Chapter XXIII: =Sweet Dishes, or Entremets.= (2)

Shell and blanch (see page 342) twenty-four fine Spanish chestnuts, and put them with three-quarters of a pint of water into a small and delicately clean saucepan. When they have simmered from six to eight minutes, add to them two ounces of fine sugar, and let them stew very gently until they are perfectly tender; then drain them from the water, pound them, while still warm, to a smooth paste, and press them through the back of a fine sieve. While this is being done, dissolve half an ounce of isinglass in two or three spoonsful of water, and put to it as much cream as will, with the small quantity of water used, make half a pint, two ounces of sugar, about the third of a pod of vanilla, cut small, and well bruised, and a strip or two of fresh lemon-rind, pared extremely thin. Give these a minute’s boil, and then keep them quite hot by the side of the fire, until a strong flavour of the vanilla is obtained. Now, mix gradually with the chestnuts half a pint of rich, unboiled cream, strain the other half pint through a fine muslin, and work the whole well together until it becomes _very_ thick; then stir to it a couple of ounces of dried cherries, cut into quarters, and two of candied citron, divided into very small dice. Press the mixture into a mould which has been rubbed with a particle of the purest salad-oil, and in a few hours it will be ready for table. The cream should be sufficiently stiff, when the fruit is added, to prevent its sinking to the bottom, and both kinds should be _dry_ when they are used.

Chestnuts, large, 24; water, 3/4 pint; sugar, 2 oz.; isinglass, 1/2 oz.; water, 3 to 4 tablespoonsful; cream, nearly 1/2 pint; vanilla, 1/3 of pod; lemon-rind, 1/4 of 1 large: infuse 20 minutes or more. Unboiled cream, 1/2 pint; dried cherries, 2 oz.; candied citron, 2 oz.

_Obs._—When vanilla cannot easily be obtained, a little noyau may be substituted for it, but a _full_ weight of isinglass must then be used.

CRÊME À LA COMTESSE, OR THE COUNTESS’S CREAM.

Prepare as above, boil and pound, eighteen fine sound chestnuts; mix with them gradually, after they have been pressed through a fine sieve, half a pint of rich sweet cream; dissolve in half a pint of new milk a half-ounce of isinglass, then add to them from six to eight bitter almonds, blanched and bruised, with two-thirds of the rind of a small lemon, cut extremely thin, and two ounces and a half of sugar; let these simmer gently for five minutes, and then remain by the side of the fire for awhile. When the milk is strongly flavoured, strain it through muslin, press the whole of it through, and stir it by degrees to the chestnuts and cream; beat the mixture smooth, and when it begins to thicken, put it into a mould rubbed with oil, or into one which has been dipped in water and shaken nearly free of the moisture. If set into a cool place, it will be ready for table in six or eight hours. It has a pretty appearance when partially stuck with pistachio-nuts, blanched, dried, and cut in spikes, their bright green colour rendering them very ornamental to dishes of this kind: as they are, however, much more expensive than almonds, they can be used more sparingly, or intermingled with spikes of the firm outer rind of candied citron.

Chestnuts, 18; water, full 1/2 pint; sugar, 1 oz.: 15 to 25 minutes, or more. Cream, 1/2 pint; new milk, 1/2 pint; isinglass, 1/2 oz.; bitter almonds, 6 to 8; lemon-rind, two-thirds of 1; sugar, 2-1/2 oz.[161]

Footnote 161:

The proportions both of this and of the preceding cream must be
increased for a _large_ mould.

_Obs._—This is a very delicate kind of sweet dish, which we can particularly recommend to our readers; it may be rendered more _recherché_ by a flavouring of maraschino, but must then have a little addition of isinglass. The preparation, without this last ingredient, will be found excellent iced.

AN EXCELLENT TRIFLE.

Take equal parts of wine and brandy, about a wineglassful of each, or two-thirds of good sherry or Madeira, and one of spirit, and soak in the mixture four sponge-biscuits, and half a pound of macaroons and ratifias; cover the bottom of the trifle-dish with part of these, and pour upon them a full pint of rich boiled custard made with three-quarters of a pint, or rather more, of milk and cream taken in equal portions, and six eggs; and sweetened, flavoured and thickened by the receipt of page 481; lay the remainder of the soaked cakes upon it, and pile over the whole, to the depth of two or three inches, the whipped syllabub of page 476, previously well drained; then sweeten and flavour slightly with wine only, less than half a pint of thin cream (or of cream and milk mixed); wash and wipe the whisk, and whip it to the lightest possible froth: take it off with a skimmer and heap it gently over the trifle.

