Cut the pulp of two oranges into small pieces; cut two bananas into dice; cut half a dozen candied cherries into quarters; chop a dozen blanched almonds. Mix all lightly together and turn them into a bowl or a china mold. Soak a half ounce of gelatine in a half cupful of cold water for an hour; dissolve it in a cupful of boiling water; add a half cupful of sugar and stir over the fire until dissolved; then add the juice of half a lemon, the juice which has drained from the fruit, and a tablespoonful of sherry. Turn it into the mold slowly, so it soaks into the fruit, and set aside to cool. Serve with cream if convenient. Any mixture of fresh fruits may be used in the same way; raisins may be used instead of cherries, or both may be omitted. This is a good way to utilize fruits that are going to waste.
FRUIT JUICES
The juice of oranges, strawberries, currants, or any fruit makes a delicious first course for luncheon in summer time or the fruit season, when prepared as directed below. It is served cold in small glasses and eaten with a spoon.
Take a quart of fruit-juice; this will require about a dozen oranges, or two quarts of strawberries or other juicy fruit; strain it through filter paper to make it clear (see page [415]); put it in an earthenware or porcelain-lined saucepan on the fire, and as soon as it steams, stir in three teaspoonfuls of arrowroot moistened in a little cold water. Cook it until clear; then add a half cupful of sugar (or more if an acid fruit), and as soon as the sugar is dissolved turn it into a bowl to cool. At the moment of serving put a piece of ice in each glass.
Chapter XXV
COMPOTES, PRESERVING AND CANNING, PICKLES
COMPOTES
For plain desserts. Compotes are fresh fruits stewed. They are good served with cake as a plain dessert. In combination with rice or other molded cereals they are a very wholesome sweet for children.
Serving. Make a syrup of 28° (see page [513]). When it is boiling drop the fruit in, a few pieces at a time, so it will not get broken or crushed. Let it cook until tender, but still firm enough to hold its form. Remove it carefully with a skimmer. Arrange the pieces in regular order, overlapping, or piled like uncooked fruit in a glass or silver dish. After the fruit is cooked, let the syrup boil down until thick, or about 32°, and strain it over the fruit. Let it cool before serving.