BISCUITS AMERICANA
1 quart of cream
1/2 pound of sugar
1/4 pound of Jordan almonds
1 teaspoonful of almond extract
1 teaspoonful of vanilla
Yolks of six eggs
Grated rind of one lemon
Put half the cream in a double boiler over the fire, and, when hot, add the yolks of the eggs and sugar, beaten until very, very light; add all the flavoring, and stand aside until very cold; when cold, freeze in an ordinary freezer. Whip the remaining pint of cream, add one-half of it to the frozen mixture, repack and stand aside to ripen. Blanch, dry and chop the almonds. Put them in the oven and shake constantly until they are a golden brown. At serving time, fill the frozen mixture quickly into paper cases; have the remaining whipped cream in a pastry bag with star tube, make a little rosette on the top of each case, dust thickly with the chopped almonds, and send to the table.
This will fill twelve cases of ordinary size.
BISCUITS GLACÉS
1 pint of cream
3/4 pound of sugar
1 pint of water
1 gill of sherry
2 tablespoonfuls of brandy
1 teaspoonful of vanilla
Yolks of six eggs
Put the sugar and water in a saucepan over the fire and stir until the sugar is dissolved; wipe down the sides of the pan, and boil until the syrup spins a heavy thread or makes a soft ball when dropped into cold water. Beat the yolks of the eggs to a cream, add them to the boiling syrup, and with an egg beater whisk over the fire until you have a custard-like mixture that will thickly coat a knife blade; strain through a sieve into a bowl, and whisk until the mixture is stiff and cold. It should look like a very light sponge cake batter. Add the flavoring. Whip the cream and stir it carefully into the mixture. Fill the mixture into paper cases or individual dishes, stand them in a freezing cave or in a tin bucket that is well packed in salt and ice, cover and freeze for at least four or five hours.
If you do not have a freezing cave, pack a good sized tin kettle in a small tub or water bucket. The kettle must have a tight fitting lid. Stand your cases or molds on the bottom of the tin kettle, which is packed in salt and ice. Put on top a sheet of letter paper, on top of this another other layer of molds or cases, and so continue until you have the kettle filled. Put the lid on the kettle and cover with salt and ice. Make sure that you have a hole half-way up in the packing bucket or tub, so that there is no danger of salt water overflowing the kettle. This is a homely but very good freezing cave.
At serving time, dust the tops of the biscuits with grated macaroons or chopped almonds, dish on paper mats, and send to the table.
This will fill fifteen biscuit cases.
BISCUITS à la MARIE
1/2 pound of sugar
1 pint of water
1/2 pint of cream
1/2 pound of almond macaroons
1/4 pound of candied or Maraschino cherries
1 teaspoonful of bitter almond extract
Yolks of six eggs
Boil the sugar and water until the syrup will spin a heavy thread. Add the eggs, beaten until very light. Whip this over the fire for three minutes, take it from the fire, strain into a bowl, and whip until thick and cold. Add the flavoring and the macaroons, that have been dried, grated and sifted. Add the cream, whipped. Fill the mixture into paper cases, and freeze as directed for Biscuits Glacés.
An extra half pint of cream may be whipped for garnish at serving time, if desired; otherwise, garnish the top with chopped maraschino cherries, and send to the table.
This will fill twelve biscuit cases.
BOMB GLACÉ
Pack a two quart bomb glacé mold in salt and ice. Remove the lid, and line the mold with a quart of well-made vanilla ice cream. Fill the centre with one half the recipe for Biscuit Glacé mixture, that has been packed in a freezer until icy cold. Put on the lid, bind the edge with a piece of muslin dipped in paraffin or suet, cover the mold with salt and ice, and stand aside three hours to freeze.
This will serve twelve persons.