Macaroons and ratifias, 1/2 lb.; wine and brandy mixed, 1/4 pint; rich boiled custard, 1 pint; whipped syllabub (see page 476); light froth to cover the whole, short 1/2 pint of cream and milk mixed; sugar, dessertspoonful; wine, 1/2 glassful.

SWISS CREAM, OR TRIFLE.

(_Very Good._)

Flavour pleasantly with and cinnamon, a pint of rich cream, after having taken from it as much as will mix smoothly to a thin batter four teaspoonsful of the finest flour; sweeten it with six ounces of well-refined sugar in lumps; place it over a clear fire in a delicately clean saucepan, and when it boils stir in the flour, and simmer it for four or five minutes, stirring it gently without ceasing; then pour it out, and when it is quite cold mix with it by degrees the strained juice of two moderate-sized and very fresh lemons. Take a quarter of a pound of macaroons, cover the bottom of a glass dish with a portion of them, pour in a part of the cream, lay the remainder of the macaroons upon it, add the rest of the cream, and ornament it with candied citron sliced thin. It should be made the day before it is wanted for table. The requisite flavour may be given to this dish by infusing in the cream the very thin rind of a lemon, and part of a stick of cinnamon slightly bruised, and then straining it before the flour is added; or, these and the sugar may be boiled together with two or three spoonsful of water, to a strongly flavoured syrup, which, after having been passed through a muslin strainer, may be stirred into the cream. Some cooks boil the cinnamon and the _grated_ rind of a lemon with all the other ingredients, but the cream has then to be pressed through a sieve after it is made, a process which it is always desirable to avoid. It may be flavoured with vanilla and maraschino, or with orange-blossoms at pleasure; but is _excellent_ made as above.

Rich cream, 1 pint; sugar, 6 oz.; rind, 1 lemon; cinnamon, 1 drachm; flour, 4 teaspoonsful; juice, 2 lemons; macaroons, 4 oz.; candied citron, 1 to 2 oz.

TIPSY CAKE, OR BRANDY TRIFLE.

The old-fashioned mode of preparing this dish was to soak a light sponge or Savoy cake in as much good French brandy as it could absorb; then, to stick it full of blanched almonds cut into whole-length spikes, and to pour a rich cold boiled custard round it. It is more usual now to pour white wine over the cake, or a mixture of wine and brandy; with this the juice of half a lemon is sometimes mixed.

Chantilly Basket.
]

FILLED WITH WHIPPED CREAM AND FRESH STRAWBERRIES.

Take a mould of any sort that will serve to form the basket on, just dip the edge of some macaroons into melted barley sugar, and fasten them together with it; take it out of the mould, keep it in a dry place until wanted, then fill it high with whipped strawberry cream which has been drained on a sieve from the preceding day, and stick very fine ripe strawberries over it. It should not filled until just before it is served.

VERY GOOD LEMON CREAMS MADE WITHOUT CREAM.

Pour over the very thin rinds of two moderate-sized but perfectly sound fresh lemons and six ounces of sugar, half a pint of spring water, and let them remain for six hours: then add the strained juice of the lemons, and five fresh eggs well beaten and also strained; take out the lemon-rind, and stir the mixture without ceasing over a gentle fire until it has boiled softly from six to eight minutes: it will not curdle as it would did milk supply the place of the water and lemon-juice. The creams are, we think, more delicate, though not quite so thick, when the yolks only of six eggs are used for them. They will keep well for nearly a week in really cold weather.

Rinds of lemons, 2; sugar, 6 oz. (or 8 when a _very_ sweet dish is preferred); cold water, 1/2 pint: 6 hours. Juice of lemons, 2; eggs, 5: to be boiled softly 6 to 8 minutes.

_Obs._—Lemon creams may, on occasion, be more expeditiously prepared, by rasping the rind of the fruit upon the sugar which is used for them; or, by paring it thin, and boiling it for a few minutes with the lemon-juice, sugar, and water, before they are stirred to the eggs.

