MISCELLANEOUS SWEETS

Under this head I intend to give a few sweets that seem to me unusually good, although they may not always be novel, except in manner of serving. A compote of fruit has nothing new about it, yet by the way in which it is served it may simply be "stewed fruit," or it may be a dish fit to find a place even in choice cookery.

In making compotes great care must be taken to preserve the shape and color of the fruits. In order to do this they must be quickly peeled and dipped into strong lemon juice and water, and dropped into syrup in which also a little lemon juice has been squeezed. Pass the blade of the knife over its own marks to obliterate the appearance of peeling. Peaches and apricots may be boiled up without peeling, and (unless they are allowed to get too soft) the skins will be removed easily. It will be observed that hard fruits such as apples are simmered in thin syrup to get tender, while rich soft fruits are dropped into syrup boiled to candy height.

_Apple Compote_ No. 1.--Cut up and boil half a dozen apples in a pint of water. When they are quite soft strain the juice from them without squeezing; put to it half a pound of granulated sugar and the zest of a lemon (the zest is the peel so thin that the knife blade can be seen, through it while paring), together with the juice. Let this syrup boil for a minute; skim it. Then pare half a dozen fine cooking apples; core them; let them boil gently in the syrup until quite tender, but not in danger of breaking. Take them up on a perforated skimmer. When cold, put the apples into a compote dish. Boil the juice to a jelly; pour part of it over the apples; dip a plate in cold water, drain it, and then pour out the rest of the jelly into it: it should only cover it about the thickness of thick paper. When stiff, warm the under-side of the plate _very slightly_, pass a broad thin knife under, and lay the sheet of jelly over the apples in the compote dish.

_Apple Compote_ No. 2.--Prepare the apples as in last recipe, but before the last sheet of jelly is laid over them ornament with rings and leaves of angelica, and any red jelly or preserve cut in thin slices and stamped out with tiny tin cutters in leaves, stars, or fancy shapes (stiff red currant jelly of red quince may be used); decorate thus each apple; then lay the thin sheet of apple jelly over all.

_Compote of Stuffed Apples._--Prepare the apples as in the foregoing recipes, taking care to core them all through without splitting the apple. When the apples are done, fill the centre with orange marmalade or apricot preserve. Boil the syrup down till it will glaze; pour it over the apples when they are ice-cold, the syrup also only warm enough to remain liquid. By this means the rich coating will remain over the apples, while if both were warm it would run off.

_Compote of Apples or Pears Grille._--If you have any apples or pears left from a compote (or you may, of course, prepare them especially), put them into a frying or saute pan over a brisk fire; put with them any syrup there may be and a cup of sugar just dissolved in water; boil rapidly down to a pale caramel, rolling the apples with a fork so that they become covered with the caramel. Take great care that the syrup does not burn; remove it from the fire the moment it begins to change color. The apples should now have an even glossy surface; as each is finished put it at once into the compotier. Pour a little curacoa syrup round just before sending to table.

_Compote of Apple Marmalade._--This is not so troublesome to make as it sounds, especially to any one who has made glace nuts--a very general accomplishment nowadays. Reduce some apple marmalade by leaving it for an hour or two in a double boiler; the water boiling round it will evaporate moisture without danger of burning. Stir occasionally, and when the marmalade is so reduced that it will make a firm paste when cold (try a little in a saucer on ice), color one half pink with cochineal. Spread half an inch thick on plates slightly oiled; when stiff and cold, cut out the marmalade into squares, ovals, diamonds, leaves, etc., with tin cutters. Boil a pound of sugar with a gill of water to the crack--that is, until a teaspoonful dropped in ice-water will crack between the teeth. Oil a fork and a large dish, and use the fork to drop the pieces of marmalade into the candy; lift them out quickly, and lay them on the dish, which will be better if it is set on ice. When they are cold, dish them in a pyramid, the pink to contrast with the white effectively. Pour a little liqueur-flavored syrup round the base of the fruit.

_Compote of Pears (white)._--Use any fine-flavored dessert pears. Cut them in halves, core, pare, and trim neatly, and simmer them in syrup (a pound of sugar and juice of half a lemon to a pint of water) till they are tender, yet firm to the touch. Dish the pieces, keeping them close to each other. Lay a thin sheet of apple jelly over them, and the syrup, boiled down till rich and thick, round them.

