Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks Part 58

_Eclairs aux Groseilles._--Made like the above, but filled with currant-jelly.

Do the same with _apple_, _blackberry_, _cherry_, _grape_, _peach_, _pear_, _plum_, _quince_, _raspberry jelly_, etc.

_Pet.i.ts Pains a la Reine._--_Eclairs_ are so called when filled with marmalade of peaches in which sweet almonds chopped fine have been mixed previously.

_Pet.i.ts Pains a la Rose._--Like the above, and by adding a few drops of essence of roses to the marmalade.

_Pet.i.ts Pains a l'Essence._--Like the above, with any kind of essence: _pink_, _violet_, _geranium_, etc.

_Biscuits in Boxes._--Make some square boxes with sheets of white paper; fill them about two-thirds full with the same mixture as for lady's fingers, dust with sugar, and bake in a slow oven; serve cold.

_With Almonds._--Mix well together with a wooden spoon four yolks of eggs with four ounces of sugar (pulverized), add three ounces of flour and mix well again. Beat the four whites to a stiff froth, and then have somebody to turn the mixture into them while you finish beating, and then mix the whole gently but well. It must not be stirred too much.

Have two ounces of bitter almonds well pounded, with a teaspoonful of sugar, and mix them with the rest. b.u.t.ter small moulds, turn the mixture into them, filling about two-thirds full, glaze with egg, dust with sugar, and bake in an oven at about 300 degrees Fahr.; serve cold.

_With Chocolate._--Make some biscuits like the above, omitting the almonds, and flavoring them with a few drops of essence of vanilla. When cold, glaze them with chocolate, the same as described for _eclairs_, and serve.

_With Essence._--Make biscuits with almonds or without, as the above ones, and flavor them with any kind of essence, or with orange and lemon rind grated.

_Glazed._--When the biscuits are baked, glaze them with icing, and serve cold. These are sometimes called _biscuits a la royale_.

_Of Rheims._--Mix well in a bowl six yolks of eggs with six ounces of sugar, with a wooden spoon. Add and mix with the above five ounces of flour and lemon-rind grated; beat four whites of eggs to a stiff froth, and mix them also with the rest. b.u.t.ter small moulds, turn the mixture into them, and bake in a slow oven, about 300 degrees Fahr. These are often made of the shape of lady's fingers. They are excellent eaten with wine.

_With Filberts._--Put ten or twelve ounces of filberts or peanuts in a mortar with a few drops of orange-flower water and about half the white of an egg; when reduced to a paste, mix well with it four ounces of sifted flour, eight ounces of fine, white sugar, the yolks of two eggs well beaten, and the whites of four eggs whisked to a froth; when the whole is properly mixed, put it into a well-b.u.t.tered mould, which place in a moderately-heated oven; watch it carefully, take out when cooked, which is easily known by the color it a.s.sumes.

Biscuits with hazel-nuts, peach, or other kernels, may be made in the same way; that is, using them instead of filberts.

_Lady's Fingers._--Mix well together with a wooden spoon four yolks of eggs and four ounces of pulverized sugar, then add three ounces of flour and mix well again. Beat four whites of eggs to a stiff froth; have somebody to turn two tablespoonfuls of the mixture into the whites as soon as beaten enough, and which you mix with the egg-beater, then turn the rest or the mixture in, mixing gently with the wooden spoon. This must be done rather quickly, to prevent the whole from turning liquid.

Put the mixture in the pastry-bag with tin tube No. 1 at the end of it, squeeze it out in sticks about four inches long into a baking-pan slightly b.u.t.tered and dusted with flour, or on a piece of paper placed in the bottom of the pan; then dust them with sugar, and bake in a rather slow oven. They must not change in the oven, that is, they must not spread or swell, showing that the oven is too hot or too slow, or that the mixture has not been properly prepared. They must be like small sticks, round on the upper side and flat underneath. They are sometimes called _biscuits a la cuiller_. They are used to make a _Charlotte Russe_, or eaten with wine.

Cakes.--_Almond._--Blanch, skin, and pound well one ounce of sweet almonds and the same of bitter ones, which you mix with eight ounces of pulverized sugar, six of flour, two eggs, a tablespoonful of brandy or rum, and a pinch of sugar. When thoroughly mixed, add five yolks of eggs, mix and stir for five minutes, then add also and mix half a pound of melted b.u.t.ter. Turn the mixture in small moulds, well b.u.t.tered, and bake in a rather slow oven. Some almonds cut in small pieces may be spread over just before baking; or, when baked, some icing may be spread over. Serve cold. This is also called _Nantais cake_. Instead of almonds, use filberts, hazel-nuts, currants, peanuts, or raisins.