FRUIT CREAMS, AND ITALIAN CREAMS.

These are very quickly and easily made, by mixing with good cream a sufficient proportion of the sweetened juice of fresh fruit, or of well-made fruit jelly or jam, to flavour it: a few drops of prepared cochineal may be added to deepen the colour when it is required for any particular purpose. A quarter of a pint of strawberry or of raspberry jelly will fully flavour a pint of cream: a very little lemon-juice improves almost all compositions of this kind. When jam is used it must first be gradually mixed with the cream, and then worked through a sieve, to take out the seed or skin of the fruit. All fresh juice, for this purpose, must of course, be cold; that of strawberries is best obtained by crushing the fruit and strewing sugar over it. Peaches, pine-apple, apricots, or nectarines, may be simmered for a few minutes in a little syrup, and this, drained well from them, will serve extremely well to mix with the cream when it has become thoroughly cold: the lemon-juice should be added to all of these. When the ingredients are well blended, lightly whisk or mill them to a froth; take this off with a skimmer as it rises, and lay it upon a fine sieve reversed, to drain, or if it is to be served in glasses, fill them with it at once.

Italian creams are either fruit-flavoured only, or mixed with wine like syllabubs, then whisked to a stiff froth and put into a perforated mould, into which a muslin is first laid; or into a small hair-sieve (which must also first be lined with the muslin), and left to drain until the following day, when the cream must be very gently turned out, and dished, and garnished, as fancy may direct.

VERY SUPERIOR WHIPPED SYLLABUBS.

Weigh seven ounces of fine sugar and rasp on it the rinds of two fresh sound lemons of good size, then pound or roll it to powder, and put it into a bowl with the strained juice of the lemons, two large glasses of sherry, and two of brandy; when the sugar is dissolved add a pint of very fresh cream, and whisk or mill the mixture well; take off the froth as it rises, and put it into glasses. These syllabubs will remain good for several days, and should always be made if possible, four-and-twenty hours before they are wanted for table. The full flavour of the lemon-rind is obtained with less trouble than in rasping, by paring it very thin indeed, and infusing it for some hours in the juice of the fruit.

Sugar, 7 oz.; rind and juice of lemons, 2; sherry, 2 large wineglassesful; brandy, 2 wineglassesful; cream, 1 pint.

_Obs._—These proportions are sufficient for two dozens or more of syllabubs: they are often made with almost equal quantities of wine and cream, but are considered less wholesome without a portion of brandy.

BLANC-MANGES.

GOOD COMMON BLANC-MANGE, OR BLANC-MANGER.

(_Author’s Receipt._)

Blanc-mange or Cake Mould.
]

Infuse for an hour in a pint and a half of new milk the very thin rind of one small, or of half a large lemon and four or five bitter almonds, blanched and bruised,[162] then add two ounces of sugar, or rather more for persons who like the blanc-mange very sweet, and an ounce and a half of isinglass. Boil them gently over a clear fire, stirring them often until this last is dissolved; take off the scum, stir in half a pint, or rather more, of rich cream, and strain the blanc-mange into a bowl; it should be moved gently with a spoon until nearly cold to prevent the cream from settling on the surface. Before it is moulded, mix with it by degrees a wineglassful of brandy.

Footnote 162:

These should always be _very sparingly_ used.

New milk, 1-1/2 pint; rind of lemon, 1/2 large or whole small; bitter almonds, 8: infuse 1 hour. Sugar, 2 to 3 oz.; isinglass, 1-1/2 oz.: 10 minutes. Cream, 1/2 pint; brandy, 1 wineglassful.

RICHER BLANC-MANGE.

A pint of good cream with a pint of new milk, sweetened and flavoured as above (or in any other manner which good taste may dictate), with a little additional sugar, and the same proportion of isinglass, will make very good blanc-mange. Two ounces of Jordan almonds may be pounded and mixed with it, but they are not needed with the cream.

JAUMANGE, OR JAUNE MANGER, SOMETIMES CALLED DUTCH FLUMMERY.