_A Pink Compote_ is prepared in the same way, the only difference being that a very few drops of cochineal are added to the syrup before the pears go in. Decorate with angelica.

_Pears a la Princesse._ Select seven pears of the best quality, without blemish, and of equal size; pare them with great care; stand them close together in a saucepan, with weak acidulated syrup to cover them; simmer slowly till quite tender, but yet firm to the touch; take them up, leaving the syrup to boil down. When cold, cut the stalk end off each pear about an inch deep, or so as to leave about an inch of surface, on which place a ring of angelica (simply cut angelica crosswise and it forms rings, being tubular); if the rings are flattened, lay them in syrup; when softened bend them round and lay one on each pear; then, if in season, dip a fine strawberry or stoned red cherry in the hot syrup and lay it on the ring of angelica. Cut strips of angelica and run them through the strawberry down to the pear, both to hold the decoration in place and to represent the stalk; dish them standing; when dished up, pour some syrup, boiled till thick and rich, over the seven pears. When fresh fruit is not in season for decoration, use candied cherries.

_Variegated Compote of Pears._--This is a pretty dish. Prepare some pears as in the last recipe, except that the tops are not to be cut off; color half the number a pale pink by adding a few drops of cochineal to the syrup in which they are simmered; dress them alternately, a pink pear and a white one, in the compotier; pour over each the pink and white syrup in which they were cooked, and pour syrup flavored with vanilla round them.

_Compote of Oranges._--Divide six oranges in halves; first cut out the centre string of pith, pick all pips out carefully, and with a very sharp knife pare off the peel of the orange down to the naked transparent pulp; in this way you get rid of the whole of the white outside skin. Place the halves as you do them in a bowl; pour over them some hot syrup boiled _a lisse_, flavored with orange peel, rubbed with lump sugar, and previously dissolved in the syrup; a very little lemon juice should be added if the oranges are very sweet. Let them steep a few minutes; then remove them; then build the oranges into a pyramid on the compotier, and the last thing before going to table pour the syrup, well boiled and cold, over them.

_Chestnut Compote._--Take the largest French or Spanish chestnuts, make slits in the peel, and boil till tender; take off the shell, and press them flat without breaking; lay them in a saucepan; pour over them thick syrup; put them in the oven, but do not let them boil; when they look quite clear take them up, put them into the compotier, boil the syrup to candy height, squeeze into the compotier the juice of an orange, and pour the candy over the chestnuts.

_Chestnut Compote_ No. 2.--Prepare the nuts as in last recipe; put the yolks of three eggs in a saucepan; stir gradually to them a pint of cream; cook a quarter of a pound of sugar to the crack, with a few dried orange flowers; the minute the candy begins to get yellowish pour it into the cream, stirring constantly, and let it come to boiling-point; then strain the cream over the chestnuts.

MISCELLANEOUS SWEETS.--_Continued._

Strawberries, raspberries, currants, etc., need very little cooking, and that little in high candy. If it is understood that strong syrup tends to make fruit firm, and weak syrup to make it tender, it will be seen why all soft fruit, in order to keep its shape, should be dropped into candy boiled till brittle, and why apples and other hard fruits should be first stewed in weak syrup until soft; yet there are degrees; for instance, hard peaches require thin syrup, and very luscious ones must be put into syrup that is very near candy. This is also the case with pears. Be guided as to the strength of the syrup by the kind of fruit. Avoid fruit that is very ripe, because the syrup from it will not jelly readily.

_Compote of Strawberries._--Select a quart of fine large berries, rather under than over ripe; boil three quarters of a pound of sugar to the crack; drop the strawberries into the syrup after it is removed from the fire; return them to the range; let them boil gently once; take out the berries most carefully with the skimmer; lay them on the compotier; boil the syrup fast, skimming it carefully then pour it over the fruit.

_Compote of Cherries_ is made in the same way, with the finest red cherries, only they require to boil up several times. When clear, drain them with the skimmer; lay them in the compote dishes; add a gill of red currant juice to the syrup; boil it till it is a weak jelly; then throw it over the cherries when nearly cold.

