Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume IV Part 12

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 5, Orange jelly in orange-skin basket.]

48. COFFEE JELLY.--If fruit juices are difficult to obtain, coffee jelly, which will be found to be very pleasing, may be used occasionally. However, it is necessary that whipped cream be served with coffee jelly in order to make it a really delightful dessert.

COFFEE JELLY (Sufficient to Serve Six)

2 c. clear, strong coffee 1/2 oz. or 2-1/4 Tb. unflavored gelatine 1/2 c. cold water 1 c. boiling water Three-quarters c. sugar

Prepare the coffee freshly and make it stronger than that which would ordinarily be used for the table. Be sure that it contains no grounds.

Soak the gelatine in the cold water, and dissolve in the boiling water.

Add the sugar and coffee. Pour into moistened molds and allow to cool.

Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

49. FRUIT GELATINE.--Almost any combination of fruit juices, as well as any single fruit juice, may be used with gelatine in the making of fruit gelatine. The accompanying recipe contains fruits that may be used, but other fruits than those given may perhaps be found to be even more agreeable.

FRUIT GELATINE (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1/44 oz. or 1-1/8 Tb. unflavored gelatine 1/4 c. cold water 1/2 c. boiling water 1/2 c. sugar 1/2 c. pineapple juice 1/4 c. orange juice 1/4 c. lemon juice 2 slices pineapple 2 oranges 1 banana 6 English walnuts

Moisten the gelatine in the cold water and dissolve in the boiling water. Add the sugar and the orange, pineapple, and lemon juice, and allow this to cool. Dice the pineapple. Prepare the oranges by peeling them, removing the pulp from the sections, and cutting it into small pieces. Slice or dice the banana and break each nut into six or eight pieces. Mix the fruits and nuts, place in a mold that has been moistened with cold water, and pour the cold jelly over them. Allow this to solidify, turn from the mold, and serve with whipped cream.

50. LEMON SNOW.--If a light, spongy dessert to serve with a heavy dinner is desired, lemon snow should be tried. It may be made with other sour-fruit juice and is particularly agreeable if the color of the fruit juice used is a pretty one. Fruit coloring may be used in the preparation of dishes of this sort if desired.

LEMON SNOW (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1/2 oz. or 2-1/4 Tb. unflavored gelatine 1/2 c. cold water 1-1/2 c. boiling water 1 c. sugar 1/2 c. lemon juice Whites of two eggs

Soak the gelatine in the cold water, dissolve it in the boiling water, and add the sugar. When cold, add the strained lemon juice. When the gelatine mixture is just beginning to solidify, add the egg whites, beating with a rotary beater until the mixture begins to hold its shape.

If desired, a fruit of some kind may be placed in a mold that has been moistened with cold water and the mixture poured over it, or the plain mixture may be poured into the mold without the fruit. Whipped cream or custard sauce improves this dessert to a large extent.

51. SPANISH CREAM.--A gelatine dish containing eggs is usually a delightful dessert, and Spanish cream is no exception to this rule. If it is properly made, a part of the mold will have the consistency of a custard, above this will be a layer of jelly, and on top will be a layer of fluffy material. This dessert is more attractive if a little pink coloring is used in its preparation.

SPANISH CREAM (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1 Tb. unflavored gelatine 1/4 c. cold water 1 pt. milk 2 eggs 1/4 c. sugar 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Soak the gelatine in the cold water. Heat the milk in a double boiler, add the gelatine, and cook until it is completely dissolved. Separate the eggs, beat the yolks, and to them add the sugar and salt. Stir into the mixture in the double boiler, and cook until the eggs have thickened. Remove from the fire, beat the egg whites until they are stiff, and fold them into the mixture. Add the vanilla. Pour into a mold that has been moistened with cold water, cool, and serve. If coloring is added, it may be put in upon removing the dessert from the stove.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 6, Strawberry cream fluff with ladyfingers.]

52. STRAWBERRY CREAM PUFF.--One of the most attractive desserts that can be made of gelatine is strawberry cream fluff. It is especially delicious in warm weather, but plenty of time must be allowed for it to solidify. Any desired way of serving it may be followed out, but a method that is always pleasing is ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 6. The gelatine mixture is piled into stemmed gla.s.ses and then surrounded by thin pieces of sponge cake or ladyfingers, as here shown. A few fresh strawberries or strawberries that have been canned in thick sirup make an attractive garnish. If a deeper shade of pink is desired than the strawberry juice gives, pink coloring may be added before the whipped cream is beaten into the gelatine.