Pour on the very thin rind of a large lemon and half a pound of sugar broken small, a pint of water, and keep them stirred over a gentle fire until they have simmered for three or four minutes, then leave the saucepan by the side of the stove that the syrup may taste well of the lemon. In ten or fifteen minutes afterwards add two ounces of isinglass, and stir the mixture often until this is dissolved, then throw in the strained juice of four sound moderate-sized lemons, and a pint of sherry; mix the whole briskly with the beaten yolks of eight fresh eggs, and pass it through a delicately clean hair-sieve: next thicken it in a jar or jug placed in a pan of boiling water, turn it into a bowl, and when it has become cool and been allowed to settle for a minute or two, pour it into moulds which have been laid in water. Some persons add a small glass of brandy to it, and deduct so much from the quantity of water.

Rind of 1 lemon; sugar, 8 oz.; water, 1 pint: 3 or 4 minutes. Isinglass, 2 oz.; juice, 4 lemons; yolks of eggs, 8; wine, 1 pint; brandy (at pleasure), 1 wineglassful.

EXTREMELY GOOD STRAWBERRY BLANC-MANGE, OR BAVARIAN CREAM.

Crush slightly with a silver or wooden spoon, a quart, measured without their stalks, of fresh and richly-flavoured strawberries; strew over them eight ounces of pounded sugar, and let them stand for three or four hours; then turn them on to a fine hair-sieve reversed, and rub them through it. Melt over a gentle fire two ounces of the best isinglass in a pint of new milk, and sweeten it with four ounces of sugar; strain it through a muslin, and mix it with a pint and a quarter of sweet thick cream; keep these stirred until they are nearly or quite cold, then pour them gradually to the strawberries, whisking them briskly together; and last of all throw in, by small portions, the strained juice of a fine sound lemon. Mould the blanc-mange, and set it in a very cool place for twelve hours or more before it is served.

Strawberries stalked, 1 quart; sugar, 8 oz.; isinglass, 2 oz.; new milk, 1 pint; sugar, 4 oz.; cream, 1-1/4 pint; juice, 1 lemon.

_Obs._—We have retained here the old-fashioned name of blanc-mange (or _blanc-manger_) because it is more familiar to many English readers than any of recent introduction; but moulded strawberry-cream would be more appropriate; as nothing can properly be called _blanc_ manger which is not white. By mingling the cream, after it has been whisked, or whipped, to the other ingredients, the preparation becomes what is called _un Fromage Bavarois_, or Bavarian cream, sometimes simply, _une Bavaroise_.

QUINCE BLANC-MANGE.

(_Delicious._)

This, if carefully made, and with ripe quinces, is one of the most richly-flavoured preparations of fruit that we have ever tasted; and the receipt, we may venture to say, will be altogether new to the reader. Dissolve in a pint of prepared juice of quinces (see page 456), an ounce of the best isinglass; next, add ten ounces of sugar, roughly pounded, and stir these together gently over a clear fire, from twenty to thirty minutes, or until the juice jellies in falling from the spoon. Remove the scum carefully, and pour the boiling jelly gradually to half a pint of thick cream, stirring them briskly together as they are mixed: they must be stirred until very nearly cold, and then poured into a mould which has been rubbed in every part with the smallest possible quantity of very pure salad oil, or if more convenient, into one that has been dipped into cold water.

_Obs._—This blanc-manger which we had made originally on the thought of the moment for a friend, proved so very rich in flavour, that we inserted the exact receipt for it, as we had had it made on our first trial; but it might be simplified by merely boiling the juice, sugar, and isinglass, together for a few minutes, and then mixing them with the cream. An ounce and a half of isinglass and three-quarters of a pint of cream might then be used for it. The juice of other fruit may be substituted for that of the quinces.

Juice of quinces, 1 pint; isinglass, 1 oz.: 5 to 10 minutes. Sugar, 10 oz.: 20 to 30 minutes. Cream, 1/2 pint.

QUINCE BLANC-MANGE, WITH ALMOND CREAM.

When cream is not procurable, which will sometimes happen in the depth of winter, almonds, if plentifully used, will afford a very good substitute, though the finer blanc-mange is made from the foregoing receipt. On four ounces of almonds, blanched and beaten to the smoothest paste, and moistened in the pounding with a few drops of water, to prevent their oiling, pour a pint of boiling quince-juice; stir them together, and turn them into a strong cloth, of which let the ends be held and twisted different ways by two persons, to express the cream from the almonds; put the juice again on the fire, with half a pound of sugar, and when it boils, throw in nearly an ounce of fine isinglass; simmer the whole for five minutes, take off the scum, stir the blanc-mange until it is nearly cold, then mould it for table. Increase the quantity both of this and of the preceding blanc-mange, when a large dish of either is required.