_Orange Baskets Filled with Fruits._--Select seven oranges, not too large, but all the same size. With a very sharp knife pare the fruit as thin as possible--so thin that it still remains yellow, and only the shining outer surface is removed (in fact, it may be lightly grated off, but that is more trouble), to render them transparent; cut two quarters out of the upper part of the orange, so as to leave a narrow band half an inch wide, which will form the handle; pass the knife carefully round inside the band, so as to remove the strip of pulp. With the bowl of a teaspoon detach the remaining pulp from the inside without in any way damaging the shape of the basket. As you prepare them, drop them in a saucepan of cold water, and then put them into boiling water, and simmer three minutes gently. This is only to soften the peel and enable you to stamp out the edges with a perforating cutter, if you have one, which will give them an openwork effect; if not, just scallop them with scissors, and snip out a sort of trellis-work to increase the basket effect. Put them into a preserving-kettle with weak syrup _a lisse_, boil them gently till they look clear, then put them aside in the syrup till next day; boil the syrup twice alone at intervals of several hours, and throw it over the baskets. These baskets may be kept ready prepared for months by putting them in wide jars and covering them with syrup. When required for use, they must be taken out, drained thoroughly, and then filled with a variety of small fruits, such as cherries, strawberries, currants, etc., which have been mixed with a little apple or orange jelly. In winter, ambrosia--a mixture of cut-up banana, grated cocoa-nut, orange quarters, etc.--may be served in them, or a mixture of preserved fruits that are firm, such as Chinese oranges, limes, ginger, etc. In all cases serve them on a compote dish, and throw over them syrup flavored with maraschino.

_Lemon Baskets_ are prepared precisely as the orange baskets, but they require longer boiling, and the syrup they are served with should be flavored with citronelle or the rasped peel of green limes.

_Orange Baskets Glace._--These are not much more trouble than the baskets simply preserved, but if successfully done they can be very effectively filled with candies or ice-cream. Prepare the baskets as in last recipe, drain them on a napkin, very carefully remove all moisture from the inside, and set them over a register, or in an oven with the door open, to dry. Boil two pounds of sugar with a pint of water and two tablespoonfuls of vinegar till it begins to change color (this is some little time after the brittle stage is reached, and is called caramel); lightly oil the skimmer, and drop a basket in the candy; remove as quickly as possible, but see that the whole is well coated, yet has as little superfluous candy as possible, for which reason the baskets must be warm when they are dipped, also the skimmer. You must not leave the candy on the fire after it _begins_ to change color, but the work of coating the baskets had better be done quite near the fire, with the pot containing the candy on some part of it where it will be kept hot, but not cook. They must be slipped on to an oiled dish, and, needless to say, most carefully handled.

Other baskets are made with nougat, others with pastry, and the Swiss make what they call _Vacherin_ with almond paste, and serve whipped cream in them; but the idea may be extended and improved upon by serving dried fruits or candies, or ice-cream in them, and they are a decided improvement on the paper baskets so often used for the last purpose, being eatable.

_Swiss Vacherin._--Take half a pound of almond paste, three quarters of a pound of confectioners' sugar, and the white of one egg. Shave the almond paste, stir the egg and sugar together, and flavor with a little orange-flower water or wine; work all together with the hand into a smooth, stiff paste that will roll out; if there is a disposition to crack or crumble, use more white of egg and almond paste. Roll it just as you would pie crust on the pastry board, using confectioners' sugar in place of flour. Line small cups or tartlet moulds, or anything that will make a good form for baskets, which have been very slightly oiled. Put them aside to harden and dry. Chop a tablespoonful of blanched pistachio-nuts till they are as fine as corn-meal, mix with an equal quantity of granulated sugar. Trim the edges of the cups or baskets with scissors, turn them out of the moulds, very carefully dip the edges in a saucer containing white of egg beaten to liquid--the edges only need to be just wet. Have the chopped pistachio-nuts and sugar also in a saucer, dip the wet edge of the cup lightly into it, and shake gently. If properly done, the cups will now have a pretty green border. When these are filled with whipped cream, sweetened, flavored, and colored, they are called _Swiss Vacherin_. Filled with plain whipped cream, and the top covered with strawberries, they are called "Chantilly cups," but they may be used in many decorative ways, to hold preserves or candied fruits, etc., etc.

