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The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) written by Mrs. F.L. Gillette

M >> Mrs. F.L. Gillette >> The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887)





BERRY TARTS.

Line small pie-tins with pie crust and bake. Just before ready to use
fill the tarts with strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, or
whatever berries are in season. Sprinkle over each tart a little
sugar; after adding berries add also to each tart a tablespoonful of
sweet cream. They form a delicious addition to the breakfast table.


CREAM STRAWBERRY TARTS.

After picking over the berries carefully, arrange them in layers in a
deep pie-tin lined with puff paste, sprinkling sugar thickly between
each layer: fill the pie-tin pretty full, pouring in a quantity of the
juice: cover with a thick crust, with a slit in the top and bake. When
the pie is baked, pour into the slit in the top of the pie the
following cream mixture: Take a small cupful of the cream from the top
of the morning's milk, heat it until it comes to a boil, then stir
into it the whites of two eggs beaten light, also a tablespoonful of
white sugar and a teaspoonful of cornstarch wet in cold milk. Boil all
together a few moments until quite smooth; set it aside and when cool
pour it into the pie through the slit in the crust. Serve it cold with
powdered sugar sifted over it.

Raspberry, blackberry and whortleberry may be made the same.


GREEN GOOSEBERRY TART.

Top and tail the gooseberries. Put into a porcelain kettle with enough
water to prevent burning and stew slowly until they break. Take them
off, sweeten _well_ and set aside to cool. When cold pour into pastry
shells and bake with a top crust of puff paste. Brush all over with
beaten egg while hot, set back in the oven to glaze for three minutes.
Eat cold.

_Common Sense in the Household._



COCOANUT TARTS.

Take three cocoanuts, the meats grated, the yolks of five eggs, half a
cupful of white sugar, season, a wine-glass of milk; put the butter in
cold and bake in a nice puff paste.


CHOCOLATE TARTS.

Four eggs, whites and yolks, one-half cake of Baker's chocolate,
grated, one tablespoonful of cornstarch, dissolved in water, three
tablespoonfuls of milk, four of white sugar, two teaspoonfuls of
vanilla, one saltspoonful of salt, one-half teaspoonful of cinnamon,
one teaspoonful of butter, melted; rub the chocolate smooth in the
milk and heat to boiling over the fire, then stir in the cornstarch.
Stir five minutes until well thickened, remove from the fire and pour
into a bowl. Beat all the yolks and the whites of two eggs well with
the sugar, and when the chocolate mixture is almost cold, put all
together with the flavoring and stir until light. Bake in open shells
of pastry. When done, cover with a meringue made of the whites of two
eggs and two tablespoonfuls of sugar flavored with a teaspoonful of
lemon juice. Eat cold.

These are nice for tea, baked in patty-pans.

_Common Sense in the Household._


MAIDS OF HONOR.

Take one cupful of sour milk, one of sweet milk, a tablespoonful of
melted butter, the yolks of four eggs, juice and rind of one lemon and
a small cupful of white pounded sugar. Put both kinds of milk together
in a vessel, which is set in another and let it become sufficiently
heated to set the curd, then strain off the milk, rub the curd through
a strainer, add butter to the curd, the sugar, well-beaten eggs and
lemon. Line the little pans with the richest of puff paste and fill
with the mixture; bake until firm in the centre, from ten to fifteen
minutes.


GERMAN FRUIT PIE.

Sift together a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder and a pint of
flour; add a piece of butter as large as a walnut, a pinch of salt,
one beaten egg and sweet milk enough to make a soft dough. Roll it out
half an inch thick; butter a square biscuit tin and cover the bottom
and sides with the dough; fill the pan with quartered juicy apples,
sprinkle with a little cinnamon and molasses. Bake in rather quick
oven until the crust and apples are cooked a light brown. Sprinkle a
little sugar over the top five minutes before removing from the oven.

Ripe peaches are fine used in the same manner.


APPLE TARTS.

