1267. Small Pyramid of Nougat.
—Oil slightly the interior of a small, round base. Take half the nougat, prepared as for [No. 1266], lay it on a marble table (the nougat should always be hot), roll it out very thin with an oiled roller, and with this line the oiled base. Then with a whole lemon sharply press the nougat onto the mold to give it a perfect form, cutting it evenly away all around the edge. Put the pieces with the rest in the pan, and place near the fire to keep hot. Have a small cornet-d’abondance (cornucopia), oil it slightly, and line the inside with half the remaining nougat, rolled out as before, and pressing it the same. Cut away all the superfluous part, and let it cool slightly. Then unmold both the base and cornet. Oil a tartlet-mold, and line it with the rest of the nougat. Lay the base carefully upon a glass stand of suitable size, the covered part uppermost, and fasten to the stand with cooked sugar ([No. 1264]). With cooked sugar fasten the cornet in the middle, small end uppermost, using cooked sugar for the purpose. Put the remaining piece from the tartlet-mold on top of all, and fasten it in the same way. All this should be done carefully and patiently. Have ready two well-peeled, sound oranges, pull them gently to pieces, looking closely at each separate section to see that the skin is not broken or loosened. Have a quarter of a pound of fresh Malaga grapes, detach them, leaving on each grape about a quarter of an inch of stem. Take also two ounces of candied cherries, plunge the grapes into the cooked sugar ([No. 1264]), and with a fork lift them up, and immediately lay them on a well-cleaned, oiled, marble table. Treat the pieces of orange and the cherries each the same way. During this time, should the sugar become cool, heat it up once more; fill the cornet with these fruits, dipping one side of each piece into the cooked sugar to make them adhere together. With a part of them fill the tart-shaped piece on top, proceeding in the same manner, and decorate with glace royale ([No. 1269]).
1269. Glace Royale.
—Put the white of one egg into a small bowl. Beat it well with a small spatula, adding six ounces of extra fine sugar, and squeezing in three drops of lemon juice. Then continue beating for twenty minutes. When finished, it should be snow-white and pulpy. Make a small brown paper cornet, cut off the lower end, slide down a small fancy tube, and pour in some of the glace royale, covering the remainder of it with a damp cloth. Then with the cornet decorate the edge of the nougat base as in the preceding (No. 1268), also the upper edge, and all around the edge of the cornet, and finish by decorating artistically the tart-shaped piece on top; then send it to the table.
All nougat pieces, when finished, should be kept in a moderate temperature.
1270. Blanc-manger à la Josephine Delmonico.
—Peel neatly six ounces of sweet almonds and two ounces of bitter almonds ([No. 1207]). Put in a vessel, cover with cold water, and let them soak for fully one hour. Drain thoroughly through a sieve, and pound them well in a mortar, adding, little by little, a gill of cold water, and continue pounding for ten minutes. Now remove to a vessel and add two gills of lukewarm water, and mix together with the spatula for two minutes. Spread a large napkin over another vessel, pour on the above preparation, lift up the four corners, and holding it with the left hand, squeeze the liquid through with the right. Lay this almond milk aside for further use. Put into a saucepan two gills of cold water, half an ounce of gelatine, a piece of vanilla-bean two inches long and split in two, and four ounces of powdered sugar. Mix well with the spatula for two minutes; remove the spatula, put on the lid, and let infuse for thirty minutes. Then place the saucepan on the hot stove, and stir gently from the bottom, allowing it to boil slowly for four minutes. Remove it from the fire, and let the pan rest on the table for three minutes. Pour in the almond milk, mix again for two minutes, using the spatula, and strain the whole through a fine sieve into another vessel. Have a three-pint, channeled blanc-manger mold; put some broken ice at the bottom of a pail, place the mold on it, arranging more broken ice around the sides, so that the mold be entirely sunk in the ice as far up as the edge. Stir the preparation for one minute, then pour it into the mold, cover the pail with a napkin, and leave it to congeal for one hour. Take up the mold carefully from the pail, wipe off the ice with a towel, and have ready a cold dessert-dish with a folded napkin over. Turn out the blanc-manger onto this; decorate the surface with two ounces of candied cherries and one ounce of angelica, and it is ready for the table.
1271. Vanilla Ice-cream.
—Boil in a saucepan one pint of milk with half a vanilla-bean; put in a vessel half a pound of powdered sugar, and six egg yolks, and with a spatula mix thoroughly for ten minutes; then add it to the boiling milk, stirring for two minutes longer, and pour the whole into a copper basin, placing it on a moderate stove to heat for five minutes, stirring at the bottom continually with the spatula, and being careful not to let it boil. Remove from off the fire, place it on a table, and add immediately one pint of sweet cream, still mixing it for two minutes more; let cool off for thirty minutes, then strain through a sieve into an ice-cream freezer; put on the lid, and lay it in an ice-cream tub, filling the freezer all round with broken ice, mixed slightly with rock-salt; then turn the handle on the cover as briskly as possible for three minutes. Lift up the lid, and with a wooden spoon detach the cream from all around the freezer, and the bottom as well. Re-cover it, and turn the handle sharply for three minutes more; uncover, and detach the cream the same as before, being careful that no ice or salt drops in. Put the lid on, and repeat the same three times more. The ice-cream should by this time be quite firm, so have a cold dessert-dish with a folded napkin, dress the ice-cream over, and send to the table.
This same ice-cream can be formed into a single brick by having a brick-shaped form, filling it with the cream, and pressing it down quickly with a spoon; cover closely, being careful that the form is completely filled, so that no salted water can penetrate into it. Put broken ice at the bottom of a pail, mixing in a little rock-salt, lay the form on top, covering it entirely with broken ice and salt; let freeze for one hour, remove, and bathe it in a vessel containing lukewarm water; wash off the ice and salt that adhere, and lift it out as quickly as possible; remove the cover, and turn it on a dessert-dish with a folded napkin, lift up the mold, and send the ice-cream to the table.