_Fourre._--This is made with puff-paste and cream, or puff-paste and different mixtures placed inside of it, such as _Pithiviers cake_ and fruit-pies.

_Anchovy._--Knead four ounces of flour with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, a little salt, and a little water. Clean four anchovies and put them in vinegar for five minutes; then cut them in small pieces, put them in a bowl, and cover them with sweet-oil; leave them thus ten minutes. Roll the paste thin, then place a little more than half of it on a tart-dish, raising it all around with the thumb and forefinger; cover the paste with the anchovies, and these with the remainder of the paste, after having cut it in square pieces; spread some of the oil in which were the anchovies on it, bake in a warm oven, baste now and then with a little of the oil, and serve warm.

_Apple._--Stew eight or ten apples and mash them through a sieve. Put them in a saucepan with about two ounces of b.u.t.ter and eight of sugar, set on the fire for five minutes, take off, let cool, and then mix with it five or six eggs, one after another. Turn the mixture into a b.u.t.tered mould, which you place in a pan of boiling water, then boil slowly about half an hour, turn over a dish, and serve warm or cold.

_Hard._--Put half a pound of flour on the paste-board and make a hole in the middle; put into it three ounces of pulverized sugar, three ounces of b.u.t.ter, two eggs, a pinch of cinnamon, a few drops of essence, and knead the whole well, dust the board with flour, roll the paste down to a thickness of about one-fourth of an inch, cut it in pieces with a paste-cutter, of any shape; beat one egg with a teaspoonful of sugar and glaze the pieces with it; with a piece of wood draw leaves or flowers on each, and bake in an oven at about 360 degrees Fahr. They are eaten cold at tea.

_Heavy or Gateau de Plomb._--Proceed as above with one pound of flour, a pinch of salt, one ounce of sugar, four yolks of eggs, one pound of b.u.t.ter, half a pint of cream; when rolled down as above, fold in two or four, and roll down again; repeat the process four times. Then place it in a bakepan and put in a hot oven. Serve cold at tea.

_Milanais._--Put one pound of flour on the paste-board and make a hole in the middle, in which you put half a pound of b.u.t.ter, same of sugar, two eggs, a pinch of salt, and a quarter of a gill of rum. Mix and knead to a rather stiff dough with cold water. Spread it and roll it down to a thickness of about one-eighth of an inch. Glaze it with egg, dust with sugar and bake in a rather quick oven. When cold, cut it in two, spread some _compote_ of peaches or of apricots on one half, put the other half over it, cut in pieces according to fancy, and serve.

_Rum Cakes._--These are made with sponge cake cut with a paste-cutter, some sweetmeats or jelly is placed on the middle, then it is dusted with pulverized sugar, watered with rum, and then placed in the oven for about two minutes. These cakes have several names, according to the kind of sweetmeat used.

_Savarin._--Put one pound of flour on the paste-board and make a hole in the middle; put into it four ounces of sugar, and make a hole again; then put in the middle four eggs, twelve ounces of b.u.t.ter, one and a half gills of milk; mix and knead the whole well; then mix again in the whole four ounces of leaven prepared as directed; b.u.t.ter a mould, dust it with sweet almonds chopped; put the mixture in it; put in a warm place (about 78 degrees Fahr.) to rise, and bake in an oven at 430 degrees Fahr. It will take about two and a half hours to rise. The mould must not be filled, else it will run over in rising.

_Sauce for Savarin._--Put four ounces of sugar and half a pint of cold water in a block-tin saucepan, set it on the fire and boil till reduced about one-third; then add from one-half to one gill of rum (according to taste), give one more boil, and turn over the cake. Baste the cake with the sauce till the whole is absorbed by it. Serve warm or cold.

_Sponge Cake._--Mix well together in a bowl six yolks of eggs with four ounces of sugar; add four ounces of flour and mix again, add also a few drops of essence, then whisk six whites of eggs to a stiff froth and mix them again with the rest. b.u.t.ter a mould, put the mixture into it, not filling it more than two-thirds full, and bake in an oven at about 320 degrees. Sponge cake may be cut in pieces and used to make a _Charlotte Russe_, instead of lady's fingers.

_Apple Dumplings._--Quarter, peel, and core the apples, and cut them in pieces, then envelop them in puff-paste with beef-suet, boil till thoroughly done, and serve warm with sugar, or with apple or wine sauce.

It may also be served with sauce for puddings.

_Buckwheat Cakes._--Make a kind of thin dough with tepid water, yeast, buckwheat flour, and a little sugar and salt, let rise, and fry with b.u.t.ter. Serve hot with sugar, or mola.s.ses, or b.u.t.ter.