Pare, quarter, core and boil in half a cupful of water, until quite
soft, ten large, tart apples; beat until very smooth and add the yolks
of six eggs, or three whole ones, the juice and grated outside rind of
two lemons, half a cap of butter; one and a half of sugar (or more,
if not sufficiently sweet); beat all thoroughly, line patty-pans with
a puff paste and fill; bake five minutes in a hot oven.

_Meringue._--If desired very nice, cover them when removed from the
oven with the meringue made of the whites of three eggs remaining,
mixed with three tablespoonfuls of sugar; return to the oven and
delicately brown.


CREAM TARTS.

Make a rich, brittle crust, with which cover your patty-pans,
smoothing off the edges nicely and bake well. While these "shells" are
cooling, take one teacupful (more or less according to the number of
tarts you want) of perfectly sweet and fresh cream, skimmed free of
milk; put this into a large bowl or other deep dish, and with your
egg-beater whip it to a thick, stiff froth; add a heaping
tablespoonful of fine white sugar, with a teaspoonful (a small one) of
lemon or vanilla. Fill the cold shells with this and set in a cool
place till tea is ready.


OPEN JAM TARTS.

Time to bake until paste loosens from the dish. Line shallow tin dish
with puff paste, put in the jam, roll out some of the paste, wet it
lightly with the yolk of an egg beaten with a little milk, and a
tablespoonful of powdered sugar. Cut it in narrow strips, then lay
them across the tart, lay another strip around the edge, trim off
outside, and bake in a quick oven.


CHESS CAKES.

Peel and grate one cocoanut; boil one pound of sugar fifteen minutes
in two-thirds of a pint of water; stir in the grated cocoanut and boil
fifteen minutes longer. While warm, stir in a quarter of a pound of
butter; add the yolks of seven eggs well beaten. Bake in patty-pans
with rich paste. If prepared cocoanut is used, take one and a half
coffeecupfuls. Fine.




CUSTARDS, CREAMS AND DESSERTS.


The usual rule for custards is, eight eggs to a quart of milk; but a
very good custard can be made of six, or even less, especially with
the addition of a level tablespoonful of sifted flour, thoroughly
blended in the sugar first, before adding the other ingredients. They
may be baked, boiled or steamed, either in cups or one large dish. It
improves custard to first boil the milk and then cool it before being
used; also a little salt adds to the flavor. A very small lump of
butter may also be added, if one wants something especially rich.

To make custards look and taste better, duck's eggs should be used
when obtainable; they add very much to the flavor and richness, and so
many are not required as of ordinary eggs, four duck's eggs to the
pint of milk making a delicious custard. When desired extremely rich
and good, cream should be substituted for the milk, and double the
quantity of eggs used to those mentioned, omitting the whites.

When making boiled custard, set the dish containing the custard into
another and larger dish, partly filled with boiling water, placed over
the fire. Let the cream or milk come almost to a boil before adding
the eggs or thickening, then stir it briskly one way every moment
until smooth and well cooked; it must _not_ boil or it will curdle.

To bake a custard, the fire should be moderate and the dish well
buttered.

Everything in baked custard depends upon the _regularly heated slow_
oven. If made with nicety it is the most delicate of all sweets; if
cooked till it wheys it is hardly eatable.

Frozen eggs can be made quite as good as fresh ones if used as soon as
thawed soft. Drop them into boiling water, letting them remain until
the water is cold. They will be soft all through and beat up equal to
those that have not been touched with the frost.

Eggs should always be thoroughly well beaten separately, the yolks
first, then the sugar added, beat again, then add the beaten whites
with the flavoring, then the cooled scalded milk. The lighter the eggs
are beaten, the thicker and richer the custard.

Eggs should always be broken into a cup, the whites and yolks
separated, and they should always be strained. Breaking the eggs thus,
the bad ones may be easily rejected without spoiling the others and so
cause no waste.

A meringue, or frosting for the top, requires about a tablespoonful of
fine sugar to the beaten white of one egg; to be placed on the top
after the custard or pudding is baked, smoothed over with a
broad-bladed knife dipped in cold water, and replaced in the oven to
brown slightly.


