SAUCES AND WHIPPED CREAM

13. SAUCES.--Many cold desserts may be served without any accompaniments, but very often they are much improved by the addition of a sauce of some kind. For instance, when a custard or a blanc mange is very thick and heavy, it can be made more agreeable to the taste if it is served with a sauce of some description. Several recipes for sauces that may be used with any cold dessert in need of an accompaniment are here given, so that the housewife will not be at a loss when she desires to serve a sauce with a dessert she has made.

14. The sauce to use depends on the dessert that it is to accompany. The custard sauce here given could be used, for example, with plain corn-starch mixtures that do not contain eggs or with other desserts of this nature. It is also very satisfactory with chocolate or rather highly flavored desserts. On the other hand, the chocolate sauce may be served with custard mixtures or desserts that require additional flavor. The fruit sauce, in which may be utilized any left-over juice from canned or stewed fruit, may be served with any dessert with which it seems to blend well.

CUSTARD SAUCE

Heat the milk in a double boiler, reserving enough to moisten the corn starch. Mix the sugar, corn starch, and salt, and moisten with the cold milk. Add this to the hot milk. Stir until thick and cook for about 15 minutes. Beat the egg, add this to the mixture, and continue cooking until the egg has thickened. Add the vanilla, cool, and serve.

CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Melt the chocolate over the fire, add half the milk, and cook together for a minute or two. Add the sugar and salt to the corn starch, and moisten with the remainder of the milk. Pour this into the chocolate and milk and cook until thickened. Place in a double boiler and cook for 10 or 15 minutes. Add the vanilla and serve.

FRUIT SAUCE

Moisten the corn starch, sugar, and salt with the fruit juice, and cook together until the corn starch has thickened the mixture. Place in a double boiler and cook for 10 or 15 minutes. The amount of sugar must be gauged by the kind of fruit juice used. If it is very sour, a greater quantity of sugar will be needed. Cool and serve.

BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE

Boil sugar, sirup, and butter until the mixture reaches 230 degrees F. or until it will form a very soft ball when tested in cold water. Remove from the fire and allow it to cool a little; then beat the cream into it.

FUDGE SAUCE

Mix together the sugar, water, and melted chocolate. Boil the mixture for 5 minutes. Cool it slightly, then add the butter and vanilla.

15. WHIPPED CREAM.--Whipped cream is frequently served with cold desserts in place of a sauce or as a garnish. If cream is too thin to whip, it will have to be served plain, but it is an economy to whip it, for whipped cream goes much further. To make whipping possible, the cream must have a comparatively high percentage of fat. The higher the percentage of fat, however, the more expensive will be the cream.

16. One of the requirements of successfully whipped cream, especially in summer, is that it be as cold as possible. Warm cream does not whip nearly so readily as cold. If it is necessary to whip cream in warm weather or in a warm place, the bowl containing the cream may be packed in a larger one containing ice and salt and allowed to stand for some time before the whipping is begun.

17. A bowl-shaped utensil with a round bottom is the best to use for whipping cream. Either an egg whip or a rotary beater may be used to do the beating, which should be done rapidly. If the cream does not show signs of whipping within a reasonable time, the result is likely to be the formation of little globules of butter. Cream that whips properly will become stiff and light in a short time. After cream has been whipped till stiff, it should be sweetened slightly with sugar and flavored with vanilla or any other desirable flavoring.