A Poetical Cook-Book Part 12

Methinks I scent some _rich repast_: The savor strengthens with the blast.

GAY.

Take a dozen apricots, or any other fruit preserved in brandy; drain them in half; then wrap them in wafers, cut round, and previously moistened. Make the batter by putting a gla.s.s and a half of water, a grain of salt, and two ounces of fresh b.u.t.ter, into a saucepan. When it boils, stir in sufficient quant.i.ty of flour to make it rather a firm batter; keep it stirring three minutes; then pour it into another vessel: dip the fruit in this batter, and fry them; sprinkle them with sugar, then serve.

CREAMS.

ICE CREAM.

After dreaming some hours of the land of Cocaigne, That Elysium of all that is friand and nice, Where for hail they have bonbons, and claret for rain, And the skaters in winter show off on _cream ice_.

MOORE.

Here _ice, like crystal firm_, and never lost, Tempers hot July with December's frost.

WALLER.

Put a quart of rich cream into a broad pan; then stir in half a pound of powdered loaf sugar by degrees, and when all is well mixed, strain it through a sieve. Put it into a tin that has a close cover, and set it in a tub. Fill the tub with ice broken into small pieces, and strew among the ice a large quant.i.ty of salt, taking care that none of the salt gets into the cream. Sc.r.a.pe the cream down with a spoon as it freezes round the edges of the tin. While the cream is freezing, stir in gradually the juice of two large lemons or the juice of a pint of mashed strawberries or raspberries. When it is all frozen, dip the tin in lukewarm water; take out the cream, and fill your gla.s.ses, but not till a few minutes before you want to use it, as it will melt very soon.

If you wish to have it in moulds, put the cream into them as soon as it is frozen in the tin.

Set the moulds in a tub of ice and salt. Just before you want to use the cream, take the moulds out of the tub, wipe or wash the salt carefully from the outside, dip the moulds into lukewarm water, and turn out the cream. You may flavor a quart of ice cream with two ounces of sweet almonds, and one ounce of bitter almonds, blanched, and beaten in a mortar with a little rose-water to a smooth paste.

Stir in the almond gradually, while the cream is freezing.

WHIPPED CREAM.

Pudding our parson eats, the squire loves hare, But _whipped cream_ is my Buxoma's fare, While she loves _whipped cream_, capon ne'er shall be, Nor hare, nor beef, nor pudding, food for me.

GAY.

Sweeten with pounded loaf sugar a quart of cream, and to it a lump of sugar which has been rubbed upon the peel of two fine lemons or little oranges; or flavor it with orange flower water, a little essence of roses, the juice of strawberries, or any other fruit. Whisk the cream well in a large pan, and as the froth rises, take it off, and lay it on a sieve placed over another pan, and return the cream which drains from the froth till all is whisked; then heap it upon a dish, or put it into gla.s.ses.

BOILED CUSTARDS.

And _boiled custard_, take its merit in brief, Makes a n.o.ble dessert, where the dinner's roast beef.

Boil a pint of milk with lemon-peel and cinnamon; mix a pint of cream, and the yolks of five eggs well beaten; when the milk tastes of the seasoning, sweeten enough for the whole; pour it into the cream, stirring it well; then give the custard a simmer till of a proper thickness. Do not let it boil; stir the whole time one way; then season with a large spoonful of peach-water, and two teaspoonfuls of brandy or a little ratafia. If you wish your custards extremely rich, put no milk, but a quart of cream.

ORANGE CUSTARDS.

With _orange custards_ and the juicy pine, On choicest melons and sweet grapes they dine.

JONSON.

Sweeten the strained juice of ten oranges with pounded loaf sugar, stir it over the fire till hot, take off the sc.u.m, and when nearly cold, add to it the beaten yolks of twelve eggs and a pint of cream; put it into a saucepan, and stir it over a slow fire till it thickens. Serve it in cups.

CUSTARDS OR CREAMS.

But nicer cates, her dainty's boasted fare, The _jellied cream_ or custards, daintiest food, Or cheesecake, or the cooling syllabub, For Thyrses she prepares.

DODSLEY.

Whisk for one hour the whites of two eggs, together with two tablespoonfuls of raspberry or red currant syrup or jelly; lay it in any form of a custard or cream, piled up to imitate rock. It may be served in a cream round it.

ALMOND CREAMS.

And from _sweet kernels_ pressed, She tempers _dulcet creams_.

MILTON.

Blanch and pound to a paste, with rose-water, six ounces of almonds; mix them with a pint and a half of cream which has been boiled with the peel of a small lemon; add two well-beaten eggs, and stir the whole over the fire till it be thick, taking care not to allow it to boil; sweeten it, and when nearly cold, stir in a tablespoonful of orange-flower or rose-water.

MISCELLANEOUS.

YEAST.

Not with the leaven, as of old, Of sin and malice fed, But with unfeigned sincerity.

One dozen of potatoes, two cupfuls of hops; put them together in a bag, and place them in a pot with two quarts of water; let it boil till the potatoes are done; a cupful of salt, a ladle of flour; then pour the boiling water over it, then let it stand till lukewarm; add a cupful of old yeast, cover it up, and put near the fire till it foments.

BREAD.

His diet was of _wheaten bread_.

COWPER.

Mixt with the rustic throng, see ruddy maids, Some taught with dextrous hand to twirl the wheel, Some expert To raise from _leavened wheat the kneaded loaf_.

DODSLEY.

Her _bread_ is deemed such dainty fare, That ev'ry prudent traveller His wallet loads with many a crust.

COWPER.

Like the _loaf_ in the Tub's pleasant tale, That was fish, flesh, and custard, good claret and ale, It comprised every flavor, was all and was each, Was grape and was pineapple, nectarine and peach.

LOVILOND.

Mix with six pounds of sifted flour one ounce of salt, nearly half a pint of fresh sweet yeast as it comes from the brewery, and a sufficient quant.i.ty of warmed milk to make the whole into a stiff dough, work and knead it well on a board, on which a little flour has been strewed, for fifteen or twenty minutes, then put it into a deep pan, cover it with a warmed towel, set it before the fire, and let it rise for an hour and a half or perhaps two hours; cut off a piece of this sponge or dough; knead it well for eight or ten minutes, together with flour sufficient to keep it from adhering to the board, put it into small tins, filling them three quarters full; dent the rolls all around with a knife, and let them stand a few minutes before putting them in the oven.

The remainder of the dough must then be worked up for loaves, and baked either in or out of shape.

RYE AND INDIAN BREAD.