Part 4

APPLE OR PIPPIN PASTE.--Take any quantity of good dressing apples, pare, core, and put them into a preserving pan with a little water, or just sufficient to cover them. Boil until they are reduced to a marmalade, stirring them to prevent burning. To every pound of reduced pulp add half or three quarters of a pound of loaf sugar, clarified and boiled to the blow; pass the pulp through a hair-sieve before you mix the sugar with it: put it on the fire and let it boil for three or four minutes, keeping it constantly stirred from the bottom, when it will be sufficiently evaporated. If it be required colored, add liquid color sufficient to give the desired tint when you mix the sugar.

Spread the paste on small tin or pewter sheets (these should be about a foot wide, by a foot and a half long, and perfectly level) with a thin knife, about the eight of an inch in thickness; put them in the stove for a day; take them out, and cut the paste into long narrow strips, about a quarter of an inch in width; if the paste is dry enough, the strips can be easily pulled off; form them into rings or knots, or cut into diamonds to form leaves, or any other device your fancy may suggest. Put them in boxes with a sheet of paper between each layer. This paste is occasionally flavored with lemon, and is principally used for ornamenting the tops of twelfth cakes.

APRICOT PASTE.--Take ripe apricots, put them in a preserving pan with as much water as will cover them; let them simmer on the fire for two or three minutes, or scald until they are tender; drain the water from them, and pass the pulp through a hair sieve; to each pound of pulp take three quarters of a pound of sugar, which you clarify and boil to the blow; put the apricots on the fire, and let them simmer, stirring them constantly until reduced to a thick marmalade; then add the sugar; mix it well with the paste, and let it boil a minute or two longer: take it from the fire, and put it into molds, pots, or crimped paper cases; or it may be spread on small plates, as for apple paste, and formed into rings or knots. Place in the stove until dry. If put in paper cases, the paper must be wetted to get out the paste. Take it out of the molds, turn it and put it again into the stove to finish drying.

BLACK CURRANT PASTE is made the same as the last. These currants, not being so juicy as the others, may be put into a jar, tied over, and baked in a moderate oven, or put into a kettle of boiling water for a few hours, to extract the juice from them.

CHERRY PASTE.--Take ripe cherries, deprive them of their stalks and stones, put them in a preserving pan, and boil them a little; then pass them through a hair sieve, reduce the pulp, and weigh it. To each pound add a pound of loaf sugar; add it to the paste, and finish as apricot.

CLEAR CAKES, OR JELLY CAKES.--Take the filtered juice of fruits, as for jelly (see Jellies); to each pint of juice add one pound of loaf sugar, dissolve it in the juice thoroughly, place it on the fire and heat it, but it must not boil; put it into small pots, molds, or glasses, so as to form cakes about half an inch thick; place them on the stove, which must not be too hot, or they will melt instead of forming a jelly; about seventy-five or eighty degrees Fahrenheit is quite hot enough. When a crust has formed on the top, take out the cakes by carefully turning the knife round the sides of the pot, place them on small plates of tin or pewter, and dry on the other side. When dry they can be cut into diamonds, squares, or any shape you please. These are certainly some of the most delicate and beautiful of this class which were ever invented, fit even to gratify the palate of the most fastidious. The fruit from which they are made should be gathered as fresh as it possibly can, except apples, as the mucilage is injured by keeping, and if the fruit has fermented it is entirely destroyed.

CURRANT PASTE.--Put any quantity of ripe currants, either red or white, or a part of each mixed, into a hair sieve, press out their juice into a preserving pan; put it on the fire, and keep it constantly stirred until evaporated to a thick consistence. To each pound of reduced pulp add three quarters of a pound or a pound of loaf sugar clarified and boiled to the blow. Let it boil a minute or two, and finish as others.

DAMSON CHEESE.--Pick the stalks from the damsons, put them in a jar, tie it over, and bake in a cool oven; when done, pass them through a sieve into a preserving pan; put it on the fire to reduce. For each pound of pulp take half a pound of sugar, boiled to the blow; mix with the paste, and finish as for apple cheese. This, as well as all the pastes, may be evaporated to the required consistence by means of a water bath, which is done by placing the pan in which it is contained in another with water, which is kept boiling; this prevents the possibility of its being burnt, but it occupies more time. The kernels of the fruit may be blanched, and added to it just before it is taken from the fire. Put it into molds or hoops; dry them in the stove, first on one side and then on the other. All plums are done in the same manner.

