The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory Part 57

_Cream Cheese._

Take a basin of thick cream, let it stand some time; then salt it, put a thin cloth over a hair-sieve, and pour the cream on it. Shift the cloth every day, till it is proper; then wrap the cheese up to ripen in nettle or vine leaves.

_Another._

Take a quart of new milk and a quart of cream; warm them together, and put to it a spoonful of runnet; let it stand three hours; then take it out with a skimming-dish; break the curd as little as possible; put it into a straw vat, which is just big enough to hold this quant.i.ty; let it stand in the vat two days; take it out, and sprinkle a little salt over it; turn it every day, and it will be ready in ten days.

_Princess Amelia's Cream Cheese._

Wash the soap out of a napkin; double it to the required size, and put it wet into a pewter soup-plate. Put into it a pint of cream; cover it, and let it stand twenty-four hours unless the weather is very hot, in which case not so long. Turn the cheese in the napkin: sprinkle a little salt over it, and let it stand twelve hours. Then turn it into a very dry napkin out of which all soap has been washed, and salt the other side. It will be fit to eat in a day or two according to the weather.

Some keep it in nut leaves to ripen it.

_Irish Cream Cheese._

Take a quart of very thick cream, and stir well into it two spoonfuls of salt. Double a napkin in two, and lay it in a punch-bowl. Pour the cream into it; turn the four corners over the cream, and let it stand for two days. Put it into a dry cloth within a little wooden cheese-vat; turn it into dry cloths twice a day till it is quite dry, and it will be fit to eat in a few days. Keep it in clean cloths in a cool place.

_Rush Cheese._

Take a quart of cream, put to it a gill of new milk; boil one half of it and put it to the other; then let it stand till it is of the warmth of new milk, after which put in a little earning, and, when sufficiently come, break it as little as you can; put it into a vat that has a rush bottom, lay it on a smooth board, and turn it every day till ripe.

_Winter Cream Cheese._

Take twenty quarts of new milk warm from the cow; strain it into a tub; have ready four quarts of good cream boiled to put to it, and about a quart of spring water, boiling hot, and stir all well together; put in your earning, and stir it well in; keep it by the fire till it is well come. Then take it gently into a sieve to whey it, and after that put it into a vat, either square or round, with a cheese-board upon it, of two pounds weight at first, which is to be increased by degrees to six pounds; turn it into dry cloths two or three times a day for a week or ten days, and salt it with dry salt, the third day. When you take it out of the vat, lay it upon a board, and turn and wipe it every other day till it is dry. It is best to be made as soon as the cows go into fog.

The cheeses are fit to eat in Lent, sometimes at Christmas, according to the state of the ground.

_To make Cream Cheese without Cream._

Take a quart of milk warm from the cow and two quarts of boiling water.

When the curd is ready for the cheese-vat, put it in, without breaking it, by a dishful at a time, and fill it up as it drains off. It must not be pressed. The cheese-vat should have holes in it all over like a colander. Take out the cheese when it will bear it, and ripen it upon rushes: it must be more than nine inches deep.

_Damson Cheese._

Take the damsons full ripe, and squeeze out the stones, which put into the preserving-pan, with as much water as will cover them: let them simmer till the stones are quite clear, and put your fruit into the liquor. Take three pounds of good powder sugar to six pounds of fruit; boil it very fast till quite thick; then break the stones, and put the whole kernels into it, before you put it into moulds for use.

_Another._

Boil up one pound of damsons with three quarters of a pound of sugar; when the fruit begins to break, take out the stones and the skins; or, what is a better way, pulp them through a colander. Then peel and put in some of the kernels; boil it very high; it will turn out to the shape of any pots or moulds, and is very good.

_French Cheese._

Boil two pints of milk and one of cream, with a blade of mace and a little cinnamon: put the yolks of three eggs and the whites of two, well beaten, into your milk, and set on the fire again, stirring it all the while till it boils. Take it off, and stir it till it is a little cooled; then put in the juice of two lemons, and let it stand awhile with the lemons in it. Put it in a linen strainer, and hang it up to drain out the whey. When it is drained dry, take it down, and put to it a spoonful or two of rose-water, and sweeten it to your taste: put it into your pan, which must be full of holes; let it stand a little; put it into your dish with cream, and stick some blanched almonds about it.

