Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume IV Part 15

Put the cloves and cinnamon into the water, place over the fire, bring to the boiling point, and then add the sugar. Cook together for a few minutes, remove from the fire, and cool. Add the pineapple, orange, and lemon juice, strain, add the wintergreen oil, and freeze.

87. MINT PUNCH.--When meals containing rich meats and other rich foods are served, it will be found that mint punch adds just what is needed to balance them. It is an easy dessert to make, as will be seen from the accompanying recipe.

MINT PUNCH (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1 c. sugar 1 qt. water 3 lemons 1 bunch fresh mint 4 drops peppermint oil Green coloring

Cook the sugar and water until a thin sirup is formed. Cool and add the juice of the lemons. Wash and chop the leaves of the mint into small pieces, and add these to the liquid. Add the peppermint oil and sufficient coloring to make it a pale green. Freeze. The fresh mint leaves may be omitted if desired.

FRAPPeS

88. FRAPPeS, in composition, are very similar to ices, consisting usually of crushed fruit or fruit juice, water, and sugar. They are granular when frozen, and, as they are never frozen as hard as ice cream and ices, they are of a mushy consistency. They are more often used for serving with a heavy course in a dinner or between two courses than as a dessert. The freezing of frappes is accomplished rapidly, for, as will be observed from Table I, the proportion of ice and salt used is 1 to 1.

This, together with the fact that the mixture contains a large proportion of water, accounts for the granular nature of frappes. Any desirable fruit may be used in the preparation of this dessert. If it is a rather bland fruit, such as peaches, raspberries, etc., lemon juice should be added in order to give a sour taste and the mixture will need to be sweetened accordingly.

89. CRANBERRY FRAPPe.--To the dinner course of a meal in which chicken, turkey, duck, or other fowl is served, cranberry frappe is often added.

It may be used in place of the cranberry jelly and will be found to be a delightful change.

CRANBERRY FRAPPe (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1 qt. cranberries 3 c. water 2 c. sugar 2 lemons

Put the cranberries to cook with the water. When all the berries have become soft, force them through a colander, add the sugar, and put over the fire to cook until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the fire and cool, add the juice of the lemons, and freeze.

90. CIDER FRAPPe.--A delightful addition to a Thanksgiving dinner is cider frappe. It should be served with the dinner course rather than as a dessert.

CIDER FRAPPe (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1/4 c. water 1/2 c. sugar 1 qt. cider 2 lemons

Place the water and sugar over the fire and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Cool and then add the sirup to the cider and the juice of the lemons. Freeze.

91. CHERRY FRAPPe.--No more attractive frappe can be served than that flavored with cherries and colored with a pink coloring. It is very refres.h.i.+ng and adds much to the meal in which it is served.

CHERRY FRAPPe (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1 c. sugar 1 c. water 2 lemons 1 c. cherries, chopped 1-1/2 c. juice from canned sour cherries Pink coloring

Add the sugar to the water and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Cool, add the juice of the lemons, the chopped cherries, cherry juice, and sufficient pink coloring to make the mixture a pale pink. Freeze.

SHERBETS

92. SHERBETS, according to definition, are flavored water ices, but as they are now commonly understood, they have come to have a different meaning. Desserts now regarded as sherbets are ices to which are added egg whites, gelatine, milk, or any combination of these things. The addition of such ingredients improves the texture very much, for sherbets are less likely to be granular than ices.

Sherbets may be made from fruits or fruit juices of any kind, and these may be either canned or fresh. Some mixtures of fruits are more agreeable than others, and an effort should be made to combine the fruits that make the best mixtures. When a bland fruit is used as the basis for a sherbet, a more acid one should be added to improve the flavor.

93. MILK SHERBET.--The accompanying recipe for milk sherbet may be made as here given, or any desired kind of crushed fruit and fruit juice may be added to it to give a distinctive fruit flavor. The quant.i.ty of lemon used may be decreased slightly, especially if the fruit added is sour.

If a large amount of unsweetened fruit is added, it may be necessary to increase the quant.i.ty of sugar. This point should be looked after carefully before freezing.

MILK SHERBET (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1-1/2 c. sugar 1 qt. milk 3 lemons

Mix the sugar, milk, and juice of the lemons. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. The milk, of course, will curd, but when it is frozen the curd will have disappeared entirely. Place in a freezer and freeze until firm.

94. RASPBERRY SHERBET.--If a delightful dessert is desired, raspberry sherbet should be made. Fresh raspberries are preferred in a dessert of this kind, but canned raspberries may be used if it is made out of the raspberry season.