GREEN APRICOT PASTE.--Take apricots before they are ripe, scald as the last, and green them. Pass the pulp through a sieve, and reduce it; to each pound of reduced pulp add one pound of loaf sugar clarified and boiled to the blow. Finish as ripe apricot paste.

GOMME DES DATTES.--One pound of dates, two pounds of very white picked gum arabic, sugar two ounces. Make as jujubes.

GOMME DES JUJUBES--JUJUBE-GUM.--Jujubes one pound, very white and picked gum-arabic two pounds; powdered sugar two ounces. Pound the jujubes in a marble mortar with five pints of water; put the whole into a pan, and boil until reduced to three; strain the decoction through a cloth; beat up the white of an egg with a glass of water, and mix part of it with the decoction as it boils; throw in a little at a time of the remaining part, to check the ebullition. When it is all used, take off the scum; put it again on the fire to evaporate the water, adding at the same time the gum and sugar, powdered and passed through a horse-hair sieve. Stir it with the spatula until dissolved. When it is of the consistence of honey, place it in the bain-marie, and neither stir nor touch it, that it may be clear. When it has acquired body enough, so as not to stick to the back of the hand when applied to it, pour it into molds previously oiled with good olive oil, as for jujubes; place in the stove to finish drying; when dry, take it out and cut in small pieces.

Pate de jujube and white liquorice may be done in the same manner, using only half the quantity of sugar.

LEMON PASTE.--Make as orange paste, using part of the juice and double the weight of sugar; or it may be made by using only the pounded peel with the same weight of sugar.

ORANGE PASTE.--Squeeze the juice from Seville or sweet oranges, and boil the peels in three or four waters to take off part of their bitterness. In the first put a little salt. When they are quite tender remove the white pith or pulp, and pound them quite fine in a mortar, with part of the juice, using sufficient to make them into a paste, then pass it and the remaining portion of the juice through a sieve into a preserving-pan; put it on the fire, and reduce it to a marmalade, weigh it, and for each pound take three-quarters of a pound of loaf sugar; clarify and boil to the blow; mix it with the paste, evaporate over a gentle fire to a good consistence, and finish as apple. The rinds of the oranges may be pared off before they are squeezed, which, if boiled in one water, will be sufficient, as the pith of the peel is extremely bitter and indigestible, and the flavor or essential oil is contained only in the yellow porous part.

PASTES FORMED WITH GUM--PATE DE GUIMAUVE--MARSH MALLOW PASTE.--Gum arabic three pounds, roots of fresh marsh-mallows eight ounces, one dozen of rennet apples, loaf sugar three pounds. Peel, core, and cut the apples in pieces. Cleanse the roots, and slice them lengthways in an oblique direction; add this to seven pints of water; soft or river water is the best when filtered; put it on the fire and boil for a quarter of an hour, or until reduced to six pints; pound and sift the gum through a hair sieve; strain the decoction into a pan with the gum; put it on a moderate fire, or into a bain-marie, stirring it until the gum is perfectly dissolved; then strain it through a coarse towel or tamis cloth, the ends being twisted by two persons; add it to the sugar, which has been previously clarified and boiled to the feather; dry it well over the fire, keeping it constantly stirred from the bottom. When it has acquired a thick consistence, take the whites of eighteen eggs, and whip them to a strong froth; add them to the paste, and dry until it does not stick to the hand when it is applied to it; add a little essence of neroli, or a large glassful of double orange-flower water, and evaporate again to the same consistence. Pour it on a marble slab well dusted with starch powder, flatten it with the hand; the next day cut it into strips, powder each strip, and put them in boxes. Powder the bottom, that they may not stick.

PATE DE BLANCHE REGLISSE--WHITE LICORICE PASTE.--This is made the same as marsh-mallow paste, using licorice-root instead of mallow. It may be made without the eggs, and finished as jujubes.

