—Butter and flour a baking-sheet. Put into a pastry-bag ([No. 1079]) half the quantity of the biscuits-à-la-cuillère preparation ([No. 1231]), and drop it on the baking-sheet into Lima-bean-shaped pieces one and a half inches long by half an inch wide. Sprinkle them lightly with powdered sugar, and place them in a brisk oven to bake for twelve minutes. Take them out and let them cool for fifteen minutes, then put them on a table upside down, and in the middle of each one cut a hole one inch long by a quarter of an inch wide. Fill the holes with apricot marmalade ([No. 1335]), then unite them, two by two, so as to enclose the marmalade and be the perfect shape of Lima beans. Glaze them neatly by dipping them separately into a glace preparation as for éclairs à la vanille ([No. 1245]), and lay them at once on a pastry-grate to dry for fifteen minutes. Dress them on a dessert-dish with a folded napkin, and serve. The remainder of the paste may be used the following day.
1239. Fancy Almond Cakes.
—Peel and pound half a pound of almonds as for [No. 1207]; then add two egg whites; when thoroughly pounded, put them into a vessel with ten ounces of powdered sugar, and the grated rind of a good lemon; then, with the hand, knead well together for twenty minutes. Slide a fancy tube (No. 3) into a pastry-bag ([No. 1079]), and pour in the above preparation. Cover a baking-sheet with brown paper, and holding the top of the bag with the right hand, guide the bottom with the left, and press the paste through onto the paper in small round bits one inch wide and half an inch high. Make ten of these, being careful to keep them one inch apart. Make ten more, shaped like the letter S, using the same quantity as for the others; then ten more, crescent-shaped, or like the letter C; and with the remainder of the paste make ten more, heart-shaped, being careful to keep them from touching one another. Take five candied cherries, cut them in halves, and arrange them on top of the round cakes; have twenty dried currants ([No. 1080]), and place one on each end of the S. Cut a candied apricot in two, and each half into five slices, and lay them on top of the crescents, and lastly have one ounce of candied angelica cut into very thin strips, and arrange them nicely on the heart-shaped pieces.
It would be advisable to prepare these cakes the evening before they are needed, and lay them aside in a warm place over night. The next morning, glaze them lightly with beaten egg, using a pastry-brush, and place them in a brisk oven to bake for ten minutes. When of a nice brown color, remove, and let them become thoroughly cold. Lift them up carefully with the paper, laying them gently upside down on a table, and with a wet towel moisten the paper, so that the cakes will detach easily. Turn the paper over immediately as it stood before, let rest for two minutes; then remove the cakes. Lay them on a pastry-grate upside down, to allow them to dry for thirty minutes. Dress them on a glass stand with a folded napkin, and send to the table.
1240. Pâte-à-Chou.
—Put into a saucepan two gills of cold milk and two ounces of butter. Place it on the range, stir slightly with the spatula, and when boiling, immediately add a quarter of a pound of well-sifted flour; stir briskly for two minutes. Then stand the pan on a table. Break in one egg; mix sharply for two minutes, break in a second egg, mix sharply again; and repeat with a third and a fourth egg; then the pâte-à-chou is ready.
1241. Eclairs.
—Arrange in a pastry-bag ([No. 1079]), a tube (No. 3); put into it the above quantity of pâte-à-chou ([No. 1240]), and press out upon a baking-sheet fifteen éclairs, each one three inches long. Bake them in a hot oven for twenty minutes. Remove, and let them cool; then with a pair of scissors open each éclair on one side, and with a spoon fill the interiors with a crême patissière ([No. 1242]).
1242. Crême Patissière.
—Put a pint of cold milk into a saucepan, and place it on the stove. Mix in another vessel two ounces of powdered sugar, with one ounce of flour, and half an ounce of corn-starch. Break in two whole eggs, and beat well together with the whip for two minutes. When the milk is boiling, add it to the preparation, and after stirring for one minute longer, put it into another saucepan, and place it on the stove. Beat well until it comes to a boil; then remove from the fire, and add immediately a teaspoonful of vanilla essence. Mix thoroughly again for one minute longer; then pour it into a bowl, and let it get cold.