Warm four ounces of b.u.t.ter, mix it with the same quant.i.ty of loaf-sugar sifted, grate in the rind of three lemons, squeeze in the juice of one, add three well-beaten eggs, a little nutmeg, and a spoonful of brandy; put this mixture into small tins lined with a light puff paste, and bake.

Cheesecakes can be varied by putting almonds beaten instead of the lemon, or by subst.i.tuting Seville oranges, and adding a few slices of candied orange and lemon peel.

GIBLET PIE.

Prepare the giblets as for "_stewed giblets_" they should then be laid in a deep dish, covered with a puff paste, and baked.

MOLINA PIE.

Mince finely cold veal or chicken, with smoked beef or tongue; season well, add lemon-juice and a little nutmeg, let it simmer in a small quant.i.ty of good beef or veal gravy; while on the fire, stir in the yolks of four eggs, put it in a dish to cool, and then cover with a rich pastry, and bake it.

VOL AU VENT.

This requires the greatest lightness in the pastry, as all depends upon its rising when baked; it should be rolled out about an inch and a half in thickness, cut it with a fluted tin of the size of the dish in which it is to be served. Also cut a smaller piece, which must be rolled out considerably thinner than an inch, to serve as a lid for the other part; bake both pieces, and when done, scoop out the crumb of the largest, and fill it with a white frica.s.see of chicken, sweetbread, or whatever may be selected; the sauce should be well thickened, or it would soften, and run through the crust.

A VOL-AU-VENT OF FRUIT.

It is now the fashion to fill _vol-au-vents_ with fruits richly stewed with sugar until the syrup is almost a jelly; it forms a very pretty entremet.

PEt.i.tS VOL-AU-VENTS.

These are made in the same way, but cut in small rounds, the crumb of the larger is scooped out, and the hollow filled with any of the varieties of patty preparations or preserved fruits.

MINCE PIES.

Grease and line tin patty-pans with a fine puff paste rolled out thin; fill them with mince-meat, cover them with another piece of paste, moisten the edges, close them carefully, cut them evenly round, and bake them about half an hour in a well-heated oven.

PATTY MEATS

May be prepared from any dressed materials, such as cold dressed veal, beef and mutton, poultry, sweetbreads, and fish; the chief art is to mince them properly, and give them the appropriate flavor and sauce; for veal, sweetbreads, and poultry, which may be used together or separately, the usual seasonings are mace, nutmeg, white pepper, salt, mushrooms minced, or in powder, lemon-peel, and sometimes the juice also; the mince is warmed in a small quant.i.ty of white sauce, not too thin, and the patty crusts, when ready baked, are filled with it.

For beef and mutton the seasonings are salt, pepper, allspice, a few sweet herbs powdered, with the addition, if approved, of a little ketchup; the mince must be warmed in strong well-thickened beef gravy.

If the mince is of fish, season with anchovy sauce, nutmeg, lemon-peel, pepper and salt; warm it, in a sauce prepared with b.u.t.ter, flour, and milk or cream, worked together smoothly and stirred till it thickens; the mince is then simmered in it for a few minutes, till hot; the seasonings may be put with the sauces, instead of with the mince.

CHAPTER VII.

Sweet Dishes, Puddings, Cakes, &c.

GENERAL REMARKS.

The freshness of all ingredients for puddings is of great importance.

Dried fruits should be carefully picked, and sometimes washed and should then be dried. Rice, sago, and all kinds of seed should be soaked and well washed before they are mixed into puddings.

Half an hour should be allowed for boiling a bread pudding in a half pint basin, and so on in proportion.

All puddings of the custard kind require gentle boiling, and when baked must be set in a moderate oven. By whisking to a solid froth the whites of the eggs used for any pudding, and stirring them into it at the moment of placing it in the oven, it will become exceedingly light and rise high in the dish.

All baked puddings should be baked in tin moulds in the form of a deep pie dish, but slightly fluted, it should be well greased by pouring into it a little warmed b.u.t.ter, and then turned upside down for a second, to drain away the superfluous b.u.t.ter; then sprinkle, equally all over, sifted white sugar, or dried crumbs of bread, then pour the pudding mixture into the mould; it should, when served, be turned out of the mould, when it will look rich and brown, and have the appearance of a cake.

