To make Creams.
To make a good cream, it is essential that the cream used should be double; that is, a thick cream that will whip up to a stiff froth. Beat it well with a wire whisk until it will stand on the end of it without dropping. This must be done in a cool place, especially in summer time. Cream is liable to curdle, and turn to butter, if beaten in too warm a temperature. The gelatine must be added last of all. It should be stirred in thoroughly, but quickly; it must not be too hot, or too cold, but just lukewarm. If too hot, it destroys the lightness of the cream; if too cold, it does not mix thoroughly. Pour the cream into a mould as soon as the gelatine is mixed with it, as it begins to set directly. To turn a jelly or cream out of its mould, take a basin of hot water, as hot as the hand can bear, draw the mould quickly through it, letting the water quite cover it for a second. Wipe off all the moisture immediately with a dry cloth. Shake the tin gently, to be sure the contents are free. Lay the dish on the open side of the mould, quickly reverse it, and draw the mould carefully away.
[Strawberry Cream.]
- Ingredients—½ pint of double cream.
- 1 oz. of amber gelatine, or rather less than ½ oz. of the opaque.
- 2 tablespoonfuls of castor sugar.
- Some strawberries.
- ¼ pint of milk.
- A few drops of cochineal.
Method.—Soak the gelatine in the milk for about twenty minutes or more.
Then dissolve it by stirring it in a saucepan over the fire.
Rub sufficient strawberries through a hair sieve to make a quarter of a pint of purée.
Beat up the cream with the sugar.
Then add the purée of fruit, and a few drops of cochineal to colour it.
Lastly stir in the melted gelatine.
Pour the cream at once into a wetted mould.
When quite set, dip it for a second or two into very hot water, and turn it on to a glass dish.