715. Crusts of Fruit.—Put a quarter of a pound of butter in a sauté- or frying-pan, sprinkle a little sugar over, cut four or five slices of bread a quarter of an inch thick, three inches long, and one and a half wide, lay in your pan; take one dozen of greengages, open them in two, they must not be too ripe, lay the skin part on your bread, put a pinch of sugar in each, put it in a hot oven for twenty minutes; have ready a salamander or a hot shovel, and hold it over it for a few minutes, dish and serve hot or cold; the oven ought to be hot enough to give a nice yellow color to the bottom, which will eat crisp.
716. Crusts with Madeira.—Cut a French penny roll lengthwise in four or five slices, put the yolks of two eggs, with four spoonfuls of milk, mix it in a plate, dip quickly each piece in it, and sauté in a quarter of a pound of butter which you have previously melted in a pan, leave them on the fire until they have obtained a nice gold color on both sides, put a spoonful of apricot marmalade in a stewpan, with two glasses of Madeira, and place on the fire; when on the point of boiling, pour over the bread, which you have previously put in a plate, and serve very hot. Any preserve may be used, also any white wine; and should you have no French rolls, any fancy roll will do, or stale brioche (No. 11) is excellent for them.
717. Cheesecakes.—Under this head, in English Cookery Books, are a variety of Receipts, but in fact, there is only one; the others may all be denominated tartlets of one kind or the other, and require but little skill on the part of the cook to vary in an innumerable number of ways. The following is the plan in use in the farm-houses in the midland counties; some which I have received from Stilton, and also from Tuxford, in Nottinghamshire, are excellent.
Take four quarts of milk and turn it with some fresh rennet; when dry, crumble it and sift it through a coarse sieve into a bowl, beat it well up with a quarter of a pound of butter until it is quite smooth (it may require a little more butter, depending on the quality of the milk); mix in another bowl the yolks of four eggs and a quarter of a pound of very fine sifted biscuit powder, the rind of four lemons, the juice of two, a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar (some add a little grated nutmeg or cinnamon), beat these all well up together until forming a stiff cream, then put it by degrees into the bowl with curd, and mix them well together; line some tartlet-pans, previously buttered, with some paste (No. 686), and place some of the above mixture in, and bake quick. In some places milk is used instead of eggs. Should you not have rennet, procure some good milk, and turn it with the juice of a lemon or a teaspoonful of soda or culinary alkali to a quart of milk: drain the curd, and proceed as before.
718. Richmond Maids of Honor.—These delicious little cakes, which every inhabitant of London who pays a visit to the most picturesque part of its environs knows so well, derive their name from a period when cookery was not thought to be a degrading occupation for those honored with that title. It is stated that they originated with the maids of honor of Queen Elizabeth, who had a palace at Richmond. I have a little work now before me, called ‘The Queen’s Delight,’ in which are several receipts invented by the wives of the first nobles of the land, which I think is an excellent example for those housewives who honor this book by their perusal, to imitate. They are made as follows:
Sift half a pound of dry curd, mix it well with six ounces of good butter, break the yolks of four eggs into another basin, and a glass of brandy; add to it six ounces of powdered lump sugar, and beat well together one very flowery baked potato, cold, one ounce of sweet almonds, one ounce of bitter ditto pounded, the grated rind of three lemons, the juice of one, and half a nutmeg grated, mix these well together and add to the curds and butter; stir well up, and proceed as before, filling the tartlet pans.