The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory Part 61

_Cream Curd._

Boil a pint of cream, with a little mace, cinnamon, and rose-water, and, when as cool as new milk, put in half a spoonful of good runnet. When it turns, serve it up in the cream dish.

_Lemon Curd._

To a pint of cream, when it boils, put in the whites of six eggs, and one lemon and a half; stir it until it comes to a tender curd. Then put it into a holland bag, and let it drain till all the whey is out of it; beat the curd in a mortar with a little sugar; put it in a basin to form; about two or three hours before you use it, turn it out, and pour thick cream and sugar over it.

_Paris Curd._

Put a pint of cream on the fire, with the juice of one lemon, and the whites of six eggs; stir it till it becomes a curd. Hang it all night in a cloth to drain; then add to it two ounces of sweet almonds, with brandy and sugar to your taste. Mix it well in a mortar, and put it into shapes.

_Currants, to bottle._

Gather your fruit perfectly dry, and not too ripe; cut each currant from the stalk separately, taking care not to bruise them; fill your bottles quite full, cork them lightly, set them in a boiler with cold water, and let them simmer a quarter of an hour, or according to the nature and ripeness of the fruit. By this process the fruit will sink; pour on as much boiling water as will cover the surface and exclude air. Should they mould, move it off when you use the fruit, and you will not find the fruit injured by it. Cork your bottles quickly, after you take them out of the water; tie a bladder over, and put them in a dry place. This method answers equally well for gooseberries, cherries, greengages, and damsons.

_Another way._

Gather the currants quite dry; clip them off the stalks; if they burst in pulling off they will not do. Fill some dry common quart bottles with them, rosin the corks well over, and then tie a bladder well soaked over the cork, and upon the leather; all this is absolutely necessary to keep the air out, and corks in; place the bottles, with the corks downwards, in a boiler of cold water, and stuff hay between them to keep them steady. Make a fire under them, and keep it up till the water boils; then rake it out immediately, and leave the bottles in the boiler till the water is quite cold. Put them into the cellar in any vessel that will keep them steadily packed, the necks always downward. When a bottle is opened, the currants must be used at once. The bottles will not be above half full when taken out of the boiler, and they must not be shaken more than can be avoided.

This process answers equally well for apricots, plums, and cherries.

_Currants or Barberries, to dry in bunches._

When the currants, or barberries, (which should be maiden barberries) are stoned and tied up in bunches, take to one pound of them a pound and a half of sugar. To each pound of sugar put half a pint of water; boil the syrup well, and put the fruit into it. Set it on the fire; let it just boil, and then take it off. Cover it close with white paper; let it stand till next day; then make it scalding hot, and let it stand two or three days, covered close with paper. Lay it in earthen plates; sprinkle over it fine sugar, put it on a stove to dry; lay it on sieves till one side is dry; then turn and sift sugar on it. When dry enough lay it between papers.

_Currants, to ice._

Take the largest and finest bunches of currants you can get; beat the white of an egg to a froth; dip them into it; lay them, so as not to touch, upon a sieve: sift double-refined sugar over them very thick, and let them dry in a stove or oven.

_White Currants, to preserve._

Take the largest white currants, but not the amber colour; strip them, and to two quarts of currants put a pint of water; boil them very fast, and run them through a jelly-bag to a pint of juice. Put a pound and half of sugar, and half a pound of stoned currants; set them on a brisk fire, and let them boil very fast till the currants are clear and jelly very well; then put them into gla.s.ses or pots, stirring them as they cool, to make them mix well. Paper them down when just cold.

_Red Currants, to preserve._

Mash the currants and strain them through a thin strainer; to a pint of juice take a pound and a half of sugar and six spoonfuls of water. Boil it up and skim it well. Put in half a pound of stoned currants; boil them as fast as you can, till the currants are clear and jelly well; then put them into pots or gla.s.ses, and, when cold, paper them as other sweetmeats. Stir all small fruits as they cool, to mix them with the jelly.

_Another way._

Take red and white currants; squeeze and drain them. Boil two pints of juice with three pounds of fine sugar: skim it; then put in a pound of stoned currants; let them boil fast till they jelly, and put them into bottles.

_Currant Jam._

To a pound of currants put three quarters of a pound of lump sugar. Put the fruit first into the preserving-pan, and place the sugar carefully in the middle, so as not to touch the pan. Let it boil gently on a clear fire for about half an hour. It must not be stirred. Skim the jelly carefully from the top, and add a quarter of a pound of fruit to what remains from the jelly; stir it well, and boil it thoroughly. The proportion of fruit added for the jam must always be one quarter. In making jelly or jam, it is an improvement to add to every five pounds of currants one pound of raisins.

_Currant Jam or Jelly._

Take two pounds of currants and half a pound of raspberries: to every pound of fruit add three quarters of a pound of good moist sugar. Simmer them slowly; skim the jam very nicely; when boiled to a sufficient consistency, put it into jars, and, when cold, cover with brandy paper.

_Black or red Currant Jelly._

Strip the fruit when full ripe; put it into a stone jar; put the jar, tied over with white paper, into a saucepan of cold water, and stew it to boiling on the stove. Strain off the liquor, and to every pint of red currants weigh out a pound of loaf-sugar, if black, three quarters of a pound; mix the fruit and the sugar in lumps, and let it rest till the sugar is nearly dissolved. Then put it in a preserving-pan, and simmer and skim it till it is quite clear. When it will jelly on a plate, it is done, and may be put in pots.

_Currant Juice._

Take currants, and squeeze the juice out of them; have some very dry quart bottles, and hold in each a couple of burning matches. Cork them up, to keep the smoke confined in them for a few hours, till the juice is put in them. Fill them to the neck with the currant juice; then scald them in a copper or pot with hay between. The water must be cold when the bottles are put in: let them have one boil.

_Another way._

Boil a pint of currant juice with half a pint of clarified sugar; skim it; add a little lemon to taste, and mix with a quart of seed.

_Currant Paste._

Mash red and white currants; strain them through a linen bag; break in as much of the strained currants as will make the juice thick enough of seeds; add some gooseberries boiled in water. Boil the whole till it jellies; let it stand to cool; then put a pound of sugar to every pint, and scald it.

_Custard._ No. 1.

One quart of cream, twelve eggs, the whites of four, the rind of one lemon, boiled in the cream, with a small quant.i.ty of nutmeg, and a bay-leaf, bitter and sweet almonds one ounce each, a little ratafia and orange-flower water; sweeten to your taste. The cream must be quite cold before the eggs are added. When mixed, it must just be made to boil, and then fill your cups.

_Custard._ No. 2.

Take one pint of cream, boil in it a few laurel-leaves, a stick of cinnamon, and the rind of a lemon; when nearly cold, add the yolks of seven eggs, well beaten, and six ounces of lump sugar; let it nearly boil; keep stirring it all the while, and till nearly cold, and add a little brandy.

_Custard._ No. 3.

A quart of cream, and the yolks of nine eggs, sugared to your taste; if eggs are scarce, take seven and three whites; it must not quite boil, or it will curdle; keep it stirred all the time over a slow fire. When it is nearly cold, add three table-spoonfuls of ratafia; stir till cold, otherwise it will turn. It is best without any white of eggs.

_Custard._ No. 4.