Quince-juice, 1 pint; Jordan almond, 4 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb; isinglass, nearly 1 oz: 5 minutes.

APRICOT BLANC-MANGE, OR CRÊME PARISIENNE.

Dissolve gently an ounce of fine isinglass in a pint of new milk or of thin cream, and strain it through a folded muslin; put it into a clean saucepan, with three ounces of sugar, broken into small lumps, and when it boils, stir to it half a pint of rich cream; add it, at first by spoonsful only, to eight ounces of the finest apricot jam, mix them very smoothly, and stir the whole until it is nearly cold that the jam may not sink to the bottom of the mould: a tablespoonful of lemon-juice will improve the flavour.

When cream is scarce, use milk instead, with an additional quarter of an ounce of isinglass, and enrich it by pouring it boiling on the same proportion of almonds as for the second quince blanc-mange (see page 478). Cream can in all cases be substituted entirely for the milk, when a very rich preparation is desired. Peach jam will answer admirably for this receipt; but none of any kind should be used for it which has not been passed through a sieve when made.

Isinglass, 1 oz.; new milk, 1 pint; cream, 1/2 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; apricot jam, 1/2 lb.; lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful. Or, peach jam, 1/2 lb.; cream, 1-1/2 pint.

CURRANT BLANC-MANGE.

In three-quarters of a pint of clear currant-juice, drawn from the fruit as for jelly, and strained, dissolve an ounce and a half of isinglass; add nine ounces of sugar broken small, give the whole a boil, strain it, and stir it by slow degrees to three-quarters of a pint of thick cold cream; when it is less than milk-warm pour it into the moulds. The proportions of juice and cream can be varied to the taste, and a portion of raspberries or strawberries added to the currants. Black currants would, we think, make an agreeable variety of this blanc-mange for persons who like their peculiar flavour, but we have not tried them.

Clear juice of red currant, 3/4 pint; isinglass, 1-1/2 oz.; sugar, 9 oz.; cream, 3/4 pint.

LEMON SPONGE, OR MOULDED LEMON CREAM.

Infuse in half a pint of cream the very thin rind of one _large_ lemon, or of one and a half of smaller size; or, instead of this, rasp the fruit with the sugar which is to be used for the preparation. Add three-quarters of an ounce of fine isinglass, and when this is dissolved throw in seven ounces of sugar in small lumps. Do not boil the mixture, to reduce it, but let it be kept near the point of simmering, until the sugar and isinglass are entirely dissolved, and a full flavour of the lemon-rind has been obtained; then stir in another half-pint of cream, and strain the mixture immediately into a deep bowl or pan. When it is quite cold, add to it very gradually the strained juice of one lemon and a half, whisking the preparation well all the time; and when it begins to set, which may be known by its becoming very thick, whisk it lightly to a sponge, pour it into an oiled mould, and, to prevent its breaking when it is dished, just dip the mould into hot, but not boiling water; loosen the edges carefully, and turn out the cream: to save time and trouble the whisking may be omitted, and a plain lemon-cream take place of the sponge.

Cream, 1 pint; rind of lemons 2 middling-sized, or 1-1/2 large; isinglass, 3/4 oz.; sugar, 7 oz.; juice of 1-1/2 lemon.

_Obs._—For this, as for all other dishes of the kind, a little more or less of isinglass may be required according to the state of the weather, a larger proportion being needed in summer than in winter.

AN APPLE HEDGE-HOG, OR SUÉDOISE.

This dish is formed of apples, pared, cored without being divided and stewed tolerably tender in a light syrup. These are placed in a dish, after being well drained, and filled with apricot, or any other rich marmalade, and arranged in two or more layers, so as to give, when the whole is complete, the form shown in the engraving. The number required must depend on the size of the dish. From three to five pounds more must be stewed down into a smooth and dry marmalade, and with this all the spaces between them are to be filled up, and the whole are to be covered with it; an icing of two eggs, beaten to a very solid froth, and mixed with two heaped teaspoonsful of sugar, must then be spread evenly over the suédoise, fine sugar sifted on this, and spikes of blanched almonds, cut lengthwise, stuck over the entire surface: the dish is then to be placed in a moderate oven until the almonds are browned, but not too deeply, and the apples are hot through. It is not easy to give the required form with less than fifteen apples; eight of these may first be simmered in a syrup made with half a pint of water and six ounces of sugar, and the remainder may be thrown in after these are lifted out. Care must be taken to keep them firm. The marmalade should be sweet, and pleasantly flavoured with lemon.