To ensure the lightness of cakes, it is necessary to have all the ingredients placed for an hour or more before the fire, that they may all be warm and of equal temperature; without this precaution, cakes will be heavy even when the best ingredients are employed. Great care and experience are required in the management of the oven; to ascertain when a cake is sufficiently baked, plunge a knife into it, draw it instantly away, when, if the blade is sticky, return the cake to the oven; if, on the contrary, it appears unsoiled the cake is ready.

The lightness of cakes depends upon the ingredients being beaten well together. All stiff cakes may be beaten with the hand, but pound cakes, sponge, &c., should be beaten with a whisk or spoon.

BOLA D'AMOR.

The recipe for this much celebrated and exquisite confection is simpler than may be supposed from its elaborate appearance, it requires chiefly care, precision, and attention. Clarify two pounds of white sugar; to ascertain when it is of a proper consistency, drop a spoonful in cold water, form it into a ball, and try if it sounds when struck against a gla.s.s; when it is thus tested, take the yolks of twenty eggs, mix them up gently and pa.s.s them through a sieve, then have ready a funnel, the hole of which must be about the size of vermicelli; hold the funnel over the sugar, while it is boiling over a charcoal fire; pour the eggs through, stirring the sugar all the time, and taking care to hold the funnel at such a distance from the sugar, as to admit of the egg dropping into it. When the egg has been a few minutes in the sugar, it will be hard enough to take out with a silver fork, and must then be placed on a drainer; continue adding egg to the boiling sugar till enough is obtained; there should be previously prepared one pound of sweet almonds, finely pounded and boiled in sugar, clarified with orange flower-water only; place in a dish a layer of this paste, over which spread a layer of citron cut in thin slices, and then a thick layer of the egg prepared as above; continue working thus in alternate layers till high enough to look handsome.

It should be piled in the form of a cone, and the egg should form the last layer. It must then be placed in a gentle oven till it becomes a little set, and the last layer slightly crisp; a few minutes will effect this. It must be served in the dish in which it is baked, and is generally ornamented with myrtle and gold and silver leaf.

BOLA TOLIEDO.

Take one pound of b.u.t.ter, and warm it over the fire with a little milk, then put it into a pan with one pound of flour, six beaten eggs, a quarter of a pound of beaten sweet almonds, and two table-spoonsful of yeast; make these ingredients into a light paste, and set it before the fire to rise; then grease a deep dish, and place in a layer of the paste, then some egg prepared as for Bola d'Amor, then slices of citron, and a layer of egg marmalade, sprinkle each layer with cinnamon, and fill the dish with alternate layers. A rich puff paste should line the dish, which ought to be deep; bake in a brisk oven, after which, sugar clarified with orange flour-water must be poured over till the syrup has thoroughly penetrated the Bola.

A BOLA D'HISPANIOLA.

Take one pound and a half of flour, with three spoonsful of yeast, two ounces of fresh b.u.t.ter, one table spoonful of essence of lemon, eight eggs, and half a tea-cup full of water, and make it into a light dough, set it to rise for about an hour, then roll it out and cut it into three pieces; have previously ready, a quarter of a pound of citron, and three quarters of a pound of orange and lemon peel, cut in thin slices, mixed with powdered sugar and cinnamon; the Bola should be formed with the pieces of dough, layers of the fruit being placed between; it should not be baked in a tin. Powdered sweet almonds and sugar, should be strewed over it before baking.

SUPERIOR RECEIPT FOR ALMOND PUDDING.

Beat up the yolks of ten eggs, and the whites of seven; add half a pound of sweet almonds pounded finely, half a pound of white sugar, half an ounce of bitter almonds, and a table-spoonful of orange flower water, when thoroughly mixed, grease a dish, put in the pudding and bake in a brisk oven; when done, strew powdered sugar over the top, or, which is exceedingly fine, pour over clarified sugar with orange flower water.