Pine Cones
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cones
With a biscuit-cutter, cut slices of stale cake or bread into circles.
Moisten them with sherry, maraschino, or merely with a little hot water.
Chop some fresh or canned pineapple into small pieces, and pile it on the cakes.
With a knife press each one into the form of a cone or small pyramid.
Place them in a shallow tin close together, but not touching.
Make the liquor sauce and finish
Put the pineapple liquor into a saucepan, and thicken it with arrowroot (which has first been wet with water), using a teaspoonful to a cupful of liquor.
Cook until the arrowroot becomes clear and begins to stiffen; then pour it slowly over the cones.
When cold, trim them carefully so the base of each one will be round, and lift them carefully from the tin.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Stale cake or bread (in the method)
- Forms the firm base of each cone and soaks up the moisture.
- Arrowroot (in the method)
- Thickens the pineapple liquor into a clear, stiff glaze for the cones.
- Pineapple liquor
- Supplies the fruit flavour and moisture that soak into the cakes.
- Pineapple (in the method)
- Adds fruit flavour and a juicy texture to each cone.
The step that matters
Thickening the liquor with arrowroot. Arrowroot must be fully wetted first and cooked only until it turns clear and starts to stiffen. Undercooked starch stays cloudy and runny, while overcooking breaks it down and thins the glaze.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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