RASPBERRY SHERBET (Sufficient to Serve Six)

3 c. milk 2 c. crushed red raspberries 1 lemon 2 c. sugar

Mix the milk, raspberries, juice of the lemon, and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Freeze.

95. PEAR SHERBET.--Pear juice is, of course, rather bland in flavor, but it makes a very appetizing sherbet if it is combined with lemon juice.

PEAR SHERBET (Sufficient to Serve Six)

2 c. pear juice Juice of 3 lemons 2 c. water 1 c. sugar 1 Tb. gelatine 1 egg white

Mix the fruit juices and water and add the sugar. Soak the gelatine in a little cold water and add sufficient boiling water to dissolve it. Pour this into the mixture. Freeze until of a mushy consistency. Add the beaten egg white and continue to freeze until stiff.

96. STRAWBERRY SHERBET.--As nearly every one is fond of strawberries, a sherbet in which this fruit is used will always be appreciated. Fresh strawberries are required in the accompanying recipe, and so this dessert must be made during strawberry season.

STRAWBERRY SHERBET (Sufficient to Serve Six)

2 c. fresh crushed strawberries 1 lemon 2 c. sugar 1 qt. milk 2 egg whites

Crush the strawberries, add them with the juice of the lemon and sugar to the milk. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Freeze to a mush, add the beaten egg whites, and continue to freeze until the sherbet is solid.

97. GRAPE SHERBET.--Sherbet in which grape juice is used for flavoring makes a change from the usual kind of frozen desserts. A little lemon juice is used with the grape juice to make it more tart.

GRAPE SHERBET (Sufficient to Serve Six)

2 c. grape juice 2 c. water 2 c. milk 1 Tb. gelatine 2 c. sugar 1 lemon

Mix the grape juice, water, and milk. Soak the gelatine in a little cold water and add sufficient boiling water to dissolve. Pour this into the liquid and add the sugar and the juice of the lemon. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Place in a freezer and freeze.

MOUSSES, PARFAITS, AND BISCUITS

98. Nature of Mousses, Parfaits, and Biscuits. Mousses, parfaits, and biscuits differ from other frozen desserts in that they are frozen in molds rather than in a freezer. Mousses and parfaits are similar in nature, and still there is a slight distinction between them. Mousses nearly always contain gelatine and are frequently made without eggs, while parfaits are composed largely of sirup, eggs, and cream. Biscuits are usually made of a mixture similar to mousses and parfaits, but are molded in individual molds.

Since the desserts are frozen without being turned, they must be of a heavy, smooth texture, so that they will not be granular when they are frozen, as would be the case if a fine mixture were packed in a mold and frozen without turning. In many of them, whipped cream and beaten eggs are folded in to give lightness. In the ordinary manner of freezing, this lightness would be lost, but it is retained in this method because the mixture is undisturbed during the freezing process. Considerable time is required to freeze these heavy mixtures; in fact, if a mousse contains too large a proportion of gelatine, there is difficulty in freezing it at all.

99. MOLDING: MOUSSES, PARFAITS, AND BISCUITS.--The molding of mousses, parfaits, and biscuits, while different from the freezing of other frozen desserts, is not a difficult matter. They are usually put in a mold of some kind and the mold is then covered with a mixture of ice and salt. After the mixture is prepared, crack the ice as previously explained, and mix it with salt in the proportion of 2 to 1. As a rule, a very large dish pan or other utensil that will hold a sufficient quant.i.ty of ice to cover the mold well is used for freezing the packed mold. Set the mold in the pan of ice and salt until it is thoroughly cooled, and then fill it with the mixture to be frozen. Often, to improve the appearance, the mold is first lined with a frappe or an ice and then filled with the heavier mixture. Such an arrangement provides an opportunity for a color scheme and at the same time facilitates the removal of the dessert from the mold.

With the mold filled in the desired way, wrap several layers of oiled paper in a band around the edge and press the cover down tightly to prevent the entrance of any salt water. Then pack the closed mold in the pan of ice and salt, being careful to have it completely covered. It may be necessary to pour off the water and repack with ice and salt once during the freezing. Care should be taken not to freeze the mixture too long, for, at best, it is hard to remove these desserts from the mold and this difficulty is increased if they are frozen too hard.

100. CARAMEL MOUSSE.--A melon mold makes a very attractive dessert when used for the molding of caramel mousse. After being turned out of the mold on a platter and garnished with peaches, this dessert will appear as in Fig. 19. In addition to being attractive, caramel mousse is so delicious that it appeals to practically every one.