Part 77

_Wigs._--Take ¼ peck of fine flour, ½ lb. butter rubbed in fine, ½ lb. sugar, ½ nutmeg, ½ race of ginger, 3 eggs, beat well, and put to ½ pint yeast and 3 spoonfuls sack; make a hole in the flour, and pour in, with as much milk just warm as will make it into a light paste. Let it stand before the fire, to rise, ½ hour; then make it into 1½ doz. wigs, brush them over with egg, and put into the oven. Bake ½ hour in a quick oven.

_Wine Jelly._--2 oz. gelatine, ¾ lb. loaf sugar, 3 lemons, ½ pint sherry, 1 wineglassful brandy, whites of 4 eggs, 1½ pint water. Put the water, gelatine, sugar, and the rinds of the lemons, peeled very thinly, into a pan. Stir till the gelatine and sugar have dissolved, and boil; then add the strained lemon juice, wine, and the whites of eggs, whipped with a little cold water. Bring slowly to the boil, and throw in a little cold water 3 times to check the boiling and throw off the scum. Allow to simmer ¼ hour, then strain through a cloth or jelly bag (which has been rinsed out in hot water) 2 or 3 times until clear, then add brandy. When the jelly is beginning to set, pour into a wet mould.

_Wine Roll._--Soak a penny roll in raisin wine till it has quite absorbed all the liquid. Sprinkle it thickly with “hundreds-and-thousands,” and pour round it a rich custard. Jam may be previously spread over the roll (before soaking) if liked.

_Winter Cream._-½ oz. gelatine, 1 pint new milk, 1 pint cream, 2 yolks eggs, ½ pot apricots, ½ pot strawberry jam (pound pots), juice of 1 lemon, a few drops of ratafia essence, a few drops of cochineal. Soak the gelatine in a little of the milk; when it has absorbed the milk, put it into a clean copper stewpan with the rest of the milk and the cream; set on the fire, keeping it stirred with a wooden spoon; when it is nearly boiling stir into it the well-beaten yolks of 2 eggs, but be sure it does not boil, or the cream will be curdled. Now take from the fire and pour into a large basin; mix with it thoroughly the jam, which has been rubbed through a hair sieve, adding the ratafia and the lemon juice, also a little cochineal to give it a brighter colour. When the cream begins to set, whisk it a few minutes, and put into a mould, and set away in a cool place. In a few hours it will be ready to serve. (E. A. Robbins.)

_Yorkshire Pudding._--5 tablespoonfuls flour, pinch of salt, 1 pint new milk, 2 eggs. Put flour and salt into a bowl, add slowly the milk to make a smooth batter, then add the eggs, previously well beaten. Fat should be put into the tin and allowed to come to boil, the batter is then to be poured in and baked 20 minutes in a hot oven. Can be finished under the joint if desired.

=Confectionery.=--The following recipes comprise the few kinds which are adopted for home manufacture.

_Almond Hardbake._--Mix 1½ lb. moist sugar with ¾ pint water, put the mixture into an earthenware pipkin, and let it boil until it is brittle. Blanch 2½ oz. sweet almonds, split them in halves lengthwise through the broadest part of the almond, and add them and 3 oz. butter to the boiled sugar; let it continue to boil until it hardens. Try by letting a little bit of the hardbake fall into cold water; if it hardens immediately, it is done. Oil a flat dish, and pour the hardbake on it to set.

_Barley Sugar._--Dissolve and boil 1½ lb. loaf sugar in ½ pint water and the white of ½ egg; when it is at candy height, add a teaspoonful of strained lemon juice, and boil it quickly till it recovers its former state; pour it over a marble slab, and when it becomes stiff cut it in strips and twist it.