_Little China Dishes._--This quaint recipe is from the immortal Mrs. Glasse, and on trial was found so unique and agreeable a variety to our modern fancies that with some little changes to suit our present ideas I give the last-century dainty. If you have any pretty-shaped little tin dishes, without fluting, to mould and bake them in, they are very little trouble to make. Take the yolks of two eggs, two small tablespoonfuls of sherry, and one of rose-water, beat together only enough to mix, then use as much fine flour as will make a firm paste that can be rolled out exceedingly thin. Cover some nicely shaped little tins slightly buttered, press to the form, be careful the paste fits without creases, and bake in a cool oven. When the paste is crisp, with very little change of color, they are done. Do not touch them till they are cold, as they may be brittle. Stir the white of an egg with a tablespoonful of rose-water and confectioners' sugar enough to make a smooth icing; squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, and when the little dishes are cold, ice the under side only just thick enough to mask the pastry; when they are dry and hard, turn them over and ice the inside; do this with great smoothness, to look as much like porcelain as possible. If you choose, when the icing is quite hard, you can wet the edge of the dishes with white of egg and dip them in chopped pistachio-nuts and sugar, like the Chantilly baskets, or in nonpareils (the smallest size). They may be used to serve anything sweet, from jelly to candies.

_Almond Trifles._--With the almond paste used for Chantilly cups many trifles may be made with very little trouble; for instance, mix a tablespoonful of flour with the paste; roll it out; cut into circles; pinch up two sides; place a little handle over the centre, and in each open end, which must be bent slightly upward, place a candied cherry. Or cut a number of thin strips of paste, stick them together in the middle with white of egg, pass a strip of almond paste round so that the strips look like fagots of sticks, let them just color in the oven, sift sugar over them, and put them away. The paste may be rolled as thick as a pipe-stem and tied in knots, the surface just moistened, and sugar sifted over them; these also must only just take color in the oven. These are only suggestions for using up the trimmings from the cups.

MISCELLANEOUS SWEETS.--_Continued._

_Raspberry Charlotte Russe._--The simplest and quite the most effective way of making charlottes of any kind is the following: Take a strip of light cartridge or drawing paper from two to three inches wide, measure it round a mould the size you wish the charlotte to be, and cut it an inch larger; piece the two ends together, lapping an inch. Lay this paper circle on an ornamental dish (the one you wish to use), split lady-fingers, and stand them around it inside like a picket-fence, only as close together as they will go, inserting a pin from the outside through the paper and each cake as you do it. When you have lined the paper completely you will have a close frame of lady-fingers held in place by pins. Whip a pint of _perfectly sweet_ cream that is at least twenty-four hours old and has been thoroughly chilled on ice. Sweeten the cream with two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, and flavor it with a tablespoonful of raspberry _juice_ (not syrup) mixed with a tablespoonful of powdered sugar; sometimes the raspberry juice will color the cream a beautiful faint pink, which cannot be improved upon, but if it is not bright enough in tint stir in one or two drops of cochineal. If the weather is warm stand the vessel containing the cream in ice; then beat without stopping to skim the froth as it rises. In about ten to fifteen minutes the cream ought to be perfectly solid if all the conditions were observed, and the beating carried on in a cool, airy room. If, however, the cream is not solid enough to keep shape, set it on ice for an hour and beat again. Fill the centre of the frame of lady-fingers, piling it high; decorate either with chopped pistachio-nuts lightly sprinkled, or with rings of angelica. The raspberry _juice_ used for flavoring is to be obtained at first-class druggists', where the best quality of soda-water is sold. It is unsweetened, and although I have kept it two or three months in cool weather, it often will not keep many weeks; it is therefore better

_Charlotte Russe with Gelatine._--Prepare a frame as in last recipe, also beat a pint of cream sweetened and flavored with wine or to taste; melt in a pint of milk half an ounce of gelatine. The French gelatine is very pure, easy to melt, and no more expensive than any other good kind, and for delicate uses preferable to them. Make the gelatine and milk into a custard with two eggs, sweeten with two tablespoonfuls of sugar, flavor to taste, and put to get cold, stirring it once in a while; when it begins to thicken round the sides of the vessel beat with the egg-beater till foamy. You have now a vessel of whipped custard and one of whipped cream, both cold; now mix the cream into the custard, a little at a time, giving the spoon a light upward movement; _do not stir it_; that deadens the cream; your object is to keep it light; when all is mixed, fill the frame of cake with the spongy mixture; decorate it either with drops and pipings of the mixture applied to the smooth surface, or with candied fruits cut into forms or various colored jellies.

Of course a charlotte russe can be varied in many ways. It may be filled with the custard made with chocolate, and so be brown charlotte, or the filling may have apricot or currant jelly whipped into it with the gelatine; this is an admirable change.

