to stop boiling for an instant.