_Chestnuts, Candied._--Remove the outer skin from some large chestnuts, rejecting any one of them which is not perfectly sound; throw them into a tinned pan full of boiling water, and let them boil just long enough to allow of the second skin being removed. Having done this, put them into another similar pan full of boiling water, and as soon as they are done (they should be tender, but rather underdone) drain the water from them, and put them into a basin full of lukewarm water, with the juice of 1 or 2 lemons squeezed in it. When the water is perfectly cold take out the chestnuts very carefully, and dry them; put them into a basin, and cover them with clarified sugar boiling hot, prepared as follows: Take 6 lb. pounded sugar and put it into a sugar boiler--an untinned copper vessel--with 1 qt. water. Beat up the whites of 3 eggs with 1 pint water, and add this to the rest. Set the pan on the fire, and keep stirring the sugar; when it rises add a little cold water, and repeat this every time the sugar rises until 1 pint water has been so expended, and by that time the sugar will no longer rise, and a dark scum will have gathered on the top. Remove the scum carefully, and strain the syrup through a wetted napkin. Put the syrup back into the boiler--having previously scoured it quite clean--and boil until on taking some between thumb and finger and drawing them apart the sugar will form a thread. The next day put the chestnuts with the syrup into the sugar boiler, and let them boil for 5 minutes, then put them by in the syrup to remain another day. The third day strain off the syrup, boil it till on being raised on the skimmer, and blown through it will form into bubbles; pour this over the chestnuts. On the following day prepare some syrup as above, and boil it till a small modicum dropped into cold water will harden, and can be made into a ball; drain the chestnuts from the former syrup, dip them carefully one by one in the fresh syrup, and put them on a wire sieve in a warm place to dry. When dry they are ready.

_Chocolate Creams._--(_a_) Mix 2 oz. Bermuda arrowroot smoothly with 1½ gill cold water; add 12 oz. pulverised sugar, and boil rapidly 8-10 minutes, stirring continually. Remove it from the fire, and stir till a little cool; flavour with vanilla or rose; continue stirring till it creams, then roll into little balls. Melt some chocolate over steam (add no water), and when the cream balls are cold roll them in it one by one, and lay on a buttered slab to cool. The creams may be varied by dividing the cream into 3 parts, adding grated coconut to one, chopped almonds to another, and pistachios to the third.

(_b_) Grate 8 oz. vanilla chocolate; put into a stewpan, with 8 oz. sugar, 8 yolks of eggs, 1 pint cream. Stir the whole over the fire until the preparation begins to thicken, allowing the yolks to sufficiently set without curdling; strain the cream through a clean napkin, placed over a fine hair sieve, then pass it again through a tammy cloth with pressure into a basin, then clarify 1 oz. best cut isinglass, or gelatine; mix the whole well together, and pour it into a mould embedded in rough ice.

(_c_) Put 1 lb. loaf sugar in a stewpan; pour upon it as much milk or thin cream as the sugar will absorb. Dissolve it over the fire, and boil slowly until it will candy when dropped into cold water. Neither stir it, nor allow it to stick to the pan; take it off and stir it until you can cream it with a spoon. Add a tablespoonful of extract of vanilla, and beat it till cool enough to handle. Then fashion it into balls the size of a filbert; lay these aside on buttered paper. Put ½ lb. unsweetened pure chocolate in a tin plate over a kettle of boiling water, and when it is dissolved dip the bonbons into it and lay them out on buttered paper to cool. If the sugar grains like sand instead of creaming, it has been boiled too long, and it will be necessary to begin anew with other sugar.

_Coconut Candy._--Place in an earthen pipkin 1 lb. best loaf sugar cut as for table, with a breakfastcupful of cold spring water. Let it remain until the sugar is dissolved, and then set it on a clear fire to boil for about 5 minutes, or rather more. As the scum rises carefully skim it away until the sugar looks quite white and thick, and then stir into it ¼ lb. grated coconut, taking care that it is a nice fresh one. Again set it on the fire, and with a wooden spoon stir it continuously until it rises quite up in the pipkin, then at once spread it out on well-dried sheets of writing-paper, which should be warmed before the fire before putting the coconut upon them; the paste should be rather more than ½ in. thick. Let it remain in this way until nearly but not quite cold, when the paper must be removed, and it can then be cut up into small squares. Let it get thoroughly dry before storing it in tin boxes for use. It is an improvement to give it a slightly pink colour by adding a few drops of cochineal to the sugar just before putting in the coconut. Some people grate this, and spread it out to dry for a day or two before it is used for candy.

_Marzipan._--(_a_) ½ lb. almonds, ¾ lb. sugar, the white of an egg, and the juice of half a lemon. The whole to be well pounded together till it acquires the consistency of a soft dough.

