FLAVORINGS FOR DESSERTS AND PUDDINGS.
ALMOND SAUCE.
Heat a pint of rich milk in the inner cup of a double boiler, placed directly upon the stove. When the milk is boiling, stir into it a heaping tablespoonful of flour, which has been rubbed to a cream in a little cold milk. Boil rapidly until thickened, stirring constantly; then add three tablespoonfuls of almondine; place in the outer boiler, and cook for five or ten minutes longer.
ALMOND PASTE.
Blanch the nuts, then allow them to dry thoroughly, and pound in a mortar to a smooth paste. They can be reduced much easier if dried for a day or two after blanching. During the pounding, sprinkle with a few drops of cold water, white of egg, rose water, or lemon juice, to prevent them from oiling.
CARAMEL SAUCE.
Stir a cup of sugar in a saucepan over the fire until melted and lightly browned. Add one cup of boiling water, and simmer ten minutes.
COCOANUT FLAVOR.
Cocoanut, freshly grated or desiccated, unless in extremely fine particles, is a very indigestible substance, and when its flavor is desired for custards, puddings, etc., it is always better to steep a few tablespoonfuls in a pint of milk for twenty minutes or a half hour, and strain out the particles. The milk should not be allowed to boil, as it will be likely to curdle. One tablespoonful of freshly grated cocoanut or two of the desiccated will give a very pleasant and delicate flavor; and if a more intense flavor is desired, use a larger quantity.
COCOANUT SAUCE.
Flavor a pint of new milk with cocoanut. Skim out the cocoanut, and add enough fresh milk to make one pint. Heat the milk to boiling, add two tablespoonfuls of sugar, thicken with two even spoonfuls of cornstarch, and proceed in the same manner as for Mock Cream.
CREAM SAUCE.
Beat together two thirds of a cup of sugar, one tablespoonful of thick, sweet cream, and one egg. Wet half a teaspoonful of cornstarch with a little milk, and stir in with the mixture; then add five tablespoonfuls of boiling milk, stirring rapidly all the time. Pour into the inner cup of a double boiler; have the water in the outer cup boiling, and cook five minutes. Flavor to taste.
CRANBERRY PUDDING SAUCE.
To a quart of boiling water add two cups of sugar, and when well dissolved, one quart of carefully sorted cranberries. Mash the berries as much as possible with a silver spoon, and boil just seven minutes. Turn through a colander to remove skins, cool and serve.
CUSTARD SAUCE.
Rub two teaspoonfuls of flour to a smooth paste with half a cup of new milk. Heat two and a half cups of fresh milk in a double boiler to scalding, then stir in the braided flour; heat again, stirring constantly till just to the boiling point, but no longer; remove from the stove and cool a little. Beat together one egg, three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a little lemon rind for flavoring. Turn the hot milk over this, a little at a time, stirring briskly meanwhile. Return the whole to the double boiler, and cook, stirring frequently, until when a spoon is dipped into the custard a coating remains upon it. Then remove at once from the fire. If the spoon comes out clean, the custard is not sufficiently cooked.
EGG SAUCE -1
Separate the yolks and whites of three eggs. Beat the whites to a stiff froth, and stir in very gently, so as not to let the air out of the beaten whites, one cup of powdered sugar and a teaspoonful of vanilla or lemon flavoring powder. Lastly, stir in carefully the beaten yolks of the eggs, and serve at
once.
EGG SAUCE -2
Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth with one half cup of sugar. Add three tablespoonfuls of lemon juice and one of water. Serve at once.
FRUIT CREAM.
Take the juice pressed from a cupful of fresh strawberries, red raspberries, or black caps, add to it one third of a cup of sugar, and place in the ice chest till chilled. Set a cup of sweet cream also on ice till very cold. When thoroughly cold, whip with an egg beater till the froth begins to rise, then add to it the cold fruit juice and beat again. Have ready the white of one egg beaten to a stiff froth, which add to the fruit cream, and whip till no more froth will rise. This makes a delicious dressing for simple grain molds and blancmanges, but is so rich it should be used rather sparingly. Serve as soon as possible after being prepared. Fruit syrup, in the proportion of two or three tablespoonfuls to the pint of cream, may be used in the same manner when the fresh juice is not available. The juice of orange, quince, and pineapple may also be used in the same manner as that of berries.
FRUIT SAUCE -1
Heat a pint of red raspberry, currant, grape, strawberry, apricot, or any other fruit juice to scalding, and stir in a tablespoonful of cornstarch previously rubbed to a cream with a little cold water. Cook till it thickens; then add sugar according to the acidity of the fruit. Strain and cool before using. If fruit juice is not available, two or three tablespoonfuls of pure fruit jelly may be dissolved in a pint of hot water and used instead of the juice. A mixture of red and black raspberry juice, or currant and raspberry, will be found acceptable for variety.
FRUIT SAUCE -2
Mash a quart of fresh berries, add one cup of sugar, beat very thoroughly together, and set away until needed. Just before it is wanted for serving, turn into a granite fruit kettle and heat nearly to boiling, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Serve hot with hot or cold puddings, or molded desserts.