_Corn Cakes._--Mix well in a bowl two eggs with two ounces of melted b.u.t.ter, a pint of corn-meal, salt and sugar to taste. While mixing set milk on the fire, and as soon as it rises, turn it into the mixture, little by little, stirring and mixing the while, and till it makes a kind of thick dough. b.u.t.ter well a shallow bakepan, put the mixture into it, and bake.

_Crullers._--Mix well together and work with a wooden spoon, in a bowl, one egg with two ounces of melted b.u.t.ter and half a pound of pulverized sugar; then add salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, a few drops of essence, and one pound of flour, and mix again; add also milk, little by little, stirring and mixing at the same time, enough to make a thick batter. Divide the mixture in parts and fry in hot fat. (_See_ Frying.)

_Doughnuts._--Mix well together in a bowl four eggs with half a pound of sugar, add two or three ounces of melted b.u.t.ter and mix again, then mix with the whole, about one pound of flour and boiled milk enough to make a rather thick dough, season and mix well with the whole, nutmeg, cinnamon, and a few drops of essence. Cut in fancy pieces with a knife or paste-cutter, and fry in hot fat. (_See_ Frying.) Dust with sugar, and serve hot.

_m.u.f.fins._--Mix well together on the paste-board one pound of flour and three eggs, then add and mix again milk enough to make a thin dough, a little yeast and salt. Put away to rise; divide in parts and bake.

_Pound Cake._--Take a large bowl and put in it one pound of melted b.u.t.ter and one pound of pulverized sugar, and mix the two thoroughly together with a wooden spoon; then add and mix well also with them, three eggs previously beaten with a saltspoonful of nutmeg and cinnamon, half of each. When the eggs are mixed, add also half a pound of flour, mix well again; then add six well-beaten eggs, and mix; then another half pound of flour, a few drops of essence of rose, half a gill of Sherry wine, a liquor-gla.s.s of brandy, four ounces of citron, and half a pound of comfited fruit, chopped fine. Beat and mix as well as possible.

b.u.t.ter a mould, dust it with fine bread-crumbs, turn the mixture into it, and bake in a warm but not quick oven. It takes about two and a half hours to bake. As soon as cold, serve it. It may be glazed with sugar, or sugar and white of egg.

_Short Cake._--Cut puff-paste, made with a pound of flour and six or eight ounces of b.u.t.ter, in square or round pieces, bake; when cold, spread sweetened strawberries on, then cover with another cake, spread strawberries again on it, etc. Strawberry-jelly may be used.

_Plum._--Mix well in a vessel a pound of sugar with a pound of b.u.t.ter, and then again with eight eggs, one at a time, also half a pound of raisins, half a pound of flour, a little rum, and a little yeast. Line a mould with b.u.t.tered paper, turn the mixture into it, not filling it more than two-thirds full, place it in a warm but not quick oven for nearly two hours, remove the mould, and serve hot or cold.

_Tea Cake._--Put half a pound of flour on the paste-board, and in the middle of it a pinch of salt, half an ounce of sugar, two eggs, four ounces of melted b.u.t.ter, and cold water enough to make a rather stiff paste. Knead well, roll down to about a quarter of an inch in thickness; cut it in pieces with a knife or paste-cutter; moisten the top with water by means of a brush, dust with sugar, and bake in an oven at about 370 degrees Fahr. Serve cold.

_Viennois._--Make some biscuits in boxes, and when cold, cut off a little piece on the top, in the centre, which place you fill with peaches or apricots in _compote_; put two together; serve cold.

_With Jelly._--Proceed as above in every particular, using currant or raspberry jelly instead of _compote_.

MEAT-PIES.

_Pates de Viande._--Meat-pies are made in moulds without bottoms and which open in two, or are made of two pieces joined and fastened together with two pieces of wire. The size of the mould and that of the pie are according to taste. A pie may be made and filled with a reed-bird, or with a quail, or a partridge, or prairie-chicken, or with a dozen of them. We will give the receipt for one prairie-chicken.