SOFT CARAMEL CUSTARD.

One quart of milk, half a cupful of sugar, six eggs, half a
teaspoonful of salt. Put the milk on to boil, reserving a cupful. Beat
the eggs and add the cold milk to them. Stir the sugar in a small
frying pan until it becomes liquid and just begins to smoke. Stir it
into the boiling milk; then add the beaten eggs and cold milk and stir
constantly until the mixture begins to thicken. Set away to cool.
Serve in glasses.


BAKED CUSTARD.

Beat five fresh eggs, the whites and yolks separately, the yolks with
half a cup of sugar, the whites to a stiff froth; then stir them
gradually into a quart of sweet rich milk previously boiled and
cooled; flavor with extract of lemon or vanilla and half a teaspoonful
of salt. Rub butter over the bottom and sides of a baking-dish or tin
basin; pour in the custard, grate a little nutmeg over and bake in a
quick oven. It is better to set the dish in a shallow pan of hot water
reaching nearly to the top, the water to be kept boiling until the
custard is baked; three-quarters of an hour is generally enough. Run a
teaspoon handle into the middle of it; if it comes out clean it is
baked sufficiently.


CUP CUSTARD.

Six eggs half a cupful of sugar, one quart of new milk. Beat the eggs
and the sugar and milk, and any extract or flavoring you like. Fill
your custard cups, sift a little nutmeg or cinnamon over the tops, set
them in a moderate oven in a shallow pan half filled with hot water.
In about twenty minutes try them with the handle of a teaspoon to see
if they are firm. Judgment and great care are needed to attain skill
in baking custard, for if left in the oven a minute too long, or if
the fire is too hot, the milk will certainly whey.

Serve cold with fresh fruit sugared and placed on top of each.
Strawberries, peaches or raspberries, as preferred.


BOILED CUSTARD.

Beat seven eggs very light, omitting the whites of two; mix them
gradually with a quart of milk and half a cupful of sugar; boil in a
dish set in another of boiling water; add flavoring. As soon as it
comes to the boiling point remove it, or it will be liable to curdle
and become lumpy. Whip the whites of the two eggs that remain, adding
two heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar. When the custard is cold heap
this on top; if in cups, put on a strawberry or a bit of red jelly on
each. Set in a cold place till wanted.

_Common Sense in the Household._


BOILED CUSTARD, OR MOCK CREAM.

Take two even tablespoonfuls of cornstarch, one quart of milk, three
eggs, half a teaspoonful of salt and a small piece of butter; heat the
milk to nearly boiling and add the starch, previously dissolved in a
little cold milk; then add the eggs well beaten with four
tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar; let it boil up once or twice,
stirring it briskly, and it is done. Flavor with lemon, or vanilla, or
raspberry, or to suit your taste.

A good substitute for ice cream, served _very_ cold.


FRENCH CUSTARD.

One quart of milk, eight eggs, sugar and cinnamon to taste; separate
the eggs, beat the yolks until thick, to which add the milk, a little
vanilla, and sweeten to taste; put it into a pan or farina kettle,
place it over a slow fire and stir it all the time until it becomes
custard; then pour it into a pudding-dish to get cold; whisk the
whites until stiff and dry; have ready a pan of boiling water on the
top of which place the whites; cover and place them where the water
will keep sufficiently hot to cause a steam to pass through and cook
them; place in a dish (suitable for the table) a layer of custard and
white alternately; on each layer of custard grate a little nutmeg
with a teaspoonful of wine; reserve a layer of white for the cover,
over which grate nutmeg; then send to table and eat cold.


GERMAN CUSTARD.

Add to a pint of good, rich, boiled custard an ounce of sweet almonds,
blanched, roasted and pounded to a paste, and half an ounce of
pine-nuts or peanuts, blanched, roasted and pounded; also a small
quantity of candied citron cut into the thinnest possible slips; cook
the custard as usual and set it on the ice for some hours before
using.