(_b_) Blanch, and then pound very fine 1 lb. sweet and a few bitter almonds, adding a few spoonfuls of rosewater; put the almond paste in a stewpan with 1 lb. powdered sugar, and stir over the fire till a smooth paste is obtained, which will not stick to the finger when touched. Turn it out on to a pasteboard well strewn with powdered sugar; roll out the paste, divide it into cakes of any shape you like, and put them on sheets of paper on the baking sheet well sprinkled with sugar; bake in a slow oven until of a pale yellow colour.

_Popcorn Candy._--Put into an iron kettle 1 tablespoonful butter, 3 tablespoonfuls water, and 1 cup white sugar; boil until ready to candy, then throw in 3 qt. nicely popped corn; stir vigorously until the sugar is evenly distributed over the corn; take the kettle from the fire, and stir until it cools a little, and in this way you may have each kernel separate and all coated with the sugar. Of course, it must have your undivided attention from the first to prevent scorching. Almonds, walnuts, or, in fact, any nuts are delicious prepared in this way.

_Toffee._--(_a_) Take 1 breakfastcupful rich cream (if slightly sour it would be just as good, or better), 1 breakfastcupful pounded white sugar, pour the above into a very clean copper saucepan, and boil slowly over a clear but not too hot fire. The mixture will first become quite liquid, and will afterwards gradually thicken; when almost done pour in 1 dessertspoonful essence of vanilla and 1 of whisky. When the mixture becomes very frothy, and leaves the sides of the pan clean, pour it out as quickly as possible on to a flat buttered dish. It should set at once, cut it into squares; before it is cold it should be quite smooth, and of a creamy white; it should be “short,” without being at all crisp or crumbly. The only difficulty is to know the exact moment to take it off the fire. This can only be learned by practice.

(_b_) Put 3 oz. butter into a brass preserving pan, and, as soon as it is melted, add 1 lb. brown sugar. Keep these stirred gently over a moderate fire for 15 minutes, or until a little of it, dropped into cold water, breaks clean between the teeth without sticking to them. When it is boiled to this point it must be poured out immediately, or it will burn. The grated rind of a lemon, or a small teaspoonful of powdered ginger added when half done, very much improves the taste.

(_c_) 1 lb. treacle or golden syrup, 1 lb. moist whity-brown or Demerara (this is best) sugar, ½ lb. fresh butter. Mix the treacle and sugar well together in a large china-lined saucepan, and add the butter broken into small pieces. Place the saucepan on a clear fire, and stir slowly until all be incorporated. After this stop stirring, or the toffee will “sugar”; boil about ½ hour, and be careful not to let it burn. The juice of ½ lemon added is a great improvement. Have a buttered tin ready to pour the toffee on, and when nearly done put a little into cold water to taste if it be done enough.

(_d_) Put ¼ lb. butter into a saucepan over a clear fire, and when it is melted add to it 1 lb. brown sugar; boil for 15 minutes. Have ready some almonds (1½ oz.) blanched and halved, and a little very finely grated lemon peel. Add these to the mixture, boil and stir until when dropped into cold water it hardens directly; then immediately pour it on to well-buttered dishes or on to marble slabs. The almonds may be added after the toffee is put on to the dishes. Also, ½ lb. treacle and ½ lb. sugar may be substituted for the 1 lb. sugar. When nearly cold, it should be marked with the back of a knife.

_Rahat Lukum._--Make a syrup with 3 lb. best sugar and 3 pints water; clear it with the whites of 3 eggs and the juice of a lemon. Dissolve 6 oz. purest wheat starch in ¾ pint cold water, strain it, and add it to the clear syrup when it is boiling; reduce the whole by boiling to ⅔. It should be very thick and stringy. Flavour the paste with attar of roses or any sweet essence. Have ready a large dish well covered with almond oil; empty the paste on the dish when it is cool, spread it about 1 in. thick, then have ready another dish covered with finely-powdered sugar, and when the paste is quite cold turn it over very carefully upon the sugared dish. Absorb the oil with silver paper or blotting paper; cut the paste into pieces 2-3 in. square; powder them with sugar, and keep them very dry. A finer rahat is made with rose or cherry syrup, with blanched almonds stirred in before the paste thickens. This recipe was obtained at Athens from a Sciote lady. The ladies of Scios are considered the most skilful confectioners in the Levant.

=Ices.=--The following general remarks on ices are condensed from a series of papers on the subject by Mary Hooper, in the _Queen_.