VERY GOOD OLD-FASHIONED BOILED CUSTARD.

Throw into a pint and a half of new milk, the very thin rind of a fresh lemon, and let it infuse for half an hour, then simmer them together for a few minutes, and add four ounces and a half of white sugar. Beat thoroughly the yolks of fourteen fresh eggs, mix with them another half-pint of new milk, stir the boiling milk quickly to them, take out the lemon-peel, and turn the custard into a deep jug; set this over the fire in a pan of boiling water, and keep the custard stirred gently, but without ceasing, until it begins to thicken; then move the spoon rather more quickly, making it always touch the bottom of the jug, until the mixture is brought to the point of boiling, when it must be instantly taken from the fire, or it will curdle in a moment. Pour it into a bowl, and keep it stirred until nearly cold, then add to it by degrees a wineglassful of good brandy, and two ounces of blanched almonds, cut into spikes; or omit these, at pleasure. A few bitter ones, bruised, can be boiled in the milk in lieu of lemon-peel, when their flavour is preferred.

New milk, 1 quart; rind of 1 lemon; sugar, 4-1/2 oz.; yolks of eggs, 14; salt, less than 1/4 saltspoonful.

RICH BOILED CUSTARD.

Take a small cupful from a quart of fresh cream, and simmer the remainder for a few minutes with four ounces of sugar and the rind of a lemon, or give it any other flavour that may be preferred. Beat and strain the yolks of eight eggs, mix them with the cupful of cream, and stir the rest boiling to them: thicken the custard like the preceding one.

Cream, 1 quart; sugar, 4 oz.; yolks of eggs, 8.

THE QUEEN’S CUSTARD.

On the beaten and strained yolks of twelve new-laid eggs pour a pint and a half of boiling cream which has been sweetened, with three ounces of sugar; add the smallest pinch of salt, and thicken the custard as usual. When nearly cold, flavour it with a glass and a half of noyau, maraschino, or cuirasseau, and add the sliced almonds or not, at pleasure.

Yolks of eggs, 12; cream, 1-1/2 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; little salt; noyau, maraschino, or cuirasseau, 1-1/2 wineglassful.

CURRANT CUSTARD.

Boil in a pint of clear currant-juice ten ounces of sugar for three minutes, take off the scum, and pour the boiling juice on eight well-beaten eggs; thicken the custard in a jug set into a pan of water, pour it out, stir it till nearly cold, then add to it carefully, and by degrees, half a pint of rich cream, and last of all two tablespoonsful of strained lemon-juice. When the currants are very ripe omit one ounce of the sugar.

White currants and strawberries, cherries, red or white raspberries, or a mixture of any of these fruits, may be used for these custards with good effect: they are excellent.

Currant-juice, 1 pint; sugar, 10 oz.: 3 minutes. Eggs, 8; cream, 1/2 pint; lemon-juice, 2 tablespoonsful.

QUINCE OR APPLE CUSTARDS.

Add to a pint of apple-juice prepared as for jelly, a tablespoonful of strained lemon-juice, and from four to six ounces of sugar according to the acidity of the fruit; stir these boiling, quickly, and in small portions, to eight well-beaten eggs, and thicken the custard in a jug placed in a pan of boiling water, in the usual manner. A larger proportion of lemon-juice and a high flavouring of a rind can be given when approved. For quince custards, which if well made are excellent, observe the same directions as for the apple, but omit the lemon-juice. As we have before observed, all custards are much finer when made with the yolks only of the eggs, of which the number must be increased nearly half, when this is done.

Prepared apple-juice (see page 456), 1 pint; lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful; sugar, 4 to 6 oz.; eggs, 8. Quince custards, same proportions, but no lemon-juice.

_Obs._—In making lemon-creams the apple-juice may be substituted very advantageously for water, without varying the receipt in other respects.

