Plain Trifle.
- Ingredients—A little red jam.
- 5 sponge cakes.
- 1 doz. ratafias.
- 1 pint of milk.
- The white of an egg.
- 3 eggs.
- 1 oz. of castor sugar.
Method.—Boil the milk with the sugar.
Beat the eggs, and stir the milk on to them.
Strain into a jug.
Place the jug in a saucepan of boiling water, and stir until the custard coats the spoon.
Then let it cool, stirring occasionally.
Cut the cakes in halves; spread them with jam; place them on a dish alternately with the ratafias.
Pour the custard over them, and set aside until quite cold. Decorate with the white of egg beaten stiffly.
[Boiled Custard.]
- Ingredients—¾ pint of new milk.
- Yolks of 5 eggs.
- 3 dessertspoonfuls of castor sugar.
- A little flavouring of vanilla, lemon, or almond.
Method.—Boil the milk with the sugar.
Beat the yolks lightly.
Pour the milk (not too hot) on them, stirring all the time.
Strain the custard into a jug, which must be placed in a saucepan of boiling water.
Stir until it coats the spoon.
Great care must be taken that the custard does not curdle; it mast be stirred occasionally while cooling.
A cheaper custard may be made by substituting two whole eggs for the five yolks, or one whole egg and two yolks.
[SOUFFLÉES AND OMELETS.]
The best cooks will sometimes fail in making soufflées, as their manufacture requires the very greatest care and attention. It is also necessary to be able to judge to a nicety the time they will take to cook, because, to be eaten in perfection, they should be served directly they are ready. In making a soufflée, be very careful to take exact measure of the different ingredients; a little too much flour, or rather too little milk, may make a great difference in the lightness of it. The flour should be the best Vienna.
Another point to be attended to is to whip up the whites of the eggs as stiffly as possible, and to mix them with the other ingredients very lightly. Bear in mind that the object in beating the whites of eggs is to introduce air into the soufflée; and it is the expansion of the air when the soufflée is cooking which makes it light. If the whites are mixed heavily with the other ingredients, the air which has been whipped into them is beaten out again; and consequently they fail to make the soufflée light. When the soufflée is firm in the middle, it is sufficiently cooked, and should be served with the greatest expedition, as it will begin to sink rapidly. An omelet soufflée, left in the oven two or three minutes over time, will be quite spoilt, and become tough and leathery.
Steamed soufflées are turned out of the tins they are cooked in, and served with a sauce poured round them.
Baked soufflées are served in the tins, which are slipped into a hot metal or silver case, or a napkin is folded round them.
Plain omelets are quickly made, and quickly spoiled. Some practice is required to make the plain omelet to perfection, as the art consists in folding the omelet just at the right moment, before the eggs used in them are too much set. The omelet should not be firm throughout, like a pancake, but should be moist and succulent in the middle. A very sharp fire is essential, and the omelet should not take more than three minutes in the making.