PATE DE GOMME ARABIQUE--ARABIC PASTE.--Very white gum arabic two pounds, sugar two pounds, orange-flower water four ounces, the whites of twelve eggs. Pound and sift the gum, add it to the water, dissolve and evaporate it over a slow fire, stirring it constantly until it is reduced to the consistence of honey with the sugar in syrup. Whip the whites to a strong snow; add it to the paste with the orange-flower water, gradually; stir and finish as marsh-mallow paste, for which this is mostly substituted, and much used for coughs. It should be very white, light, and spongy.

PATE DE GOMME SENEGAL--SENEGAL PASTE.--Gum Senegal two pounds, sugar one pound. Dissolve the gum in orange-flower water and common water; or dissolve it in common water, and flavor with essence of neroli; add the sugar, when clarified and boiled to the blow; evaporate, and finish as pate de jujube. This is usually sold for jujube paste, or else picked gum arabic made into a paste as Senegal, and colored with prepared cochineal or saffron.

PATE DE REGLISSE NOIR--BLACK LICORICE PASTE.--The best refined licorice one pound, gum arabic four pounds, loaf sugar two pounds, Florence orris-root one ounce. Dissolve the gum and licorice in seven pints of water, keeping it stirred over a slow fire; add the sugar in syrup with the orris-root, evaporated to a paste, and finish as jujubes.

PEACH PASTE.--Choose some very fine and ripe peaches, take off the skin, and cut them in small pieces into a preserving pan; put them on the fire, and reduce to a thick consistence, stirring it continually. For each pound of reduced pulp take half or three-quarters of a pound of sugar; clarify and boil it to the blow; add it to the pulp; put it again on the fire, and let it boil a few minutes. Finish as other pastes.

PLUM PASTE.--Plums of any kind are preserved in the same manner, whether green gages, magnum bonums, Orleans, damsons, etc. Take out their stones, and boil the fruit in a little water, as for apricot paste; pass them through a sieve, and for each pound of reduced pulp take a pound of sugar; clarify and boil it to the blow; mix it with the paste, and evaporate to the required consistence.

QUINCE PASTE.--Proceed as for apple paste.

RASPBERRY CAKES.--Take ripe raspberries, press the juice from half of them, and put the pulp back with the others; reduce them on the fire. To each pound of pulp add two pounds of loaf sugar in powder; put it again on the fire, stirring it constantly until it is evaporated to a very thick paste. Have a tin ring, with a handle by the side, about the size of an old penny piece, and twice the thickness; wet the ring, and place it on your small pewter or tin plates, fill it with the paste, smoothing over the top with a knife; then remove the ring, and the cake will remain. Lay them off in rows, and make three or four marks on the top with the handle of a table-spoon; put them in the stove to dry, turn them with a thin knife, and put them again in the stove to dry perfectly. Place them in boxes, with paper between each layer.

The residue from the making of raspberry vinegar may be employed for this purpose, or they may be made by adding a pound of fine powdered sugar to a pound of jam. Any of the fruit pastes may be formed into cakes like these, or into drops, by forcing them out on paper with a small pipe and bladder attached to it.

RASPBERRY PASTE.--As currant paste.

VIOLETS, GUM OF.--Violet flowers one pound, picked gum two pounds, sugar four ounces in syrup. Pour three pints of water at the boiling point on the flowers in an earthen jar; stop it perfectly close, and keep it in a warm place for ten or twelve hours; strain the infusion by expression into a flat pan or dish, place it on an inclination, and let it rest for an hour, that the fæces may subside; pour off the clear gently from the bottom or settling, and add to it six grains of turnsole bruised, and six grains of carmine, as this clear infusion is not sufficiently colored to give it the beautiful tint of the violet. Mix in the powdered gum and sugar, stir it over a moderate fire until dissolved, pass it through a sieve, and finish in the bain-marie as jujubes.

Any of these gums, when dry, may be crystallized.

ICE CREAM.

In making Ice Cream always use rich, sweet cream, sweetened with powdered sugar, and flavor with the extract of lemon.

VANILLA, ETC., ETC.--In warm weather be particular that the cream is not set anywhere near the fire, as there is danger of the least heat turning it sour. It should be left in the refrigerator, or some cool place, until time to prepare it for freezing.

