A guide to modern cookery

by A. Escoffier

Elementary Preparations of Pastry which may be Applied to Entremets

[2338—VARIOUS ALMOND PREPARATIONS]

It is important that one should have skinned, splintered, and chopped almonds.

To Skin Almonds.—Throw them in a saucepan of boiling water, place the utensil on the side of the fire without allowing the boiling to continue, and let the almonds soak for seven or eight minutes. As soon as the skin slips when pressing them between one’s fingers, turn them out on to a strainer; cool them in cold water, and skin them. This done, wash them in cold water; drain them well; spread them on a very clean tray, and dry them in a mild oven.

Splintered Almonds.—Having skinned and washed the almonds, split them in two, and cut each half into five or six splinters. Dry the latter in the drying-box, and place them in the front of the oven for a while to colour slightly.

[688]
]They serve for nougat, and sometimes take the place of pignolis.

Chopped Almonds.—Having skinned the almonds, slightly dry them and chop them with a knife; rub them through a canvas sieve, the coarseness of which should be in accordance with that required for the chopped almonds.

Spread the latter on a tray covered with a sheet of paper, and dry them in the drying-box, stirring them from time to time the while.

Grilled Almonds.—These are either splintered or chopped almonds set to bake on a tray in a moderate oven. Be sure to stir them frequently, that they may colour evenly, and withdraw them when they are of a nice golden shade.

[Pralined] Almonds.—Proceed as for grilled almonds, but sprinkle them frequently with icing sugar, which turns to caramel under the influence of the heat of the oven, and swathes the almonds in a pale-brown coat of sugar.

[2339—VARIOUS PREPARATIONS OF FILBERTS AND HAZEL-NUTS]

Filberts are a large kind of hazel-nut, generally covered with red skins.

After having cracked and suppressed the shells, set the filberts on a dish, and place them in the front of the oven until their skins are slightly grilled. They need then only be rubbed between the fingers in order to clear them of their skins. Chopped filberts are prepared like chopped almonds, and should be included in the permanent “[mise en place]” of the pastry cook.

[2340—VARIOUS BUTTERS]

Softened Butter.—More particularly in winter, when it is very hard, butter should be softened, i.e., thoroughly kneaded in a towel, to:—

1. Extract the butter-milk, which is always present in more or less large quantities.

2. Make it sufficiently soft to mix with the various ingredients of which the pastes are made up.

Pomaded Butter.—After having well softened it as above, put it in a bowl or basin, previously rinsed with hot water and thoroughly wiped. Work the butter with a spatula or a wooden spoon until it acquires the consistence of a pomade—a necessary condition for certain of its uses.

Clarified Butter.—In pastry, clarified butter is used more especially for the buttering of moulds. Put the butter to be clarified into a saucepan, and cook it over a very slow fire until [689] ](1) the caseous substances liberated in the cooking process have accumulated and solidified on the bottom of the saucepan; (2) it appears limpid, of a golden colour, and exhales a slight, nutty smell.

Strain it through muslin, and put it aside until required.

[2341—THE BUTTERING AND GLAZING OF MOULDS]

All moulds, large and small, should be buttered so as to ensure the easy turning-out of cakes cooked in them. Clarified butter, owing to its purity, is the best for the purpose. It may be applied with a brush, care being taken that all the inside surfaces get uniformly covered with it. One unbuttered spot is sufficient to make a moulding stick, or to completely spoil a cake.

For certain cakes, chopped or splintered almonds are sprinkled in the mould. For others, especially biscuits, the moulds are flour-dusted—that is to say, a veil of very dry flour or fecula is allowed to settle on the layer of butter, which, at the turning out, appears like a glazed crust upon the cake.

[2342—HOW TO BEAT THE WHITES OF EGGS]

The best utensil for the purpose is a copper or nickel basin in which the whisk may act at all points owing to the spherical shape of the receptacle. Tinned or enamelled utensils set up a kind of greasiness which does not allow of one’s bringing the whites to the stiffness necessary for some purposes.

Begin whisking the whites gently, and draw them up with the whisk until all their molecules have disaggregated and they begin to stiffen. They may then be whisked until they are sufficiently stiff to be taken up bodily by the whisk.

Preventive Means.—To facilitate the beating of whites of eggs, there may be added to them at the start a pinch either of salt or alum per ten whites. When, towards the close of the operation, the whites begin to granulate, owing to any one of the various causes, add immediately one tablespoonful of powdered sugar per ten whites, and then whisk briskly, to restore them to their normal state.

[2343—VEGETABLE COLOURING MATTERS]

Every pastry-cook’s stock should include a series of vegetable colouring matters, comprising carmine, liquid spinach green, yellow, &c.

When required, the blending of these colours yields the intermediate tones. The colours may be bought.

[690]
][2344—THE COOKING OF SUGAR]

From the state of syrup to the most highly-concentrated state in which it is used in pastry sugar passes through various stages of cooking, which are:—The small thread (215° F.) and the large thread (222° F.), the small ball (236° F.) and the large ball (248° F.), the small crack (285° F.) and the large crack (315° F.). When the last state is overreached, the sugar has become caramel (360° F.).