_Almond Turban._--Make half a pound of fine puff-paste, give it nine turns, roll it the last time to the thickness of a dollar; have ready half a pound of almonds, blanched and chopped; put them in a bowl with half a pound of powdered sugar and the whites of two eggs, adding a very little more if the icing is too stiff to spread; spread the almond icing on the pastry as thick as a twenty-five-cent piece; with a sharp knife cut the pastry into strips two and a half inches long and one in breadth; bake these in a moderate oven a very pale brown; make a circle on a dish of some _firm_ marmalade or jam; when the almond cakes are cold, dress them in a crown on the jam, which serves to keep them in place; fill the centre of the turban with vanilla ice-cream or simple whipped cream.

_Fine Small Cakes for Dessert._--It may not be worth the while of a busy housekeeper within reach of a first-class confectioner's to make these, because, although when of fine quality they are always expensive, yet they are also tedious to make. Many, however, live in country towns, where there is no possibility of obtaining anything better than the sandy products of the country bakery.

A few really fine cakes can be made at a time, and kept in an air-tight box, with layers of paper between, for some time. In speaking, however, of the tediousness I would not discourage the reader, for there are few more tedious things in cooking than the rolling out, making, and baking of thin cookies or ginger-snaps, and the result attained so inadequate.

_Rout Biscuits._--Boil a pound of sugar in half a pint of milk; grate into it the rind of a lemon when cold; rub half a pound of butter into a pound and a half of flour and a pound of almond paste grated fine; put as much carbonate of soda as would lie on a silver dime into the milk, and mix with the flour and almond paste; beat two eggs, and make the whole into a firm, smooth paste; print this paste with very small butter moulds if you have them, making little cakes just like the tiny pats of butter one gets at city restaurants. Bake on a well-buttered pan in a quick oven a very pale yellow.

_Macaroons._--These must be exempted from the charge of being tedious, they are so easily and quickly made. One pound of almond paste grated, one pound and a half of sugar, and the whites of seven eggs. Some confectioners use a teaspoonful of flour, with the idea that the macaroons are not so apt to fall. I recommend a trial of both methods; they will both be good. Stir the sugar and the beaten white of eggs together just enough to mix, then by degrees add the grated paste, mashing with the back of a fork till it forms a perfectly smooth paste. Oil several sheets of paper cut to the size of your baking-pans. Dripping-pans may be used if you have no regular baking-sheets. Lay a sheet of paper at the bottom of the pan. Put half a teaspoonful of the macaroon paste on a scrap of buttered paper in the oven. If it spreads too much it requires a very little more sugar; if it does not spread at all, or so little as to leave the surface rough, it is too stiff, and requires perhaps _half_ the white of an egg, or the finger dipped in water and laid on each macaroon after they are on the paper is often sufficient--a little practice is all that is necessary. Lay the paste in half-teaspoonfuls on the oiled or greased paper. If the trial one indicated that they were slightly too stiff, lay a wet finger on each, sift powdered sugar over, and then put a pinch of chopped and blanched almonds in the centre with just enough pressure to keep them in place. As the macaroon spreads in the oven the almonds scatter themselves.

Macaroons should be baked _about_ twenty minutes in a moderate oven. They must be taken out while they are a very pale brown, but they must also be quite "set," or they will fall. If the oven is too quick they will brown too soon; in that case leave the oven door open, taking care that no cold draught can blow on the macaroons. You can tell if they have browned too quickly by the cracks in them being still white and sticky. When done both the cracks and surface should be the same pale color. The macaroons must be left five minutes in the pan after leaving the oven without being touched. At the end of that time they may be gently taken off the pans _on the papers_, from which they must not be detached until they are quite cold. Should they stick to the paper, moisten the back of it.

_Fine Ginger Dessert Cakes._--Rub half a pound of fresh butter into three quarters of a pound of flour; beat three eggs with three quarters of a pound of powdered sugar and half a glass of rosewater, the grated peel of a lemon, and a teaspoonful of the best powdered ginger--use the ginger carefully, trying a level spoonful first. Then mix all into a paste. If the flavor of ginger is not strong enough, add more; they should taste well of it, without being hot in the mouth. Roll the paste a quarter of an inch thick, and cut into small oval or round cakes, sift powdered sugar over them, and bake rather slowly a very pale brown.