When cream cannot be had, an excellent substitute may be made as follows: To a quart of new milk add two beaten eggs; set it on the fire in a saucepan, but be careful not to stir it after it is hot, as that would be apt to make it burn. While it is heating mix smoothly with a teacup of new milk a table-spoonful of flour, and be ready to stir it into the milk on the fire as soon as it comes to the boiling point. Remove it immediately, and pour it into another vessel to cool. This is known to cooks as boiled custard; and although some take more than two eggs, that number, used as directed, will be found sufficient to make a delicious substitute for cream, and for this purpose all the more desirable because not taking so much of the egg; the color also being that of a very rich cream. The custard thus prepared should now be sweetened well, and treated just as in making with cream, with the exception that this requires the addition of a small pinch of salt; and when the whole is frozen very few can distinguish it from genuine ice-cream; indeed, half that sold in confectionaries is prepared in this manner. Some confectioners use arrow-root instead of flour for thickening; but either flour or corn-starch is better for the purpose, as they have no taste of their own.

FREEZING.--When the cream or custard is prepared it is put into the freezer, which is a cylindrical tin vessel which is provided with a rotary scraper or dasher, moving by a crank, with a handle through the lid. The freezer is then firmly imbedded in a bucket of pounded ice, mixed with coarse salt. This bucket should be provided with a hole or spigot near the bottom, so as to drain off the superfluous water caused by the melting ice. The lid of the freezer must be tight-fitting and secure, so as to avoid all danger of the salt getting into it. As soon as the freezer is firmly fixed and entirely surrounded with the salt and the ice, commence turning the handle, and continue to turn until it is well frozen, which is soon indicated by the increased difficulty of moving the crank. As soon as it becomes stiff the lid may be raised and the dasher removed, using a spoon to scrape off the cream that adheres to it. If it is to be molded the tin form may now be filled. If a pyramid is used, put a spoonful of the softest frozen cream into the extreme point, being careful that it fills up well; then go on filling it up, being careful to press into every part. Some force is required to pack it tightly, in order to give firmness and body to the form when removed from the mold. When entirely full, put the lid on the mold, and plunge it into a bed of salted ice, there to remain until time for serving.

When about to serve, have a plate ready, a little larger than the base of the pyramid, also a pan of hot water; roll the tin form, for an instant only, then wipe quickly, and, holding it top downwards, remove the lid, place the plate over it, and quickly turn it right side up, setting the plate on the table; remove the tin mold carefully, and the pyramid will remain standing on the plate. Another plan is to wipe the outside of the mold, on taking it from the ice bed; then take off the lid, and set the pyramid base downwards on the plate; wring cloths out of scalding water, and wrap them around the tin mold for a few minutes, until the cream is sufficiently melted to allow the tin to be lifted off.

All ices made with red fruit require the addition of a little cochineal to heighten the color.

The quantity of fruit required for fruit ices will depend in a great measure on the quality of the fruit and the season in which it is produced; a pint and a half will be found sufficient when it is good in fine seasons; the quantity stated in each weight is the greatest required.

APPLE-WATER ICE.--Pare and core some fine apples, cut them in pieces into a preserving pan with sufficient water for them to float, boil until they are reduced to a marmalade, then strain; to a pint of apple water add half a pint of syrup, the juice of a lemon, and a little water; when cold, freeze.

APRICOT--FRESH FRUIT.--Twenty-four fine ripe apricots, one quart of cream, twelve ounces of sugar, the juice of two lemons, with a few of the kernels blanched; mash the apricots, rub them through a sieve, mix, and freeze.

APRICOT, FROM JAM.--Twelve ounces of jam, one quart of cream, the juice of two lemons, eight ounces of sugar, a few kernels or bitter almonds blanched and pounded fine; rub the whole through a sieve, and freeze.

CHOCOLATE ICE.--One quart of cream, six ounces of chocolate, and ten ounces of sugar; dissolve the chocolate in a little water, or make the sugar into a syrup, and dissolve it by putting it on the side of the stove, or over the fire; add the cream and eggs, and make it into a custard as before; when cold, freeze.