Put the necessary quantity of loaf sugar in a small, copper saucepan; moisten with enough water to melt it, and boil. Carefully remove the scum which forms, and which might cause the sugar to granulate.

As soon as the sugar begins to move stiffly in boiling, it is a sign that the water has almost entirely evaporated, and that the real cooking of the sugar has begun.

From this moment, with moistened fingers or a little piece of moistened linen, take care to remove the crystallised sugar from the sides of the utensil, lest it makes the remaining portion turn.

The cooking of the sugar then progresses very rapidly, and the states of its various stages, coming one upon the other in quick succession at intervals of a few minutes, may be ascertained as follows:—

It has reached the small-thread stage, when a drop of it held between the thumb and the first finger forms small resistless strings when the thumb and finger are drawn apart.

It has reached the large-thread stage, when, proceeding in the same way, the strings formed between the parted finger and thumb are more numerous and stronger.

From this moment recourse must be had to cold water in order to ascertain the states of the sugar.

When a few minutes have elapsed after the test for the large-thread state, dip the end of the first finger, first into cold water, then into the sugar, and plunge it again immediately into the bowl of cold water, which should be ready at hand. The sugar taken from the finger forms a kind of soft ball, and it is this state which is called the small ball.

When, upon repeating the procedure, the sugar removed from the finger rolls into a firmer ball, the large-ball stage is reached.

After the cooking has continued for a few seconds longer, the sugar lying on the finger peels off in the form of a thin, flexible film, which sticks to the teeth. This is the small-crack stage. Tests should then be made in quick succession, until [691] ]the film taken from the end of the finger breaks “clean” in the teeth, like glass. This is the large-crack state, the last of the cooking stages, and as soon as it has been reached the utensil should be taken off the fire, lest a few seconds more turn the sugar to caramel.

To prevent the granulating of the sugar, a few drops of lemon juice may be added to it; or, better still, a tablespoonful of glucose per lb.

[2345—GLACE A L’ANCIENNE]

Put the required amount of icing sugar in a small saucepan, the quantity used being in proportion to the object to be glazed.

If it be flavoured with vanilla, orange, or lemon, dilute it with a little water, keeping it somewhat stiff; add some vanilla-flavoured sugar or grated orange-rind, and stir it up well for a few minutes. Then make it lukewarm, so that it may run easily and dry quickly, and pour it over the object to be treated.

For the above-mentioned flavours, an infusion of vanilla or orange-rind may be prepared, and this may serve in diluting the glaze. The flavours may also be used in the form of essences, provided it be remembered that they are usually very strong thus, and must be used with caution.

If liqueur glazes are in question, such as Kirsch, Rum, Anisette, or Marasquin, &c., the glaze is diluted with the liqueur and made lukewarm as directed above.

[2346—GLACE AU FONDANT]

Preparation of the “Fondant.”—Put some loaf sugar into a small saucepan, the quantity being in accordance with the amount of “Fondant” required.

Moisten with just enough water to melt the sugar, and set to cook as directed under “The Cooking of Sugar.”

Stop the cooking precisely at 230° F. between the [large-thread] stage and the [small-ball] stage, and pour the sugar on a moderately-oiled marble slab. Let it half cool for a few minutes; then, with a spatula, move it about well in all directions, taking care that no portion of the sugar on the marble is left untouched by the spatula, for any such portion would harden and form lumps in the Fondant.

After ten to fifteen minutes’ work with the spatula, the sugar should have become a white, slightly granulated paste. Heap the latter together, and scrape the marble slab with the blade of a strong knife. Carefully knead this paste (No. [2357]) with the palm of the hand until it is very thin and smooth, whereupon the Fondant is ready for use.

[692]
]It need now only be heaped in a receptacle, covered with a damp cloth, and kept somewhat dry.

To Glaze with “Fondant.”—Put the required amount of it into a saucepan; work it over a slow fire for a while, in order to soften it, and moisten it, little by little, with water when a dry flavour or an essence is used, or, otherwise, with the selected liqueur.

Warm slightly in order to make the glaze very liquid and to ensure its speedy drying, and pour it, at one tilt, over the object to be glazed.

With the help of some colour, the glaze is generally given the tint of the fruit which flavours it.

[2346a—SUCRE EN GLACE (Icing Sugar)]

This is sugar strained through a silken drum-sieve. The sugar strained through this silk has the delicacy of starch. At times it is used instead of Fondant for the glazing of cakes, but it is mostly used for white and caramel glazings. For this purpose the sugar is held in a tin box, covered with a lid pierced with small holes, called a sugar dredger.

To glaze white is to cover a cake, a fritter, or other object with a coat of icing sugar. This operation is effected by shaking the sugar dredger over the object to be glazed.

