The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) Part 72

APPLE FLOAT.

One dozen apples, pared and cored, one pound and a half of sugar. Put the apples on with water enough to cover them and let them stew until they look as if they would break; then take them out and put the sugar in the same water; let the syrup come to a boil, put in the apples and let them stew until done through and clear; then take them out, slice into the syrup one large lemon and add an ounce of gelatine dissolved in a pint of cold water. Let the whole mix well and come to a boil; then pour upon the apples. The syrup will congeal. It is to be eaten cold with cream.

Or you may change the dish by making a soft custard with the yolks of four eggs, three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and a scant quart of milk. When cold, spread it over the apples. Whip the whites of the egg, flavor with lemon and place on the custard. Color in the oven.

SYLLABUB.

One quart of rich milk or cream, a cupful of wine, half a cupful of sugar; put the sugar and wine into a bowl and the milk lukewarm in a separate vessel. When the sugar is dissolved in the wine, pour the milk in, holding it high; pour it back and forth until it is frothy.

Grate nutmeg over it.

CREAM FOR FRUIT.

This recipe is an excellent subst.i.tute for pure cream, to be eaten on fresh berries and fruit.

One cupful of sweet milk; heat it until boiling. Beat together the whites of two eggs, a tablespoonful of white sugar and a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of a nutmeg. Now add half a cupful of cold milk and a teaspoonful of cornstarch; stir well together until very light and smooth, then add it to the boiling milk; cook it until it thickens; it must not boil. Set it aside to cool. It should be of the consistency of real fresh cream. Serve in a creamer.

STRAWBERRY SPONGE.

One quart of strawberries, half a package of gelatine, one cupful and a half of water, one cupful of sugar, the juice of a lemon, the whites of four eggs. Soak the gelatine for two hours in half a cupful of the water. Mash the strawberries and add half the sugar to them. Boil the remainder of the sugar and the water gently twenty minutes. Rub the strawberries through a sieve. Add the gelatine to the boiling syrup and take from the fire immediately; then add the strawberries. Place in a pan of ice-water and beat five minutes. Add the whites of eggs and beat until the mixture begins to thicken. Pour in the molds and set away to harden. Serve with sugar and cream. Raspberry and blackberry sponges are made in the same way.

LEMON SPONGE.

Lemon sponge is made from the juice of four lemons, four eggs, a cupful of sugar, half a package of gelatine and one pint of water.

Strain lemon juice on the sugar; beat the yolks of the eggs and mix with the remainder of the water, having used a half cupful of the pint in which to soak the gelatine. Add the sugar and lemon to this and cook until it begins to thicken, then add the gelatine. Strain this into a basin, which place in a pan of water to cool. Beat with a whisk until it has cooled but not hardened; now add the whites of the eggs until it begins to thicken, turn in a mold and set to harden.

Remember the sponge hardens very rapidly when it commences to cool, so have your molds all ready. Serve with powdered sugar and cream.

APPLE SNOW.

Stew some fine-flavored sour apples tender, sweeten to taste, strain them through a fine wire sieve and break into one pint of strained apples the white of an egg; whisk the apple and egg very briskly till quite stiff and it will be as white as snow; eaten with a nice boiled custard it makes a very desirable dessert. More eggs may be used if liked.

QUINCE SNOW.

Quarter five fair-looking quinces and boil them till they are tender in water, then peel them and push them through a coa.r.s.e sieve. Sweeten to the taste and add the whites of three or four eggs. Then with an egg-whisk beat all to a stiff froth and pile with a spoon upon a gla.s.s dish and set away in the ice box, unless it is to be served immediately.

ORANGE TRIFLE.

Take the thin parings from the outside of a dozen oranges and put to steep in a wide-mouthed bottle; cover it with good cognac and let it stand twenty-four hours; skin and seed the oranges and reduce to a pulp; press this through a sieve, sugar to taste, arrange in a dish and heap with whipped cream flavored with the orange brandy, ice two hours before serving.