STRAWBERRY CREAM FLUFF (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1 Tb. unflavored gelatine 1/4 c. cold water 1-1/2 c. strawberry juice Juice of one lemon 1/4 c. sugar 1-1/2 c. whipped cream

Soak the gelatine in the cold water. Heat the strawberry juice to the boiling point, and add it to the soaked gelatine. Add the lemon juice and sugar and place the gelatine where it will cool. When it has started to solidify, beat into it the whipped cream and continue beating until the mixture stands up well when dropped from a spoon. Place in a mold and cool. Serve in any desired way.

53. PINEAPPLE CREAM FLUFF.--If pineapple is preferred to strawberries, pineapple cream fluff may be made according to the accompanying directions. Canned pineapple may be utilized nicely in the preparation of this dessert. If it is in rings, it should be chopped into small pieces, but grated pineapple needs no further preparation. Fresh pineapple used for the purpose must be cooked before it can be used in this dessert.

PINEAPPLE CREAM FLUFF (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1 Tb. unflavored gelatine 1/4 c. cold water 1-1/2 c. pineapple juice 1/2 c. sugar 1-1/2 c. whipped cream 1 c. grated or chopped pineapple

Soak the gelatine in the cold water. Heat the pineapple juice to the boiling point and add it to the soaked gelatine. Add the sugar and set aside to cool. After the gelatine has started to solidify, beat the whipped cream and the grated pineapple into it. When solidified and ready to use, turn out on a plate and serve with whipped cream. If desired, the pineapple may be left out of the dessert and, instead, a spoonful placed on the top of each serving.

54. MARSHMALLOW WHIP.--Something rather unusual in the way of a gelatine dessert can be had by making marshmallow whip according to the accompanying recipe.

MARSHMALLOW WHIP (Sufficient to Serve Six)

1/2 oz. or 2-1/4 Tb. unflavored gelatine 1 pt. water 1 c. sugar 3 egg whites Pink coloring Strawberry flavoring 1/2 sq. chocolate Vanilla

Soak the gelatine in 1/2 cupful of water. Bring 1 cupful of water to the boiling point, dissolve the gelatine in it, and place in ice water to cool. Put the sugar to cook with 1/2 cupful of water, and cook until the sirup will spin a thread or until it will form a firm ball when tried in cold water. Beat the egg whites, pour the hot sirup gradually over them, and continue beating. Add the gelatine, which by this time should be commencing to solidify. Divide the mixture into three equal parts. To one add a little pink coloring and some strawberry flavoring and pour into a mold that has been wet with cold water. To one of the remaining parts, add the chocolate, which has been melted, mixed with a tablespoonful or two of sugar and 2 tablespoonfuls of water, and cooked to a smooth paste. Continue beating this until it is stiff, and then pour it in the mold on top of the strawberry flavored whip. To the remaining third, add the vanilla, beat until it is stiff, and pour on top of the chocolate whip. These colors may be arranged in any desirable way, others may be used, or the whip may be made up simply in one color or in two. After it has become set and hardened, turn from the mold, and serve, using whipped cream if desired.

FROZEN DESSERTS

PRINCIPLES OF FROZEN-DESSERT MAKING

55. NATURE OF FROZEN DESSERTS.--Frozen desserts were formerly confined almost entirely to warm weather, but they are now used during the entire year and served on almost any occasion. They are without doubt the daintiest dessert that can be served and are popular with almost every one. A very ordinary meal becomes much more attractive when a frozen dessert is served with it, and a dainty luncheon or an elaborate dinner seems incomplete without a dessert of this nature. In reality, it is quite impossible to serve, in either hot or cold weather, any dessert that is as pleasing as an ice or an ice cream of some kind.

56. In addition to being delicious and finding favor with most persons, frozen desserts occur in unlimited variety. They include ice creams of various kinds, frozen custards and punches, sherbets, ices, frappes, mousses, parfaits, and biscuits. Recipes for several varieties of each of these kinds are given in this Section, and it will therefore not be a difficult matter to select a frozen dessert that will be suitable for any meal in which it may be served. The preparation of frozen desserts, however, need not be confined to a certain limited number of recipes, as a recipe may be devised to suit almost any occasion or condition. For instance, if there are certain fruits or fruit juices in supply that should be used, an excellent way in which to utilize them is in a frozen dessert of some kind. After a little experience, the housewife will find that she can produce excellent results by merely combining the ingredients she has on hand or those corresponding with the meal in which the frozen dessert is to be served.