To glaze with caramel is to cover a [Soufflé], a souffléd omelet, fruit fritters, a custard, [Pannequets], or other objects with a coat of icing sugar. By placing the sugar-coated object in fierce heat, a few minutes suffice to melt the sugar, which is converted into a brilliant covering of caramel.

[2347—SUGAR GRAINS]

These are used in pastry to border certain cakes, or to surround the sugared-paste bases on which cakes are set. For this purpose the parts to which the sugar is expected to adhere must be besmeared with cooked apricot.

To make them, roughly pound some loaf sugar, and sift the latter first through a coarse strainer, and then through a finer one, according to the size the sugar grains are required to be. The powder will, of course, fall and leave the grains clean.

[2348—COLOURED SUGAR GRAINS]

To colour sugar grains, spread them on a piece of paper, and add a drop of liquid vegetable-colouring or a very little coloured paste per tablespoonful of sugar. The amount of colouring matter may either be lessened or increased, according to the strength the shade is required to be.

Rub the sugar in the hand to colour it evenly; dry it in a [693] ]moderately warm drying-box, and keep it in the dry in well-closed boxes.

[2349—VANILLA SUGAR]

The vanilla sticks which have served in preparing infusions still possess some flavour. Reserve them, therefore, for the making of vanilla sugar.

After having gently dried them in the drying-box, finely pound them with twice their weight of loaf sugar; sift through a silken sieve, and again pound the bits remaining on the silk of the sieve until every particle goes through. Keep the preparation in a well-closed box in the dry.

[2350—CANDIED FRUIT]

These are used in the decoration of certain cakes, and as the constituent ingredients of others.

They comprise angelica, golden and green [chinois], cherries, plums, red and white pears, &c.

Candied fruit may be bought ready-prepared.

[2351—APPLE JELLY FOR DECORATING]

Quarter, peel, and core the apples (preferably russets), and throw them, one by one, in a bowl of fresh water to prevent their getting brown.

Then put them in a copper basin with one and one-half pints of water per two lbs. of apples, and cook them gently without touching them.

This done, pour away their juice, and return it to the basin together with two lbs. of sugar per quart. Boil; skim with great care, that the jelly may be clear, and cook over a fierce fire until the jelly has reached a stage which may be ascertained thus:—(1) When on taking the skimmer out of the basin, the jelly adhering to it seems to mass itself towards the middle of the skimmer; or:—(2) When the jelly breaks up into large drops, separated one from the other.

Then take the jelly off the fire; add some carmine to it, drop by drop, until it acquires a rosy hue; strain it again through a fine piece of linen, that it may be perfectly limpid, and finally pour it into tin receptacles to cool.

Put aside until wanted.

[2352—PRALIN]

(1) If it be for the purpose of covering certain cakes, or for forming a glaze on a fruit entremet, prepare it thus:—Put the whites of two eggs and three tablespoonfuls of icing sugar in a small basin. Mix and stir briskly with a small, wooden spoon, until the paste becomes somewhat thick. Then, subject to the [694] ]purpose for which it is intended, add a more or less large quantity of chopped almonds, according as to whether the pralin be required thick or slightly liquid for spreading. Cover it with a piece of white paper, moistened with white of egg, that it may remain moist if kept for some time.

(2) If it is to be added to a [soufflé] preparation, to a souffléd omelet, to a preparation of ice, or to a custard, it is a nougat powder which is prepared as follows:—

Gently melt one lb. of powdered sugar in a small saucepan, taking care not to let it acquire a deeper shade than old gold. Mix twenty oz. of dried almonds with it; turn the whole out on to the corner of a slightly-oiled marble slab (or on an overturned saucepan-lid), and leave to cool. When the nougat is quite cold, pound it and rub it through a sieve.

Pound and rub what remains in the sieve until the whole goes through.

Put the powder in a well-closed box, and place the latter in a dry place.

[2353—CURRANTS AND SULTANAS]

Sultanas and currants should always be at hand, ready and cleaned. To clean them, first dredge them and then rub them in a towel, closed to form a sort of purse. Now, turn them into a sieve or colander, which shake vigorously, that the flour and the detached stems may be eliminated; then examine them, one by one, to make sure that no stems remain.

Currants should be examined with very particular care, as small stones often get in among them.

Put the currants and the sultanas aside, each in a box or a drawer.

[2354—ESSENCES AND FLAVOURINGS]

The various essences used in pastry are bought ready-made. The flavourings consist of those products treated by infusion, such as vanilla; of grated or infused products, such as lemon and orange rinds; and liqueurs in general.

Fruit juices only become flavours when a liqueur in keeping with the fruit from which they were extracted has been added to them.

[2355—GILDING PREPARATION]

This consists of beaten eggs. Its purpose is to ensure the colouration of certain cakes, whereon it is smeared by means of a brush. In some cases this [gilding] may be combined with a little water, as, for instance, when the heat of the oven is too [695] ]fierce, and cakes are required of a light colour. In some cases, especially in that of small, dry cakes, it consists entirely of egg-yolks diluted with a few drops of water.