IN THE KITCHEN

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 75, 21 December 1929, Page 22

IN THE KITCHEN

SUMMER DRINKS FROM FRESH ! FRUIT.

Summer drinks make delicious cooling drinks on hot days or after strenuous games. The simplest are what are called “fruit waters” —a good example of which is currant water.

Remove the stalks from one quart of red currants, put them into a pan, and bruise them with a wooden spoon. Add half a pint of raspberries, Sib. of loaf sugar, and two quarts of cold water. Bring very slowly to the boil, skim, boil for 10 minutes, then strain through an open-meshed teacloth, or jelly bag. Add more sugar if necessary and leave until cold. This should be served in glass jugs with or without ice. Other fruits which may be used in this manner are gooseberries, raspberries, black currants, and blackberries. These do not require cooking, it being sufficient to soak them for three or four hours in water, adding sugar and some flavouring, such as lemon-juice, orange flower water, or noyeau.

Strawberries are soaked in half a pint of cold water, mixed with ?.lb. of caster sugar. Let them stand fcn- three or four hours, then rub them through a hair sieve and filter through blotting paper. Add a pint of cold water and the strained juice of a lemon, and leave on ice or in a cold place. Raspberries may he treated with cold water in the same manner, but peaches, apricots, pineapples, mulberries, cherries, damsons, greengages, and plums should be covered with boiling water one quart to 11b. of fruit. Stone fruit is stoned and maghed or sliced and a few bruised kernels should he added.—a little peach brandy may be included in the case of peaches or apricots, and cherry brandy for cherries,- unless kilisch or noyeau be preferred.

A DRINK FOR GARDEN PARTIES. Put half a pint each of prepared, raspberries, strawberries, and currants into a basin and mash them well. Add. Sib. of caster sugar and strain in the juice of two lemons. Pour over a quart of boiling water, Jeave for six hours, strain, and keep on ice. SUMMER COCKTAIL. Pulp Jib. each of raspberries, strawberries, and red currants with 3oz. of caster sugar. Strain the juice into a jug. Add the juice of three lemons and three oranges, and a quart of water. Keep on ice. Serve in small glasses with a small piece of ice in each. Put a strawberry in each glass.

GOOSEBERRY SURPRISE CUPS. One pound of gooseberries, sugar and water, half a pint of custard, one ounce of almonds, half a packet of lemon jelly, half a pint of hot water. Dissolve the jelly in the hot water. Prepare the gooseberries and stew, adding sugar to taste nnd just sufficient water to keep them from burning, then rub through a sieve. Make a good thick custard, sweeten and flavour it to taste, and mix with the gooseberry pulp. Blanch and chop up the almonds and add half of them. Turn into custard cups and, when thoroughly cold, cover with a layer of jelly, pouring it over gently—the latter should be almost beginning to set. When firm, garnish with chopped jelly and the remainder of the almonds. Note.—Jelly can be quite easily chopped on a piece of wet paper. Do not chop it too much or it will have a cloudy appearance.