COFFEE ICE CREAM.--One quart of cream, five ounces of Mocha coffee, and twelve ounces of sugar; roast the coffee in a coarse iron or other stew-pan, keeping it constantly stirred until it is a good brown color; throw it into the custard cream whilst it is quite hot, and cover it closely; let it infuse for an hour or two, then strain and freeze.

The cream may be made with an infusion of coffee, thus: take the quantity of coffee, fresh roasted and ground to a fine powder; put this into a common glass bottle or decanter, and pour on it sufficient cold river water to moisten the powder and make an infusion: stop the bottle close, and let it remain all night; the next day filter the infusion by passing it through some fine lawn or blotting paper placed in a glass funnel: by this process a very strong superior infusion is obtained, which contains the whole of the aroma of the coffee. Dr. Ratier observes, "I have tried this process with boiling and with cold water; and I have assured myself, by comparison, that the powder drained by the cold water, and treated then with boiling water, gave nothing but a water slightly tinted with yellow, and devoid of odor and flavor. It is, besides, proper to pass an equal quantity of water to the first, over the grounds, in order that the second water may serve for new powder." Use this for flavoring the custard, and freeze.

CURRANT ICE FROM FRESH FRUIT.--One pint and a half of ripe currants, half a pint of raspberries, one quart of cream, the juice of two lemons, and twelve ounces of sugar. Mix as raspberry.

CURRANT ICE.--PRESERVED FRUIT.--The same proportions as raspberry, using either jam or jelly.

CUSTARD ICES.--These are similarly composed to the cream Ices, with the addition of six eggs to each quart of cream. All kinds of nuts, liquors, essences, infusions, or biscuits are principally mixed with it.

GINGER ICE.--Six ounces of preserved ginger, one quart of cream, half a pint of the syrup from the ginger, sugar sufficient to sweeten it with, and the juice of two lemons; pound the ginger in a mortar, add the cream, etc., and freeze.

HARLEQUIN ICE.--This is formed by putting a small quantity of each kind of ice into the same mold, taking care to have as great a variety of colors placed so as to produce a contrast; cover the mold with salt and ice as before directed, and let it remain half an hour, when it will be fit to turn out. When the colors are tastily disposed of it produces a good effect for the table, but is not much admired on account of the jumble of flavors.

LEMON ICE CREAM.--Six large lemons, one quart of cream and twelve ounces of sugar or half pint of syrup; grate off the peels of three of the lemons into a basin, squeeze the juice to it, let it stand for two or three hours, strain, add the cream and syrup, and freeze or mix as Seville orange ice.

MARASCHINO CREAM ICE.--Make as noyau, flavoring it with Maraschino de Zarah. All liquor ices are made the same way, using the different liquors with which each is named, or they may be made in this way: Take a quart of cream, put it into the ice-pot with six ounces of sugar, which you place in the ice; work or whisk it well about the sides with a whisk for five minutes; add a glassful of liquor, work this well together, then whisk the whites of two eggs to a strong froth; add two ounces of sugar to them, mix this well with the cream, and freeze to the required consistence. This produces a very beautiful, soft, and mellow cream.

NOYAU CREAM ICE.--Make a custard cream, and flavor it with noyau; finish as almond ice.

ORANGE ICE CREAM.--Six oranges, three lemons, one quart of cream, and twelve ounces of sugar or of syrup, to palate; rub off the yellow rind of two or three of the oranges on part of the sugar, scrape it off with a knife, squeeze out the juice of the oranges and lemons, and strain it; mix it with the cream and the sugar, on which the rind was rubbed, add the other part of the sugar, dissolve and freeze.

PEACH ICE.--The same proportions as apricot.

PINEAPPLE--FRESH FRUIT.--One pound of fresh pineapple, half a pint of syrup in which a pine has been preserved, two or three slices of pineapple cut in small dice, and the juice of three lemons; pound or grate the apple, pass it through a sieve, mix and freeze.

PINEAPPLE--PRESERVED FRUIT.--Eight ounces of preserved pine, four slices cut in small dice, one quart of cream, the juice of three lemons, and sufficient syrup from the pine to sweeten it; pound the preserved pine, mix lemons with the cream, etc., and freeze.