Vols-au-vent of Chickens, Shrimps, Salmon, Mushrooms, Veal, Game, etc.
Fill the vols-au-vent with almost any kind of meat or fish cut into dice, pouring over them a very little sauce. Do not add too much sauce, as it would run through the sides. For chicken, a Bechamel or a cream sauce is good; for shrimps, a shrimp-sauce; for salmon or any other kind of fish, Hollandaise, shrimp, pickle, or any fish sauce; for veal or lamb, a little thickened gravy. This is a very good way of using up remnants of any kind of fish or meat.
Vols-au-vent, with Strawberries, Raspberries, or Currants (English Lady).
Instead of sprinkling sugar over the tops of the vols-au-vent, glaze them on top with four ounces of sugar boiled to a candy, on which sprinkle some fine pieces of pounded loaf-sugar. Take about one-fourth of the ripest of the strawberries to be used, mash them fine, add a little more sugar to what remains of the sugar used for glazing, and after boiling it so that it is not quite ready to candy, add the mashed strawberries and their juice; skim the mixture, and as soon as it sticks to the fingers take it off the fire.
Just before serving, fill the vols-au-vent with the fresh strawberries, and cover them with the sirup, when it is cold. Proceed in the same manner with raspberries and red and white currants.
Vols-au-vent, with Strawberries, etc.
When the vols-au-vent are nearly or quite done, take them out of the oven, brush the tops over with the white of an egg, then sprinkle over this coarse sugar; return them to the oven to set the glaze. At the moment of serving, fill the vols-au-vent with fresh strawberries, raspberries, or any kind of preserved fruit. Place a few spoonfuls of whipped cream over the tops of the fruit.
Lemon Paste (for Tarts or Patties).
To one pound of lump-sugar add six eggs, leaving out the whites of two, the juice of four large lemons, with the grated rinds of three of them, and one quarter of a pound of very good butter. Put all into a stew-pan, and stir gently over a slow fire (or set the basin into a pan of boiling water) until it becomes thick and looks like honey; do not let it boil. Pour it into bottles or jars, and keep it in a cool place. It will keep three or four years.
Bake the crust for the tarts. Put in a little of the lemon paste while the crusts are hot. Then return them to the oven, to remain until the paste is nicely melted, when the tarts will be quite ready.