FRUIT COLORING
For ornamenting the meringues of puddings and other desserts, take a little of the fresh juice of cranberries, red raspberries, currants, black raspberries, grapes, or other colored juices of fruits, thicken it stiff with the sugar, spread on a plate to dry, or use at one. It may be colored yellow with
orange peel strained through a cloth, or green with the juice of spinach. Sugar prepared in this manner is quite as pretty and much more wholesome than the colored sugars found in market, which are often prepared with poisonous chemicals.
FOAMY SAUCE.
Beat one egg or the whites of two very thoroughly with one half cup of sugar and a little grated lemon rind. Pour on this very slowly, stirring constantly to make it smooth, one cup of boiling milk, part cream if it can be afforded. If the whites alone are used, they should not be beaten stiff. If preferred, the lemon may be omitted and a tablespoonful or two of currant juice or quince jelly added last as flavoring.
LEMON PUDDING SAUCE.
Heat to boiling, in a double boiler, a pint of water in which are two slices of lemon, and stir into it a dessertspoonful of cornstarch; cook four to five minutes, or until it thickens. Squeeze the juice from one large lemon, and mix it with two thirds of a cup of sugar. Add this to the cornstarch mixture, and allow the whole to boil up once, stirring constantly; then take from the fire. Leave in the double boiler, surrounded by the hot water, for ten minutes. Cool to blood heat before serving.
MOCK CREAM.
Heat a pint of fresh, unskimmed milk in a double boiler. When the milk is boiling, stir in two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and two even tablespoonfuls of cornstarch which has first been rubbed smooth in a very little cold milk. Bring just to a boil, stirring constantly; then pour the hot mixture, a little at a time, beating thoroughly all the while, over the well-beaten white of one egg. Put again into the double boiler, return to the fire, and stir till it thickens to the consistency of cream.
MOLASSES SAUCE.
To one half cup of molasses, add one half cup of water, and heat to boiling. Thicken with a teaspoonful of flour rubbed to a cream with a little cold water. Serve hot.
ORANGE SAUCE.
Squeeze a cupful of juice from well-flavored, sour oranges. Heat a pint of water, and when boiling, thicken with a tablespoonful of cornstarch. Add the orange juice, strain, and sweeten to taste with sugar that has been flavored by rubbing over the yellow rind of an orange until mixed with the oil in the
rind. If a richer sauce is desired, the yolk of an egg may be added lastly, and the sauce allowed to cook until thickened.
ORANGE AND LEMON FLAVOR.
Orange or lemon flavor may be obtained by steeping a few strips of the yellow part of the rind of lemon or orange in milk for twenty minutes. Skim out the rind before using for desserts.
Care should be taken to use only the yellow part, as the white will impart a bitter flavor. The grated rind may also be used for flavoring, but in grating the peel, one must be careful to grate very lightly, and thus use only the outer yellow portion, which contains the essential oil of the fruit. Grate evenly, turning and working around the lemon, using as small a surface of the grater as possible, in order to prevent waste. Generally, twice across the grater and back will be sufficient for removing all the yellow skin from one portion of a lemon. A well-grated lemon should be of exactly the same shape as before, with no yellow skin remaining, and no deep scores into the white. Remove the yellow pulp from the grater with a fork.
PEACH SAUCE.
Strain the juice from a well-kept can of peaches. Dilute with one half as much water, heat to boiling, and thicken with cornstarch, a scant tablespoonful to the pint of liquid.
PLAIN PUDDING SAUCE.
Thicken one and one half cups of water with one tablespoonful of cornstarch; boil a few minutes, then stir in two thirds of a cup of sugar, and one half cup of sweet cream. Take off the stove, and flavor with a little rose, vanilla, or lemon.
RED SAUCE.
Pare and slice a large red beet, and simmer gently in three cups of water for twenty minutes, or until the water is rose colored, then add two cups of sugar, the thin yellow rind and juice of one lemon, and boil until the whole is thick syrup. Strain, add a teaspoonful of rose water or vanilla, and serve.
ROSE CREAM.
Remove the thick cream from the top of a pan of cold milk, taking care not to take up any of the milk. Add sugar to sweeten and a teaspoonful or two of rose water. Beat with an egg beater until the whole mass is thick. Good thick cream, beaten in this manner, makes nearly double its original quantity.
SAGO SAUCE.
Wash one tablespoonful of sago in two or three waters, then put it into a saucepan with three fourths of a cup of hot water, and some bits of lemon peel. Simmer gently for ten minutes, take out the lemon peel, add half a cup of quince or apricot juice; and if the latter, the strained juice of half a lemon, and sugar to taste. Beat together thoroughly.
WHIPPED CREAM SAUCE.
Beat together with an egg beater until of a stiff froth one cup of sweet cream which has been cooled to a temperature of 64 deg. or less, one teaspoonful of vanilla or a little grated lemon rind, and one half cup of powdered white sugar, and the whites of one or two eggs. The sauce may be variously flavored with a little fruit jelly beaten with the egg, before adding to the cream.