LEMON TRIFLE.

The juice of two lemons and grated peel of one, one pint of cream, well sweetened and whipped stiff, one cupful of sherry, a little nutmeg. Let sugar, lemon juice and peel lie together two hours before you add wine and nutmeg. Strain through double tarlatan and whip gradually into the frothed cream. Serve very soon heaped in small gla.s.ses. Nice with cake.

FRUIT TRIFLE.

Whites of four eggs beaten to a stiff froth, two tablespoonfuls each of sugar, currant jelly and raspberry jam. Eaten with sponge cakes, it is a delicious dessert.

GRAPE TRIFLE.

Pulp through a sieve two pounds of ripe grapes, enough to keep back the stones, add sugar to taste. Put into a trifle dish and cover with whipped cream, nicely flavored. Serve very cold.

APPLE TRIFLE.

Peel, core and quarter some good tart apples of nice flavor, and stew them with a strip of orange and a strip of quince peel, sufficient water to cover the bottom of the stewpan, and sugar in the proportion of half a pound to one pound of fruit; when cooked, press the pulp through a sieve, and, when cold, dish and cover with one pint of whipped cream flavored with lemon peel.

Quinces prepared in the same manner are equally as good.

PEACH TRIFLE.

Select perfect, fresh peaches, peel and core and cut in quarters; they should be _well sugared_, arranged in a trifle dish with a few of their own blanched kernels among them, then heaped with whipped cream as above; the cream should not be flavored; this trifle should be set on the ice for at least an hour before serving; home-made sponge cakes should be served with it.

GOOSEBERRY TRIFLE.

One quart of gooseberries, sugar to taste, one pint of custard, a plateful of whipped cream.

Put the gooseberries into a jar, with sufficient moist sugar to sweeten them, and boil them until reduced to a pulp. Put this pulp at the bottom of a trifle dish; pour over it a pint of custard, and, when cold, cover with whipped cream. The cream should be whipped the day before it is wanted for table, as it will then be so much firmer and more solid. This dish may be garnished as fancy dictates.

LEMON HONEY.

One coffeecupful of white sugar, the grated rind and juice of one large lemon, the yolks of three eggs and the white of one, a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter. Put into a basin the sugar and b.u.t.ter, set it in a dish of boiling water over the fire; while this is melting, beat up the eggs, and add to them the grated rind from the outside of the lemon; then add this to the sugar and b.u.t.ter, cooking and stirring it until it is thick and clear like honey.

This will keep for some days, put into a tight preserve jar, and is nice for flavoring pies, etc.

FLOATING ISLANDS.

Beat the yolks of five eggs and the whites of two very light, sweeten with five tablespoonfuls of sugar and flavor to taste; stir them into a quart of scalded milk and cook it until it thickens. When cool pour it into a gla.s.s dish. Now whip the whites of the three remaining eggs to a _stiff_ froth, adding three tablespoonfuls of sugar and a little flavoring. Pour this froth over a shallow dish of boiling water; the steam pa.s.sing through it cooks it; when sufficiently cooked, take a tablespoon and drop spoonfuls of this over the top of the custard, far enough apart so that the "little white islands" will not touch each other. By dropping a teaspoonful of bright jelly on the top or centre of each island, is produced a pleasing effect; also by filling wine-gla.s.ses and arranging them around a standard adds much to the appearance of the table.

FLOATING ISLAND.

One quart of milk, five eggs and five tablespoonfuls of sugar. Scald the milk, then add the beaten yolks and one of the whites together with the sugar. First stir into them a little of the scalded milk to prevent curdling, then all of the milk. Cook it the proper thickness; remove from the fire, and, when cool, flavor; then pour it into a gla.s.s dish and let it become very cold. Before it is served beat up the remaining four whites of the eggs to a _stiff_ froth and beat into them three tablespoonfuls of sugar and two tablespoonfuls of currant jelly. Dip this over the top of the custard.