Of Pine-Apple.—Peel and cut in slices, put them in a crockery pan, with a little water and sugar, set on a good fire, and finish and serve like apricots.
Of Plums.—Throw the plums in boiling water, and take them out when half cooked; put them in a crockery stewpan, with a little water and a little sugar; simmer till cooked, place them on a dish, pour some common syrup on, and serve when cold.
Of Quinces.—Quarter, peel, and core the quinces; throw them in boiling water for five minutes; take out and drain them; put them in a crockery stewpan, with four ounces of sugar for every pound of quinces, a few drops of lemon-juice, a little water, and a pinch of grated cinnamon; set it on the fire, simmer till cooked, place them on a dish, pour some common syrup on them, and serve cold.
Of Chestnuts.—Roast about one quart of chestnuts, remove the skin and pith, lay them in a pan with half a gill of water and four ounces of sugar; set on a slow fire, toss now and then till the sugar and water are absorbed or evaporated, turn over a dish, dust with sugar, and serve warm or cold. A few drops of lemon-juice may be added just before dusting with sugar.
Cold Compote.—Wash strawberries and raspberries in cold water, drain dry, and place them on a dish. Pour boiling common syrup or boiling currant-jelly all over; let cool, and serve.
Of Cranberries.—Put one pint of water in a tin saucepan, with six ounces of loaf-sugar, the rind of half a lemon, and set it on the fire; boil down until, by dipping a spoon in it, it adheres to it. Then throw in it about one pint of cranberries; boil about twelve minutes, stirring now and then, take off, let cool, and serve.
Another.—After having boiled ten minutes in the same way as above, and with the same proportions of sugar, cranberries, etc., take from the fire, mash through a fine colander or sieve, put back on the fire, boil gently five minutes, let cool, and serve.
Creams or Crèmes au Citron (with Lemon).—Put one pint of milk in a tin saucepan with the rind of a lemon; set on the fire, and as soon as it rises place an iron spoon in it and boil gently five minutes; take from the fire. Mix well in a bowl four ounces of sugar with four yolks of eggs, then turn the milk into the bowl, little by little, stirring and mixing at the same time. Strain the mixture and put it in small cups; put the cups in a pan of boiling water, boil gently for about ten minutes, and put in the oven as it is, that is, leaving the cups in the water. The cups must not be more than half covered with water, else the water will fly into it. It takes from ten to fifteen minutes to finish the cooking in the oven, according to the size of the cups. Take them from the oven when the crème is rather firm, except a little spot in the middle, and which you ascertain by moving the cups.
Anyone with an ordinary amount of intelligence can make creams as well as the best cooks, after having tried only two or three times. When you know how to make one, you can make fifty, just by using different flavorings.
Au Café (with Coffee).—The stronger the coffee the better the cream. The most economical way of making strong coffee is: when you intend to have cream with coffee for dinner, put the first drops that fall, when you make the coffee for breakfast, into a glass; put it immediately in cold water, and as soon as cool cover it with paper, which you tie around it with twine, and use when you make the cream.