The centre spaces can be filled, after the jelly is dished, with very light whipped cream, coloured and flavoured so as to eat agreeably with it, and to please the eye as well: this may be tastefully garnished with preserved, or with fresh fruit; but one of more recent invention, called the Belgrave mould (which is to be had of the originators, Messrs. Temple and Reynolds, Princes Street, Cavendish Square, and also at 80, Motcomb Street, Belgrave Square), is of superior construction for the purpose, as it contains a large central cylinder and six smaller ones, which when withdrawn, after the jelly—which should be poured round, but not into them—is set, leave vacancies which can be filled either with jelly of another colour, or with fruit of different kinds (which must be secured in its place with just liquid jelly poured carefully in after it is arranged), or with blanc-mange, or any other isinglass-cream. The space occupied by the larger cylinder may be left empty, or filled, before the jelly is served, with white or with pale-tinted whipped cream. Water, only sufficiently warm to detach the jelly from them without heating or melting it, must be poured into the cylinders to unfix them; and to loosen the whole so as to unmould it easily, a cloth wrung out of very hot water must be wound round it, or the mould must be dipped quickly into some which is nearly or quite boiling. A dish should then be laid on it, it should be carefully reversed, and the mould lifted from it gently. It will sometimes require a slight sharp blow to detach it quite.
Italian jelly is made by half filling a mould of convenient form, and laying round upon it in a chain, as soon as it is set, some blanc-mange made rather firm, and cut of equal thickness and size, with a small round cutter; the mould is then filled with the remainder of the jelly, which must be nearly cold, but not beginning to set. Branched morella cherries, drained very dry, are sometimes dropped into moulds of pale jelly; and fruits, either fresh or preserved, are arranged in them with exceedingly good effect when skilfully managed; but this is best accomplished by having a mould for the purpose, with another of smaller size fixed in it by means of slight wires, which hook on to the edge of the outer one. By pouring water into this it may easily be detached from the jelly; the fruit is then to be placed in the space left by it, and the whole filled up with more jelly: to give the proper effect, it must be recollected that the dish will be reversed when sent to table.
QUEEN MAB’S PUDDING.
(An Elegant Summer Dish.)
Throw into a pint of new milk the thin rind of a small lemon, and six or eight bitter almonds, blanched and bruised; or substitute for these half a pod of vanilla cut small, heat it slowly by the side of the fire, and keep it at the point of boiling until it is strongly flavoured, then add a small pinch of salt, and three-quarters of an ounce of the finest isinglass, or a full ounce should the weather be extremely warm; when this is dissolved, strain the milk through a muslin, and put it into a clean saucepan, with from four to five ounces and a half of sugar in lumps, and half a pint of rich cream; give the whole one boil, and then stir it, briskly and by degrees, to the well-beaten yolks of six fresh eggs; next, thicken the mixture as a custard, over a gentle fire, but do not hazard its curdling; when it is of tolerable consistence, pour it out, and continue the stirring until it is half cold, then mix with it an ounce and a half of candied citron, cut in small spikes, and a couple of ounces of dried cherries, and pour it into a mould rubbed with a drop of oil: when turned out it will have the appearance of a pudding. From two to three ounces of preserved ginger, well drained and sliced, may be substituted for the cherries, and an ounce of pistachio-nuts, blanched and split, for the citron; these will make an elegant variety of the dish, and the syrup of the ginger, poured round as sauce, will be a further improvement. Currants steamed until tender, and candied orange or lemon-rind, are often used instead of the cherries, and the well-sweetened juice of strawberries, raspberries (white or red), apricots, peaches, or syrup of pine-apple, will make an agreeable sauce; a small quantity of this last will also give a delicious flavour to the pudding itself, when mixed with the other ingredients. Cream may be substituted entirely for the milk, when its richness is considered desirable.
New milk, 1 pint; rind 1 small lemon; bitter almonds, 6 to 8 (or, vanilla, 1/2 pod); salt, few grains; isinglass, 3/4 oz. (1 oz. in sultry weather); sugar, 4-1/2 oz.; cream, 1/2 pint; yolks, 6 eggs; dried cherries, 2 oz.; candied citron, 1-1/2 oz.; (or, preserved ginger, 2 to 3 oz., and the syrup as sauce, and 1 oz. of blanched pistachio-nuts; or 4 oz. currants, steamed 20 minutes, and 2 oz. candied orange-rind). For sauce, sweetened juice of strawberries, raspberries, or plums, or pine apple syrup.
Obs.—The currants should be steamed in an earthen cullender, placed over a saucepan of boiling water, and covered with the lid. It will be a great improvement to place the pudding over ice for an hour before it is served.
NESSELRÔDE CREAM.
Shell and blanch (see page [342]) twenty-four fine Spanish chestnuts, and put them with three-quarters of a pint of water into a small and delicately clean saucepan. When they have simmered from six to eight minutes, add to them two ounces of fine sugar, and let them stew very gently until they are perfectly tender; then drain them from the water, pound them, while still warm, to a smooth paste, and press them through the back of a fine sieve. While this is being done, dissolve half an ounce of isinglass in two or three spoonsful of water, and put to it as much cream as will, with the small quantity of water used, make half a pint, two ounces of sugar, about the third of a pod of vanilla, cut small, and well bruised, and a strip or two of fresh lemon-rind, pared extremely thin. Give these a minute’s boil, and then keep them quite hot by the side of the fire, until a strong flavour of the vanilla is obtained. Now, mix gradually with the chestnuts half a pint of rich, unboiled cream, strain the other half pint through a fine muslin, and work the whole well together until it becomes very thick; then stir to it a couple of ounces of dried cherries, cut into quarters, and two of candied citron, divided into very small dice. Press the mixture into a mould which has been rubbed with a particle of the purest salad-oil, and in a few hours it will be ready for table. The cream should be sufficiently stiff, when the fruit is added, to prevent its sinking to the bottom, and both kinds should be dry when they are used.
Chestnuts, large, 24; water, 3/4 pint; sugar, 2 oz.; isinglass, 1/2 oz.; water, 3 to 4 tablespoonsful; cream, nearly 1/2 pint; vanilla, 1/3 of pod; lemon-rind, 1/4 of 1 large: infuse 20 minutes or more. Unboiled cream, 1/2 pint; dried cherries, 2 oz.; candied citron, 2 oz.