_Pate of Game._--Bone a prairie-chicken as directed for birds, and cut it in about half a dozen slices or pieces. Grease the mould with b.u.t.ter and put it in a baking-pan. Put one pound of flour on the paste-board and make a hole in the middle; place in it six ounces of b.u.t.ter, one egg, a pinch of salt, and about one gill and a half of cold water, and knead the whole well. Roll it down to a thickness of about one-quarter of an inch, and of a rectangular shape; fold in two, and roll down again. Repeat this from six to twenty times; that is, till the paste is soft. The last time roll it down to a thickness of one-third of an inch, and give it as round a shape as possible. Dust the upper side slightly with flour, fold in two in this way: turn the side farthest from you on the other, so that the side of the paste nearest to you will be somewhat round, and the opposite one will be straight. By pulling with the hands the two ends of the straight side toward you, it will make it somewhat round also; then, take hold of the paste exactly in the places where you were pulling; put it in the mould with the side nearest to you on the top; open it gently, and with the hands spread it so that the bottom and sides of the mould will be perfectly lined with it. With a sharp knife cut the paste even with the top of the mould. Line the sides of the paste with thin slices of fat salt pork. Mix in a bowl one pound and a half of sausage-meat with two eggs, salt, pepper, a pinch of cinnamon and one of nutmeg; place a layer of this mixture about half an inch thick on the bottom of the paste; then a layer of thin slices of fat salt pork; one of slices of prairie-chicken; again a layer of sausage-meat, one of salt pork, etc., layer upon layer, till the mould is nearly full, finis.h.i.+ng with a layer of sausage-meat, and giving to the top of the _pate_ a convex form, but leaving a s.p.a.ce of about half an inch unfilled all around, so that the top of the _pate_ will be about one inch higher than the sides, and half an inch higher than the sides of the mould and paste. The cover of the _pate_ is made with the same paste as the bottom and sides, or with puff-paste.

Roll the paste down to a thickness of about one-eighth of an inch. Glaze the sides of the paste in the mould with egg; that is, the s.p.a.ce (half an inch) left unfilled; put the paste for the cover on the _pate_; press it gently against the other paste with the fingers in order to cause the two pastes to adhere; with a sharp knife cut off the paste even with the mould. Make a hole in the middle and on the top of the cover about one inch in diameter; cut five pieces of paste about three inches square, dust them slightly with flour; place them one upon another on your left thumb, keeping it erect; then with the right hand take hold of the pieces, bringing the edges together so that the top will form a ball; with a sharp knife make two cuts across and through the five pieces; form a kind of stem as if you were to imitate a mushroom with these pieces, and plant the stem in the hole; when baked it looks like a flower. Glaze the cover with egg; cut strips of paste in different shapes with a knife or paste-cutter, place them on it according to fancy, and bake in an oven at about 390 degrees Fahr. The strips of paste may also be glazed with egg. It will take about two hours to bake.

As soon as cold, cut the cover all around and remove it; fill the empty places with meat or calf's-foot jelly and put it on the dish. Chop some of the same jelly, put some all around it and on the top; cut some of it also in fancy shapes with a knife or paste-cutter; place it all around the dish and on the top of the _pate_, and serve.

The cut following represents a plain pie; that is, without any decoration, and immediately after having removed the mould.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

_Another, or Rabbit-Pie._--Chop very fine and separately one pound of veal, one of beef, one of lean fresh pork, three of rabbit or hare, and three of fat fresh pork. Mix the whole well together and season with salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, all grated or in powder.

Line a mould with paste as directed above, put a layer of the mixture in the mould about one inch thick, place on it slices of truffles, if handy and liked; then another layer, truffles, etc., till the mould is full.

If filled without truffles, it is not necessary to put layer after layer. Cover also as above, and bake in a moderately heated oven, about 320 degrees Fahr. It takes from five to six hours to bake.

_Another, or Prairie-chicken Pie._--Skin a prairie-hen (or several) and bone it. It is not necessary in boning it for a pie to proceed as directed for boned turkey, but merely to remove all the bones in the easiest and quickest manner; you cannot spoil the flesh, as it is to be chopped. Weigh the flesh when free from bones and skin. Weigh as much of each of the following: ham, salt pork, and calf's liver. Grate the salt pork and chop the three others very fine, and then pound the whole.

Season with salt, pepper, cloves and nutmeg, both grated, a pinch of cinnamon and chopped parsley; mix with the whole two or three eggs, one at a time, in order to mix better. Line a mould with paste as directed above; line the paste with thin slices of salt pork, fill it with the mixture, and cover, bake, finish, and serve exactly the same as the preceding. For two prairie-hens it will require about three hours to bake. Slices of truffles may also be used; they are mixed at the same time with the eggs and seasonings.

_With Cold Meat._--When the paste is placed in the mould as directed above, line it with thin slices of salt pork, then put a very thin layer of sausage-meat, prepared also as above, then fill with butcher's meat, poultry, and game, having previously removed all the bones, and cut the meat in strips; the greater the variety, the better the _pate_. Put a little of each kind of meat used in a mortar, say from one ounce to a pound, with parsley, thyme, bay-leaf, salt and pepper; pound the whole well and then mix with one egg, half a gill of white wine, or a liquor-gla.s.s of brandy, to every pound of meat. Fill the hollow places with the mixture, to which you may add a little gravy or broth if it is not liquid enough. Place thin slices of salt pork on the top, cover with paste as described above, cook and serve as above also.