57. The food value of frozen desserts varies with the ingredients used in their preparation, it being extremely high in some and very low in others. Therefore, the particular one to select depends somewhat on the other dishes in the meal. On the whole, they contain very healthful ingredients, so that, if they are properly made, they may have a place in the diets of both children and grown ups, sick persons and well ones.

Whether or not certain individuals should eat frozen desserts is sometimes a troublesome question. There may be conditions under which desserts of this kind should not be included in the diet, but these need not give the housewife any particular concern.

58. Frozen desserts may be purchased ready made, but those made in the home cost less, are usually more delicious, and can be prepared in greater variety. As they are not difficult to make and are not necessarily an expensive dessert, the housewife should often include them in her meals. Therefore, an ice-cream freezer of a size that will accommodate the requirements of the members of the family is a good thing to add to the cookery equipment. Ices and ice creams can be made in a pail that has a cover and a bail, such as a lard pail, but this is not a very convenient equipment and does not produce such satisfactory results as those obtained with a good freezer. Some desserts of this kind may be frozen without the use of a freezer, but, as a rule, they contain materials that make them rather expensive.

59. THEORY OF FREEZING.--So that the best results may be secured in the making of frozen desserts, it is well that the theory of freezing be thoroughly understood. The two things necessary for the freezing of such desserts are ice and salt. When these are brought together and the ice melts, a salt solution is formed, since salt has a tendency to combine with moisture whenever they come in contact with each other. In order to obtain this result in the freezing of desserts, it is necessary, of course, that the ice be melted. The warmth required to make this melting possible comes from the contents of the can inside the ice-cream freezer. When this warmth is absorbed by the ice, the cold temperature released by the melting of the ice pa.s.ses into the ice-cream mixture.

The result is that the ice tends to become liquid and the contents of the can solid by the exchange of temperatures. To make the mixture of uniform consistency, it is usually agitated by means of a dasher during the freezing process. This incorporates air into the mixture and consequently makes it light and increases its volume.

60. PROPORTION OF ICE TO SALT.--The ingredients used in the mixture have much to do with the texture of the ice cream when it is frozen. For instance, a mixture that is thin and composed largely of water will not have so smooth a consistency when frozen as a heavier mixture in which cream or eggs or both are present and a smaller proportion of water is used. Another important factor in the texture of the finished product is the proportion of ice to salt, for this has much to do with the length of time required for freezing the mixture. The smaller the proportion of salt, the slower will be the freezing process, for the melting of the ice takes place more slowly; but the result of this slow freezing is a finer, smoother texture. Granular, coa.r.s.e-grained frozen desserts, such as some sherbets and frappes, are frozen with a large proportion of salt, which permits the freezing to take place more quickly.

61. On this rapidity in freezing also depends to a large extent the increase in quant.i.ty that takes place in the frozen mixture. Any one who has had experience in making ice cream knows that the can of the freezer cannot be filled before the freezing is begun or it will overflow during the freezing process. Even if it is only two-thirds or three-fourths full, it will be entirely full when the freezing is completed. This increase depends somewhat on the kind of mixture, as has been stated, as well as on the way in which the crank of the freezer is turned, but it is more largely determined by the proportion of ice and salt and consequently by the length of time required for the freezing. As can be readily understood, the more turning that is done, the greater will be the quant.i.ty of air incorporated into the mixture and naturally the more increase in volume.

62. TABLE SHOWING DETAILS OF FREEZING.--As an aid to the housewife in the making of frozen desserts, Table I is presented. In it are given the names of the various kinds of frozen desserts, together with the usual texture of each, the proportion of ice and salt required to freeze each, the way in which it freezes, and the increase in volume that can be expected in each. In trying out the recipes that follow, it will be well for the housewife to refer to this table for the particular dessert that she is making, for then she will be able to carry out the freezing more successfully and will understand what to expect in the finished product.

TABLE I

FROZEN DESSERTS

Proportion Manner Increase Kind of Dessert Texture of Ice and of in Volume Salt Freezing Per Cent

Philadelphia ice cream Fine 3 to 1 Slow 25 to 40 Custard ice cream Fine 3 to 1 Slow 25 to 40 Frozen custard Fine 3 to 1 Slow 25 to 40 Sherbet Slightly granular 2 to 1 Rapid 20 to 30 Ice Slightly granular 2 to 1 Rapid 20 to 30 Frappe Granular 1 to 1 Very rapid 10 to 20 Frozen punch Granular 1 to 1 Very rapid 10 to 20 Mousse Fine 2 to 1 Very slow None Parfait Fine 2 to 1 Very slow None Biscuit Fine 2 to 1 Very slow None