Freezing-powders.--Ice, in combination with salt, is the best material for making ices; but when travelling, or in remote districts where ice is difficult to procure, freezing powders are of the greatest service, and those of the best makers are perfectly satisfactory in their action. Indeed, there is no doubt freezing powders would be more largely used than they are at present, were it not that they are more expensive than ice. For cooling water and other liquids, and for refrigerating food in the sick chamber, where it is sometimes impossible either to keep or manage ice for this purpose, freezing powders are invaluable. They are useful also when a very rapid and strong freezing mixture is required, being used instead of salt with the ice. It is desirable in choosing a freezing machine to ascertain if it is as well adapted for the use of powders as of ice, as some of them lined with metal would be corroded by the action of the former.

Keeping and Choosing Ice.--It is often necessary--in cases of sickness, for instance, in the houses of the poor--to keep a small quantity of ice without a refrigerator. This is best done by wrapping the ice first in paper--newspaper answers as well as any other--and then covering it up in woollen or other cloths; place the ice thus wrapped as much as possible out of draughts. Each time the ice is opened, dry paper should be supplied; the sheets will last for some time, and can be dried as often as desired. There is a great difference in the quality of ice. Rough English ice, from being frozen at a low temperature, is brittle, and melts rapidly; and that taken from ponds is utterly unfit for drinking purposes, for there is abundant proof that the poisonous properties of such water, and the living organisms it contains, are not destroyed by its having been frozen. Much of the foreign ice sold in this country as Wenham Lake, is uncleanly, and a necessary rule to observe in the choice of ice for the table is that it is perfectly clear and crystal-like, and of a smooth and shining surface. In all cases, after being broken up, ice should be rinsed before being sent to the table. A proper awl for breaking ice into small pieces costs but a few pence, and should always be kept at hand; otherwise, to their great injury, forks and knives, with a hammer, and other unsuitable implements, are substituted. When not in use, the point of the awl should be stuck into a cork, both to prevent its being broken or causing injury to inadvertent people.

Freezing-machines.--The only way to avoid failure in the domestic manufacture of ices is to have one of the small patented machines, which, besides being certain in action, require but 3-4 lb. ice to freeze as many quarts of ices.

The principle which guides all freezing operations is--first, to have the vessel which contains the material to be frozen embedded in the freezing mixture, ice and salt, and then so rapidly and skilfully to rotate it that ice soon begins to be made at the sides. This is then scraped to the middle, and the whole thoroughly mixed, so as to ensure an equal freezing throughout the mass. This process is continued until a satisfactory result is obtained, when the ices will be left in the freezing mixture to harden and ripen. The cost of the necessary apparatus--namely, a pail, which should have a hole, stopped with a cork, near the bottom, in order that water may be drawn off as the ice melts, a pewter freezing pot, and spatula--for freezing in the primitive manner, will be at least equal to that of a patent machine for making ices. There are a large number of these competing for public favour, each one possessing some special feature of merit. In the choice of such a machine it should be ascertained that it is simple in action, not liable to get out of order, of good seasoned wood and the best workmanship, and that ices are made in it rapidly, and with but a small quantity of freezing material. The tendency in most perpendicular machines is to freeze too hard at the bottom and too lightly at the top. This defect is remedied by the Patent Horizontal Revolving Freezer (Kent, 199 High Holborn), and the arrangement by which the ices are turned from the sides of the freezing pot to the middle is perfectly satisfactory. In one of these small freezers so small a quantity as 1 pint to 3 qt. can be frozen with 3 lb. ice in as many minutes. The tubs being closed at the end, and perfectly air-tight, prevents the waste of ice by the action of the atmosphere, and thus secures a uniformity and intensity of cold within the freezer, tending to produce very perfect, light, and smooth ices.

For whatever method ice is required for freezing, it is necessary both that it should be broken small, that is in pieces about the size of small walnuts, and be thoroughly mixed with the salt. The easiest way of breaking ice is to put it in a sack and crush it with a wooden mallet. This done, well rolled salt of strong good quality should be mixed with the ice, in the proportion of 1 lb. salt to 2-3 lb. ice. It is safe to say that nearly all the failures in making ices result from the neglect of these simple directions.