APPLE CUSTARD.

Pare, core and quarter a dozen large juicy pippins. Stew among them
the yellow peel of a large lemon grated very fine, and stew them till
tender in a very small portion of water. When done, mash them smooth
with the back of a spoon (you must have a pint and a half of the
stewed apple); mix a half cupful of sugar with them and set them away
till cold. Beat six eggs very light and stir them gradually into a
quart of rich milk alternately with the stewed apple. Put the mixture
into cups, or into a deep dish and bake it about twenty minutes. Send
it to table cold, with nutmeg grated over the top.


ALMOND CUSTARD. No. 1.

Scald and blanch half a pound of shelled sweet almonds and three
ounces of bitter almonds, throwing them, as you do them, into a large
bowl of cold water. Then pound them one at a time into a paste, adding
a few drops of wine or rose-water to them. Beat eight eggs very light
with two-thirds of a cup of sugar, then mix together with a quart of
rich milk, or part milk and part cream; put the mixture into a
saucepan and set it over the fire. Stir it one way until it begins to
thicken, but not till it curdles; remove from the fire and when it is
cooled put in a glass dish. Having reserved part of the whites of the
eggs, beat them to a stiff froth, season with three tablespoonfuls of
sugar and a teaspoonful of lemon extract, spread over the top of the
custard. Serve cold.


ALMOND CUSTARD. No. 2.

Blanch a quarter of a pound of sweet almonds, pound them, as in No. 1
on preceding page, with six ounces of fine white sugar and mix them
well with the yolks of four eggs; then dissolve one ounce of patent
gelatine in one quart of boiling milk, strain it through a sieve and
pour into it the other mixture; stir the whole over the fire until it
thickens and is smooth; then pour it into your mold and keep it upon
ice, or in a cool place, until wanted; when ready to serve dip the
mold into warm water, rub it with a cloth and turn out the cream
carefully upon your dish.


SNOWBALL CUSTARD.

Soak half a package of Cox's gelatine in a teacupful of cold water one
hour, to which add a pint of boiling water, stir it until the gelatine
is thoroughly dissolved. Then beat the whites of four eggs to a stiff
froth, put two teacupfuls of sugar in the gelatine water first, then
the beaten white of egg and one teaspoonful of vanilla extract, or the
grated rind and the juice of a lemon. Whip it some time until it is
all quite stiff and cold. Dip some teacups or wine-glasses in cold
water and fill them; set in a cold place.

In the meantime, make a boiled custard of the yolks of three of the
eggs, with half a cupful of sugar and a pint of milk; flavor with
vanilla extract. Now after the meringue in the cups has stood four or
five hours, turn them out of the molds, place them in a glass dish and
pour this custard around the base.


BAKED COCOANUT CUSTARD.

Grate as much cocoanut as will weigh a pound. Mix half a pound of
powdered white sugar with the milk of the cocoanut, or with a pint of
cream, adding two tablespoonfuls of rose-water. Then stir in gradually
a pint of rich milk. Beat to a stiff froth the whites of eight eggs
and stir them into the milk and sugar, a little at a time, alternately
with the grated cocoanut; add a teaspoonful of powdered nutmeg and
cinnamon. Then put the mixture into cups and bake them twenty minutes
in a moderate oven, set in a pan half filled with boiling water. When
cold, grate loaf sugar over them.


WHIPPED CREAM. No. 1.

To the whites of three eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, add a pint of
thick sweet cream (previously set where it is very cold) and four
tablespoonfuls of sweet wine, with three of fine white sugar and a
teaspoonful of the extract of lemon or vanilla. Mix all the
ingredients together on a board platter or pan and whip it to a
standing froth; as the froth rises, take it off lightly with a spoon
and lay it on an inverted sieve with a dish under it to catch what
will drain through; and what drains through can be beaten over again.

Serve in a glass dish with jelly or jam and sliced sponge cake. This
should be whipped in a cool place and set in the ice box.


WHIPPED CREAM. No. 2.

