The Cook's Decameron Part 28

No. 219. Amaretti leggieri (Almond Cakes)

Ingredients: Almonds (sweet and bitter), eggs, castor sugar.

Blanch equal quant.i.ties of sweet and bitter almonds, and dry them a little in the oven, then pound them in a mortar, and add nearly double their quant.i.ty of castor sugar. Mix with the white of an egg well beaten up into a snow, and shape into little b.a.l.l.s about the size of a pigeon's egg. Put them on a piece of stout white paper, and bake them in a very slow oven. They should be very light and delicate in flavour.

No. 220. Cakes alla Livornese

Ingredients: Almonds, eggs, sugar, salt, potato flour, b.u.t.ter.

Pound two ounces of almonds, and mix them with the yolks of two eggs and a spoonful of castor sugar flavoured with orange juice. Then mix two ounces of sugar with an egg, and to this add the almonds, a pinch of salt, and gradually strew in one and a half ounces of potato flour. When it is all well mixed, add one ounce of melted b.u.t.ter, shape the cakes and bake them in a slow oven.

No. 221. Genoese Pastry

Ingredients: Eggs, sugar, b.u.t.ter, flour, almonds, orange or lemon, brandy.

Weigh four eggs, and take equal weights of castor sugar, b.u.t.ter, and flour. Pound three ounces of almonds, and mix them with an egg, melt the b.u.t.ter, and mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon in a pudding basin for ten minutes, then add a little sc.r.a.ped orange or lemon peel, and a dessert-spoonful of brandy. Spread out the paste in thin layers on a copper baking sheet, cover them with b.u.t.tered paper, and bake in a moderately hot oven.

These cakes must be cut into shapes when they are hot, as otherwise they will break.

No. 222. Zabajone

Ingredients: Eggs, sugar, Marsala, Maraschino or other light-coloured liqueur, sponge fingers.

Zabajone is a kind of syllabub. It is made with Marsala and Maraschino, or Marsala and yellow Chartreuse. Reckon the quant.i.ties as follows: for each person the yolks of three eggs, one teaspoonful of castor sugar to each egg, and a wine-gla.s.s of wine and liqueur mixed. Whip up the yolks of the eggs with the sugar, then gradually add the wine. Put this in a bain-marie, and stir until it has thickened to the consistency of a custard. Take care, however, that it does not boil. Serve hot in custard gla.s.ses, and hand sponge fingers with it.

No. 223. Iced Zabajone

Ingredients: Eggs, castor sugar, Marsala, cinnamon, lemon, stick vanilla, rum, Maraschino, b.u.t.ter, ice.

Mix the yolks of ten eggs, two dessert-spoonsful of castor sugar, and three wine-gla.s.ses of Marsala, add half a stick of vanilla, a small bit of whole cinnamon, and the peel of half a lemon cut into slices.

Whip this up lightly over a slow fire until it is nearly boiling and slightly frothy; then remove it, take out the cinnamon, vanilla, and lemon pool, and whip up the rest for a minute or two away from the fire.

Add a tablespoonful of Maraschino and one of rum, and, if you like, a small quant.i.ty of dissolved isingla.s.s. Stir up the whole, pour it into a silver souffle dish, and put it on ice. Serve with sponge cakes or iced wafers.

No. 224. Pan-forte di Siena (Sienese Hardbake)

Ingredients: Honey, almonds, filberts, candied lemon peel, pepper, cinnamon, chocolate, corn flour, large wafers.

Boil half a pound of honey in a copper vessel, and then add to it a few blanched almonds and filberts cut in halves or quarters and slightly browned, a little candied lemon peel, a dust of pepper and powdered cinnamon and a quarter pound of grated chocolate. Mix all well together, and gradually add a tablespoonful of corn flour end two of ground almonds to thicken it. Then take the vessel off the fire, spread the mixture on large wafers, and make each cake about an inch thick.

Garnish them on the top with almonds cut in half, and dust over a little powdered sugar and cinnamon, then put them in a very slow oven for an hour.

NEW CENTURY SAUCE * * The New Century Sauce may be bought at Messrs.

Lazenby's, Wigmore Street, W

No. 225. Fish Sauce

Add one dessert-spoonful of the sauce to a quarter pint of melted b.u.t.ter sauce.

No. 226. Sauce Piquante (for Meat, Fowl, Game, Rabbit, &c.)

One dessert-spoonful to a quarter pint of ordinary brown or white stock.

It may be thickened by a roux made by frying two ounces of b.u.t.ter with two ounces of flour.

No. 227. Sauce for Venison, Hare, &c.

Two dessert-spoonsful of New Century Sauce to half a pint of game gravy or sauce, and a small teaspoonful of red currant jelly.

No. 228. Tomato Sauce Piquante

Fry three medium-sized tomatoes in one and a half ounce of b.u.t.ter. Pa.s.s this through a sieve, then boil it up in a bain-marie till it thickens, and add one dessertspoonful of New Century Sauce.

No. 229. Sauce for Roast Pork, Ham, &c.

Add to any ordinary white or brown sauce one dessert-spoonful of New Century Sauce and two of port or Burgundy if the sauce is brown, two of Chablis if white.