The expense of a thermometer for taking the temperature of ices, and a saccharometer for ascertaining the correct amount of sweetness in ices, is but small, and they are real helps to inexperienced confectioners. For instance, if there is any doubt about the ices being sufficiently frozen, if the thermometer registers less than 22°F. you will be sure that the ices will not melt too rapidly on being served. Even in the hottest weather, a well-made ice will not dissolve as soon as taken from the freezer.

As it is only for a short period in the year that the favourite fruits for flavouring ices can be had fresh, it is necessary to make of them syrups or preserves. To make strawberry and the like preserves without sugar is somewhat difficult in domestic practice, though, if the niceties of the process are observed, failure ought not to follow.

Dessert ices are now served in many beautiful forms, to represent flowers, fruit, vegetables, and other tasteful objects. For these special moulds are provided, into which the ices, having been made as before described, are pressed. After being left embedded in ice for more than an hour, the moulds are dipped in lukewarm water to facilitate turning out, and, having been carefully wiped to free them from salt, the moulds are opened, the ices placed on a suitable dish, and they are then rapidly painted with carefully prepared vegetable colours, as the nature of the case may require. These ornamental ices must have considerable care, but any person with ordinary skill, and able to give time and attention to detail, may manage them.

In colouring ices before freezing with a pink tinge, it is desirable to avoid cochineal, as it is prepared with a strong acid, which, in coming in contact with the pewter, is apt to turn the cream of a violet shade. Breton’s vegetable colourings, to be had at Italian warehouses, are as pure and good as any which can be made at home, and the vegetable carmine is free from the acid of cochineal. In families where ices are in constant request it is desirable to have simple syrup--that is, sugar boiled to the requisite strength--always ready prepared. The most useful quality of syrup is that registering 30°-36° on the saccharometer. The preparation of this is easy, nevertheless it requires care.

Simple Syrup.--Put 2 lb. finest lump sugar into a copper pan with 1 qt. cold water; stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved; let it come to the boil, and take off any scum as it rises. Draw the pan to the side of the fire, and let the syrup boil gently until it registers 30°-36°. If the sugar is boiled too fast, it will cause trouble to an inexperienced operator, as it will candy. Should this happen, more water must be added to the sugar, and boiling go on again until the syrup attains the requisite strength. If a small quantity of syrup is made, it must be tested by the saccharometer in a deep mug or jug, as in the boiling pan there will not be depth of liquid for the instrument. If no saccharometer is at hand, an approximate idea of the strength of the syrup can be obtained by letting a drop fall into a glass of cold water; if it retains its shape, the syrup will answer your purpose. If fine lump sugar is used, the syrup, when done as directed, will be perfectly bright, with a slight yellow tinge, and as thick as new honey; no other process of clarification will be needed. This syrup is exceedingly useful for many purposes, and will keep for any length of time.

_Brown Bread Ice._--(_a_) Make a custard of eggs and milk, flavoured with vanilla. Cut up some brown bread into dice, dry it in the oven, and put it hot into the cold custard; freeze; pour iced custard round it in the dish in which it is to be served.

(_b_) To 6 yolks of eggs, well beaten, add gradually 1 pint boiling milk, with ½ lb. sugar boiled in it. Pour this on to some very fine crumbs of brown loaf; beat all together; add ¼ pint cream.

_Cake, Iced._--(_a_) Mix thoroughly ½ lb. flour, ½ lb. ground rice, ½ lb. currants, ¼ lb. sugar, 5 oz. mace and cloves, some mixed peel, a few bitter almonds pounded, some sweet almonds split, 1 teaspoonful carbonate of soda, melt ½ lb. fresh butter in ¾ pint warm milk, add the yolks and whites of 4 eggs beaten separately; pour this by degrees on to the dry ingredients, add a glass of brandy, beat it well; put into a buttered mould, and bake.

(_b_) Beat up the whites of 2 eggs; then add ½ lb. castor sugar and the juice of a lemon or a few drops of orange-flower water. Beat the mixture until it hangs upon the fork in flakes, then spread over the cake, dipping the knife in cold water occasionally. Stand it before the fire, and keep turning the cake constantly, or the sugar will catch and turn brown. As soon as it begins to harden it may be removed. The icing must not be put on until the cake itself is cold, otherwise it will not set. A few drops of cochineal will colour it if desired.