No. 1325. Nougat aux Fraises.
Blanch three quarters of a pound of sweet almonds in boiling water, and a quarter of a pound of pistachios, separate, take off the skins and cut each almond into five or six fillets, and the pistachios in two, place them upon a sheet of paper and dry in a warm oven until the almonds become a light straw colour, but taking the pistachios out earlier, then put a pound of sifted sugar into a copper pan and stir it over the fire with a wooden spoon until melted, then throw in your almonds, (which must be hot,) and stir until well mixed, taking it off the fire, you have previously slightly oiled a large Savoy-cake mould, put in part of the mixture, which press to the sides with a lemon, then the remainder in small pieces, pressing the whole to the sides, forming it into one piece the thickness of a five-shilling piece, and when cold turn it out from the shape upon a dish, whip a quart of cream very stiff, which dress upon the dish you intend serving the nougat on, in pyramid, place some very fine strawberries upon it and the nougat over, have a little sugar boiled to the seventh degree (No. 1379), have also a few very fine strawberries, with the stalks on, as the green is an improvement, dip the stalks of the strawberries into the sugar, place one upon the top and the others all over, at the distance of two inches apart, fixing them in a drooping position, it is then ready to serve. The above makes a handsome remove, the pistachios, almonds, and strawberries correcting the taste of the melted sugar; if not convenient, the pistachios may be omitted, but adding more almonds in proportion. The sugar may be flavoured with lemon vanilla or candied orange-flowers.
No. 1326. Croque en bouche.
Make some paste as directed for pâte à choux (No. 1194), not, however, using so much butter, and adding a little more flour, drying it well in the stewpan, and adding sufficient eggs to make it of the same consistency as there directed, flavouring with sugar upon which you have rubbed the rind of a lemon, form about a hundred and fifty small balls the size of marbles, upon two baking-sheets, egg them over and bake very dry in a moderate oven of a light gold colour, then have some sugar boiled to the seventh degree (No. 1379), oil a large Savoy-cake mould lightly, place one of the petits choux upon a trussing-needle, dip it in the sugar, fix it at the bottom in the centre of your mould, then dip in the remainder one after the other, placing them round the interior of the mould, one adhering to the other until the mould is filled up, (to facilitate the building of them have your sugar in two different sugar-pans, being careful that it does not grain, for if the sugar is not quite clear and crisp it would stick to the mould, and your croque en bouche tumble to pieces,) when quite cold try gently with both hands to move it, just enough to detach it, turn it out carefully upon a napkin, and serve with whipped cream flavoured with vanilla sugar under it. The above when well made makes a pretty remove, but scarcely fit to eat, it being a mass of sugar without any relief to the palate. Although not a great admirer of nougat, the almonds certainly form a relief; a croque en bouche of oranges or any other fruit is a little more commendable, but is very difficult to succeed with, and do not in reality repay in quality the trouble they give; such dishes, in my opinion, being fit only for children who are fond of sugar-plums.
No. 1327. Meringue Pagodatique à la Chinoise.
Have ready prepared a meringue mixture of fifteen eggs (No. 1218), with which make six rings upon paper, (laying them out with a paper cornet or funnel, in the bottom of which you have cut a hole of the circumference of a shilling,) the three largest to be eight inches in diameter, the next one six and a half inches, the next five, and the smallest three and a half inches in diameter, and the whole of them an inch in thickness, have some of the preparation in a small paper cornet with a hole at the bottom of the size of a pea, with which ornament the rings, laying small fillets of it over them, then with the large paper cornet lay out four other pieces of an octagonal form, (to imitate the top of a Chinese pagoda, which may easily be accomplished if the mixture is firm, as it may then be laid out into any shape desired,) leaving a ring in the centre, making the largest rather larger than the largest ring, diminishing the size in proportion to the other rings, and piping them according to fancy with the smaller paper cornet with which also form sixteen little bells by pressing an upright dot from it upon paper, and pulling the cornet up quickly, making the four largest half an inch in height and a quarter of an inch in width, and making each four a size smaller in proportion; bake the whole of the preparations (first sifting sugar over them) upon boards in a very slow oven, scarcely allowing them to obtain any colour; when baked and crisp place them in a hot closet until perfectly dry, when take them out, wet the back of the papers lightly with a paste-brush and carefully detach the meringues from them, which again put into the hot closet until quite crisp, then fix the bells, the largest upon the largest octagonal piece at the corners, and the smaller upon the smaller pieces, by running a needle with a piece of white silk through them, and fastening them with a little boiled sugar or isinglass when upon the point of setting; when ready to serve place the three largest rings upon your dish, filling the middle with some whipped cream flavoured with vanilla sugar (No. 1377), then the largest octagonal piece, which also fill with cream, then the next sized ring, and so on until you have built the whole up, finishing with the smallest octagonal at the top, you have also made and baked a pointed meringue of the shape of half a lemon, to fit into the hole at the top, having it decorated to correspond, which place upon the top and serve immediately, or it would become damp, and eat toughish instead of crisp.
No. 1328. Meringue à la Parisienne.
Prepare a meringue mixture of ten whites of eggs, with which make ten large rings, each about eight inches in diameter, and half an inch in thickness, laying them out upon paper; pipe them in stripes with the paper cornet, and sift sugar over, let them remain ten minutes, then shake off the superfluous sugar, lay them upon boards, and place them in a slow oven to bake; when of a light brown colour and quite set, put them into a hot closet to dry, then wet the back of the papers lightly with a paste-brush, from which carefully detach the rings, place them again in the hot closet to dry, and when ready to serve pipe them with bright red currant jelly between the stripes of meringue, dish them one upon the other, filling them with whipped cream, and serve as quickly as possible afterwards, with a few strawberries upon the top. A meringue mixture may also be formed into various other shapes, according to fancy.
No. 1329. Nesselrode Pudding.
Blanch four dozen chestnuts in boiling water, skin and place them in the screen, when dry take them out, and when cold put them into a mortar with one pound of sugar, and half a stick of vanilla, pound the whole well together, and sift it through a fine wire sieve, put it into a stewpan with the yolks of twelve eggs, beat them well together; in another stewpan have a quart of milk, when boiling pour it over the other ingredients, mixing well, and stir over a sharp fire until it begins to thicken and adheres to the back of the spoon, when lay a tammie upon a large dish, pour the mixture in and rub it through with two wooden spoons; when cold place it in a freezing-pot and freeze as directed (No. 1381), when frozen have a large high ice-mould, which closes hermetically, have also two ounces of currants, and two ounces of Smyrna raisins, soaked in four glasses of maresquino from the previous day, with four ounces of candied citron cut in dice, put them into the freezing-pot with a pint of whipped cream and half the meringue preparation directed in (No. 1318); freeze the whole well together and fill your mould, which bury in ice and salt until ready to serve, when dip it into lukewarm water, and turn it out upon your dish.