THE DUKE’S CUSTARD.

Drain well from their juice, and then roll in dry sifted sugar, as many fine brandied Morella cherries as will cover thickly the bottom of the dish in which this is to be sent to table; arrange them in it, and pour over them from a pint to a pint and a half of rich cold boiled custard; garnish the edge with macaroons or Naples biscuits, or pile upon the custard some solid rose-coloured whipped cream, highly flavoured with brandy.

Brandied Morella cherries, 1/2 to whole pint; boiled custard, from 1 to 1-1/2 pint; thick cream, 1/2 pint or more; brandy, 1 to 2 glassesful; sugar, 2 to 3 oz.; juice of 1/2 large lemon; prepared cochineal, or carmine, 20 to 40 drops.

CHOCOLATE CUSTARDS.

Dissolve gently by the side of the fire an ounce and a half of the best chocolate in rather more than a wineglassful of water, and then boil it until it is perfectly smooth; mix with it a pint of milk well flavoured with lemon peel or vanilla, add two ounces of fine sugar, and when the whole boils, stir it to five well-beaten eggs which have been strained. Put the custard into a jar or jug, set it into a pan of boiling water, and stir it without ceasing until it is thick. Do not put it into glasses or a dish until it is nearly or quite cold. These, as well as all other custards, are infinitely finer when made with the yolks only of the eggs, of which the number must then be increased. Two ounces of chocolate, a pint of milk, half a pint of cream, two or three ounces of sugar, and eight yolks of eggs, will make very superior custards of this kind.

Rasped chocolate, 1-1/2 oz.; water, 1 _large_ wineglassful: 5 to 8 minutes. New milk, 1 pint; eggs, 5; sugar, 2 oz. Or: chocolate, 2 oz.; water, 1/4 pint; new milk, 1 pint; sugar, 2-1/2 to 3 oz.; cream, 1/2 pint; yolks of eggs, 8.

_Obs._—Either of these may be moulded by dissolving from half to three quarters of an ounce of isinglass in the milk. The proportion of chocolate can be increased to the taste.

COMMON BAKED CUSTARD.

Mix a quart of new milk with eight well beaten eggs, strain the mixture through a fine sieve, and sweeten it with from five to eight ounces of sugar, according to the taste; add a small pinch of salt, and pour the custard into a deep dish with or without a lining or rim of paste, grate nutmeg or over the top, and bake it in a _very_ slow oven from twenty to thirty minutes, or longer, should it not be firm in the centre. A custard, if well made, and properly baked, will be quite smooth when cut, without the honey-combed appearance which a hot oven gives; and there will be no whey in the dish.

New milk, 1 quart; eggs, 8; sugar, 5 to 8 oz.; salt, 1/4 saltspoonful; nutmeg or lemon-grate: baked, slow oven, 30 to 40 minutes, or more.

A FINER BAKED CUSTARD.

Boil together gently, for five minutes, a pint and a half of new milk, a few grains of salt, the very thin rind of a lemon, and six ounces of loaf sugar; stir these boiling, but very gradually, to the well-beaten yolks of ten fresh eggs, and the whites of four; strain the mixture, and add to it half a pint of good cream; let it cool, and then flavour it with a few spoonsful of brandy, or a little ratifia; finish and bake it by the directions given for the common custard above; or pour it into small well-buttered cups, and bake it very slowly from ten to twelve minutes.

FRENCH CUSTARDS OR CREAMS.

To a quart of new milk allow the yolks of twelve fresh eggs, but to equal parts of milk and cream of ten only. From six to eight ounces of sugar will sweeten the custard sufficiently for general taste, but more can be added at will; boil this for a few minutes gently in the milk with a grain or two of salt, and stir the mixture briskly to the eggs, as soon as it is taken from the fire. Butter a round deep dish, pour in the custard, and place it in a pan of water at the point of boiling, taking care that it shall not reach to within an inch of the edge; let it _just simmer_, and no more, from an hour to an hour and a half: when quite firm in the middle, it will be done. A very few live embers should be kept on the lid of the stewpan to prevent the steam falling from it into the custard. When none is at hand of a form to allow of this, it is better to use a charcoal fire, and to lay an oven-leaf, or tin, over the pan, and the embers in the centre. The small French furnace, shown in