Three coffeecupfuls of good thick sweet cream, half a cup of powdered
sugar, three teaspoonfuls of vanilla; whip it to a stiff froth.
Dissolve three-fourths of an ounce of best gelatine in a teacup of hot
water and when cool pour it in the cream and stir it gently from the
bottom upward, cutting the cream into it, until it thickens. The dish
which contains the cream should be set in another dish containing
ice-water, or cracked ice. When finished pour in molds and set on ice
or in any very cold place.


SPANISH CREAM.

Take one quart of milk and soak half a box of gelatine in it for an
hour; place it on the fire and stir often. Beat the yolks of three
eggs very light with a cupful of sugar, stir into the scalding milk
and heat until it begins to thicken (it should not boil, or it will
curdle); remove from the fire and strain through thin muslin or
tarlatan, and when nearly cold flavor with vanilla or lemon; then wet
a dish or mold in cold water and set aside to stiffen.


BAVARIAN CREAM.

One quart of sweet cream, the yolks of four eggs beaten together with
a cupful of sugar. Dissolve half an ounce of gelatine or isinglass in
half a teacupful of warm water; when it is dissolved stir in a pint of
boiling hot cream; add the beaten yolks and sugar; cook all together
until it begins to thicken, then remove from the fire and add the
other pint of cold cream whipped to a stiff froth, adding a little at
a time and beating hard. Season with vanilla or lemon. Whip the
whites of the eggs for the top. Dip the mold in cold water before
filling; set it in a cold place. To this could be added almonds,
pounded, grated chocolate, peaches, pineapples, strawberries,
raspberries, or any seasonable fruit.


STRAWBERRY BAVARIAN CREAM.

Pick off the hulls of a box of strawberries, bruise them in a basin
with a cup of powered sugar; rub this through a sieve and mix with it
a pint of whipped cream and one ounce and a half of clarified
isinglass or gelatine; pour the cream into a mold previously oiled.
Let it in rough ice and when it has become firm turn out on a dish.

Raspberries or currants may be substituted for strawberries.


GOLDEN CREAM.

Boil a quart of milk; when boiling stir into it the well-beaten yolks
of six eggs; add six tablespoonfuls of sugar and one tablespoonful of
sifted flour, which have been well beaten together; when boiled, turn
it into a dish, and pour over it the whites beaten to a stiff froth,
mixing with them six tablespoonfuls, of powdered sugar. Set all in the
oven and brown slightly. Flavor the top with vanilla and the bottom
with lemon. Serve cold.


CHOCOLATE CREAM. No. 1.

Three ounces of grated chocolate, one-quarter pound of sugar, one and
one-half pints of cream, one and one-half ounces of clarified
isinglass, or gelatine, the yolks of six eggs.

Beat the yolks of the eggs well; put them into a basin with the grated
chocolate, the sugar and one pint of the cream; stir these ingredients
well together, pour them into a basin and set this basin in a saucepan
of boiling water; stir it one way until the mixture thickens, but _do
not allow it to boil_, or it will curdle. Strain the cream through a
sieve into a basin, stir in the isinglass and the other one-half pint
of cream, which should-be well whipped; mix all well together, and
pour it into a mold which has been previously oiled with the purest
salad oil, and, if at hand, set it in ice until wanted for table.

[Illustration: MRS ULYSSES S. GRANT, LUCY WEBB HAYES, MRS ANDREW
JOHNSON]


CHOCOLATE CREAM OR CUSTARD. No. 2.

Take one quart of milk, and when nearly boiling stir in two ounces of
grated chocolate; let it warm on the fire for a few moments, and then
remove and cool; beat the yolks of eight eggs and two whites with
eight tablespoonfuls of sugar, then pour the milk over them; flavor
and bake as any custard, either in cups or a large dish. Make a
meringue of the remaining whites.


LEMON CREAM. No. 1.

One pint of cream, the yolks of two eggs, one quarter of a pound of
white sugar, one large lemon, one ounce isinglass or gelatine.