_Italian Cheese._

One quart of cream, a pint of white wine, the juice of three lemons, a little lemon-peel, and sugar to your taste; beat it with a whisk a quarter of an hour; then pour it on a b.u.t.tered cloth, over a sieve, to drain all night, and turn it out just before it is sent to table. Strew comfits on the top, and garnish as you like.

_Lemon Cheese--very good._

Into a quart of thick sweet cream put the juice of three lemons, with the rind finely grated; sweeten it to your taste; beat it very well; then put it into a sieve, with some fine muslin underneath it, and let it stand all night. Next day turn it out, and garnish with preserved orange or marmalade.

Half the above quant.i.ty makes a large cheese. Do not beat it till it comes to b.u.t.ter, but only till it is near coming. It is a very pretty dish.

_Cheesecake._ No. 1.

Take four quarts of new milk and a pint of cream; put in a blade or two of mace, with a bag of ambergris; set it with as much runnet as will bring it to a tender curd. When it has come, break it as you would a cheese, and, when you have got what whey you can from it, put it in a cloth and lay it in a pan or cheese-hoop, placing on it a weight of five or six pounds, and, when you find it well pressed out, put it into an earthen dish, bruising it very small with a spoon. Then take two ounces of almonds, blanch and beat them with rose-water and cream; mix these well together among your curd; sweeten them with loaf-sugar; put in something more than a quarter of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter, with the yolks of six eggs mixed together. When you are ready to put it into crust, strew in half a pound of currants; let the b.u.t.ter boil that you make your crust with; roll out the cakes very thin. The oven must not be too hot, and great care must be taken in the baking. When they rise up to the top they are sufficiently done.

_Cheesecake._ No. 2.

Blanch half a pound of the best sweet almonds, and beat them very fine.

Add two spoonfuls of orange-flower or rose-water, half a pound of currants, half a pound of the finest sugar, beaten and sifted, and two quarts of thick cream, which must be kept stirred over a gentle fire.

When almost cold, add eight eggs, leaving out half the whites, well beaten and strained, a little beaten mace and finely powdered cinnamon, with four well pounded cloves. Mix them well into the rest of the ingredients, keeping it still over the fire as before. Pour it well beaten into puff-paste for the oven, and if it be well heated they will be baked in a quarter of an hour.

_Cheesecake._ No. 3.

Take two quarts of milk, make it into curd with a little runnet; when it is drained as dry as possible, put to it a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter; rub both together in a marble mortar till smooth; then add one ounce of almonds blanched; beat two Naples biscuits, and about as much crumb of roll; put seven yolks of eggs, but only one white; season it with mace and a little rose-water, and sweeten to your taste.

_Cheesecake._ No. 4.

Break one gallon of milk with runnet, and press it dry; then beat it in a mortar very small; put in half a pound of b.u.t.ter, and beat the whole over again until it is as smooth as b.u.t.ter. Put to it six eggs, leaving out half the whites; beat them very light with sack and rose-water, half a nutmeg grated, half a quarter of a pound of almonds beaten fine with rose-water and a little brandy. Sweeten to your taste; put in what currants you like, make a rich crust, and bake in a quick oven.

_Cheesecake._ No. 5.

A quart of milk with eight eggs beat together; when it is come to a curd, put it into a sieve, and strain the whey out. Beat a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter with the curd in a mortar, with three eggs and three spoonfuls of sugar; pound it together very light; add half a nutmeg and a very little salt.

_Cheesecake._ No. 6.

Take a pint of milk, four eggs well beaten, three ounces of b.u.t.ter, half a pound of sugar, the peel of a lemon grated; put all together into a kettle, and set it over a clear fire; keep stirring it till it begins to boil; then mix one spoonful of flour with as much milk as will just mix it, and put it into the kettle with the rest. When it begins to boil, take it off the fire, and put it into an earthen pan; let it stand till the next morning; then add a quarter of a pound of currants, a little nutmeg, and half a gla.s.s of brandy.

_Almond Cheesecake._