No. 1320. Pouding Soufflé glacé à la Méphistopheles.
Proceed precisely as in the last, place in a dish of the same description, and whilst buried in ice make a cover from a meringue mixture (No. 1218) of four yolks of eggs, very firm, a large spoonful of which place upon a sheet of paper, forming it round, three inches in diameter, and the remainder in a paper cornet or horn, cut off the point of one, leaving a point the size of a sixpenny-piece, with which work a spiral line round the meringue until you have formed a cover large enough for the soufflé-case, sift sugar over it, and bake in a very slow oven; when done turn it gently over in your hand, take off the paper, empty the interior lightly, and place it to dry in a very slow oven (it might be made the day before); make a border of pâte d’office upon a silver dish as for the bombe glacé (No. 1315), bake in a warm oven; when ready to serve take the soufflé from the ice, take off the paper, stand it in a dish of ice and salt to reach the rim of the soufflé-case; place on the cover, which must be quite cold and crisp, and place it in the oven until the meringue cover is warm, when take it out, stand it in the centre of your dish, pour half a pint of brandy upon the dish outside of the border of paste, which set on fire upon its going into the dining-room.
No. 1321. Brioche.
Put four pounds of flour upon a marble slab, one pound of which place upon one side, with an ounce of German yeast dissolved in a gill of warm water in the centre, mix the yeast well with your fingers, add a little more water, and mix the flour into a stiffish but delicate paste, which roll up in the shape of a ball, cut an incision across it with a knife, place it in a basin well floured and put it into a warmish place for ten minutes or longer, until becoming very light, make a large hole in the centre of the remainder of the flour, in which put half an ounce of salt, half a gill of water, two pounds and a half of fresh butter, and sixteen eggs, mix the eggs and butter well together, and work in the flour by degrees, if too stiff add more eggs, the paste must be kept rather softish, press it out with, your hands by degrees, lay the leaven upon it, which spread over, bring the ends over with your knife, press it out again and fold over until well mixed, sprinkle some flour upon a clean cloth, fold the paste in it and let remain all night; when ready to use throw some flour upon your pastry slab, turn your paste out upon it and work it up together with your hands, then cut a piece, which mould into a ball with the hands, place it upon a piece of buttered paper on a baking-sheet, make an impression with your hand in the centre, mould another ball of the paste two thirds the size of the former, wet the former ball with a little water, fix the other upon it, press gently, egg over with a paste-brush, make a few incisions round with a knife, and put it in a moderate oven, (it will require about two hours baking, to try when done run a thin wooden skewer into it, if done it will come out perfectly dry,) bake of a nice gold colour. Many small cakes, rissoles, &c., are made from this paste. By buttering a middle-sized stewpan, putting a band of paper four inches in height round, and baking the paste in it, it will of itself make a remove, but of course requiring longer baking.
No. 1322. Baba.
This cake is made of the same description of paste as the last, but using six more eggs, as it requires to be softer, and working lightly with your hand about ten minutes before adding the leaven, to which add a teaspoonful of powdered saffron; you have also picked and cleaned a quarter of a pound of Smyrna raisins, half a pound of Malaga, a quarter of a pound of currants, and a little candied orange, lemon-peel, and citron, cut into thin slices, soak the whole in half a pint of Madeira wine and three glasses of brandy or rum, and mix with the paste, working together lightly with the hands, have buttered a large sponge-cake mould, or stewpan, place a band of paper three inches in height round the rim, put it into a warm place for two or three hours, or until raised nearly to the top of the mould, stand it upon a trivet in a warmish oven, and bake about three hours, ascertaining when done with a skewer, as in the last; your paste must not be made too thin, or all the fruit would fall to the bottom and spoil its appearance. Take off the band of paper, turn the baba over upon a hair sieve, and serve either hot or cold. Previously to mixing the fruit with the paste you may line the interior of the mould very thinly with some of it, mix the fruit with the remainder and fill, this process will prevent the cake sticking to the mould, as the fruit will sometimes cause it to do, but gives rather too much the appearance of brioche when on the table.
No. 1323. Brioche au Fromage.
Make the paste as directed (No. 1321), but rather softer, and when ready for use mix in a pound of Gruyère cheese cut into small dice, with half a pound of grated Parmesan and a saltspoonful of cayenne pepper, mould it as for the brioche, put it into a buttered stewpan as there directed, egg lightly, place in a moderate oven, and bake it about two hours of a fine gold colour, (but try whether done or not as before,) and serve very hot. The same paste with cheese may likewise be served in small cakes, making fifteen or sixteen from the same quantity of paste, or cutting up a large one with different shape-cutters into the same number of pieces, and placing them in a hot oven upon a baking-sheet (when the first course comes off the table) until very hot and becoming rather brown, dress them upon a napkin on your dish, and send very hot to table, with another napkin over them, which should not be removed until placed upon the table.
No. 1324. Brioche frite au Vin de Madère.
Make a brioche as directed (No. 1321), which when cold cut into pieces a quarter of an inch in thickness, and of the shape and size of small fillets of fowl, have ready four yolks of eggs in a dish, with which you have mixed a gill of good cream, have also clarified half a pound of fresh butter, a quarter of which put into a deep sauté-pan over the fire; when hot dip eight pieces of the brioche into the eggs and cream quickly, and fry them in the sauté-pan of a light yellow colour, proceeding thus until they are all done, dress them in crown upon your dish on a border of apricot marmalade, and place it in the oven to keep hot, put half a pound of the marmalade in a stewpan, and when melted add a pint of Madeira wine; when boiling pour over the brioche and serve very hot. The remainder of a brioche or baba from a preceding dinner may be used for the above purpose. In serving a brioche or baba to table as a remove I strongly recommend the above method, as very few, even after a sumptuous dinner, could resist the temptations of this delicious dish, so well blended with the apricot and Madeira, whilst brioche or baba served entire cannot invigorate the appetite, and is not, in my opinion, exactly the kind of food to suit an already nearly satisfied stomach. They are, however, excellent for breakfasts, luncheons, and ball suppers, where every person composes their meal according to their fancy.