Put the cream into a _lined_ saucepan with the sugar, lemon peel and
isinglass, and simmer these over a gentle fire for about ten minutes,
stirring them all the time. Strain the cream into a basin, add the
yolks of eggs, which should be well beaten, and put the basin into a
saucepan of boiling water; stir the mixture one way until it thickens,
_but do not allow it to boil_; take it off the fire and keep stirring
it until nearly cold. Strain the lemon juice into a basin, gradually
pour on it the cream, and _stir it well_ until the juice is well mixed
with it. Have ready a well-oiled mold, pour the cream into it, and let
it remain until perfectly set. When required for table, loosen the
edges with a small blunt knife, put a dish on the top of the mold,
turn it over quickly, and the cream should easily slip away.


LEMON CREAM. No. 2.

Pare into one quart of boiling water the peels of four large lemons,
the yellow outside only; let it stand for four hours; then take them
out and add to the water the juice of the four lemons and one cupful
of fine white sugar. Beat the yolks of ten eggs and mix all together;
strain it through a piece of lawn or lace into a porcelain lined
stewpan; set it over a slow fire; stir it one way until it is as thick
as good cream, _but do not let it boil_; then take it from the fire,
and, when cool, serve in custard cups.


LEMON CREAM. No. 3.

Peel three lemons and squeeze out the juice into one quart of milk.
Add the peel; cut in pieces and cover the mixture for a few hours;
then add six eggs, well beaten, and one pint of water, well sweetened.
Strain and simmer over a gentle fire till it thickens; _do not let it
boil._ Serve very cold.


ORANGE CREAM.

Whip a pint of cream so long that there will be but one-half the
quantity left when skimmed off. Soak in half a cupful of cold water a
half package of gelatine and then grate over it the rind of two
oranges. Strain the juice of six oranges and add to it a cupful of
sugar; now put the half pint of unwhipped cream into a double boiler,
pour into it the well-beaten yolks of six eggs, stirring until it
begins to thicken, then add the gelatine. Remove from the fire, let it
stand for two minutes and add the orange juice and sugar; beat all
together until about the consistency of soft custard and add the
whipped cream. Mix well and turn into molds to harden. To be served
with sweetened cream. Fine.


SOLID CREAM.

Four tablespoonfuls of pounded sugar, one quart of cream, two
tablespoonfuls of brandy, the juice of one large lemon.

Strain the lemon juice over the sugar and add the brandy, then stir in
the cream, put the mixture into a pitcher and continue pouring from
one pitcher to another, until it is quite thick; or it may be whisked
until the desired consistency is obtained. It should be served in
jelly glasses.


BANANA CREAM.

After peeling the bananas, mash them with an iron or wooden spoon;
allow equal quantities of bananas and sweet cream; to one quart of the
mixture, allow one-quarter of a pound of sugar. Beat them all together
until the cream is light.


TAPIOCA CREAM CUSTARD.

Soak three heaping tablespoonfuls of tapioca in a teacupful of water
over night. Place over the fire a quart of milk; let it come to a
boil, then stir in the tapioca, a good pinch of salt, stir until it
thickens; then add a cupful of sugar and the beaten yolks of three
eggs. Stir it quickly and pour it into a dish and stir gently into the
mixture the whites beaten stiff, the flavoring and set it on ice, or
in an ice chest.


PEACH CREAM. No. 1.

Mash very smooth two cupfuls of canned peaches, run them through a
sieve and cook for three minutes in a syrup made by boiling together
one cupful of sugar and stirring all the time. Place the pan
containing the syrup and peaches into another of boiling water and add
one-half packet of gelatine prepared the same as in previous recipes,
and stir for five minutes to thoroughly dissolve the gelatine, then
take it from the fire, place in a pan of ice-water, beat until nearly
cool and then add the well-frothed whites of six eggs. Beat this whole
mixture until it commences to harden. Then pour into a mold, set away
to cool and serve with cream and sugar. It should be placed on the ice
to cool for two or three hours before serving.