For the Christmas Palate

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 69, 14 December 1935, Page 21

For the Christmas Palate

Chocolate Eclairs Two egg whites, .1 dessertspoon coarse sugar, -loz. castor sugar, 1 dessertspoon cocoa. Place the egg whites in a deep bowl, with the coarse sugar. Beat with rotary beater till the mixture will stand in peaks. Fold in the castor sugar, which has been thoroughly blended with the cocoa, putting in only one dessertspoon at a time, and sprinkling each spoonful over the egg mixture. Put the meringue thus made into a piping bag, or biscuit forcer, with large round cream piping tube, and pipe on to a cold greased oven side. Bake in a slow oven, as for ordinary meringues decreasing the heat after the first ten minutes. When cold ice each finger with a little melted block chocolate. A sprinkle of finely chopped walnuts may be added for decoration. If the fingers are iced with the melted chocolate (to which no sugar is added) they will keep indefinitely in an airtight tin.

Cherry Juice Cocktail Three-quarters cup juice from stewed cherries, i cup orange juice, 2 tablespoons lemon juice. 2 tablespoons sherry. Chill all fruit juices and combine with the sherry. Serve in fruit cocktail glasses as an appetiser at luncheon on a hot day. This is an excellent way of using the extra juice from compote of cherries. The sherry may be omitted if desired without impairing the flavour of the cocktail.

? Mincemeat t.

Four ounces each stoned and \ S hopped Valencia and sultana rai- | i sins, 4oz. currants, 4oz. chopped s \ apple, 3oz. each brown sugar, and | h chopped peel, 2oz. chopped almonds, $ s 1 teaspoon mixed spice, the grated h rind and juice of 2 lemons, and \ S i gill brandy. Mix well together, h press tightly into a jar, sprinkle \ ’ sugar on top and cover with sev- h h eral thicknesses of brown paper. J; * It is the quickest and best plan to h | put all the ingredients through a J mincer, as this not only improves |> l the flavour but the colouring and Jn appearance of the mincemeat.

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Individual Tomato Salads

One pound tomatoes, 1 teaspoon sugar, pepper and salt, 1 onion, 1 pint water, joz. gelatine. Soak the gelatine in a little of the cold water. Slice tomatoes and onion, and place in a saucepan with the water, sugar, and pepper and salt to taste. Cook till tomatoes are tender, add gelatine, and stir till dissolved. Rub all through a sieve or coarse strainer, and ponr into individual moulds or little cups, rinsed first with cold water. When quite set unmould and serve with lettuce and mayonnaise with cold mutton or beef. Ginger Ale Salad Dissolve one packet of lemon jelly in half a cup of boiling water, add 1-i cups of ginger ale, and blend thoroughly. When the mixture begins to thicken, add two tablespoons chopped preserved ginger, one chopped apple, one cup of chopped dates, and a quarter cup of chopped nuts. Rinse small moulds in cold water and drop four strawberries into each. Pour in a little of the mixture, and allow it to stiffen before the remainder is added. When set, turn out and serve in individual dishes. Grapefruit Cocktail 1 grapefruit per serve, little sugar, glace cherries, juice of 1 lemon, juice of 1 orange. Remove the grapefruit segments carefully from the rind, taking off all pith and skin. Cut into small pieces and sprinkle with a little sugar and add the lemon and orange juice, billow to stand for at least one hour before serving, and chill if possible. Serve the fruit with the juice in a fruit cocktail glass, topped with half a cocktail cherry. If you have the green cocktail cherries, these look very cool on the yellow fruit pulp. If preferred, the pulp may be served in the halves of the grapefruit rind. Fruit and Nut Balls Take 41b. each of prunes, seeded raisins, dried figs, and dates. Stone dates and prunes, and put fruit with 4oz. of mixed shelled nuts, through mincer. Mince finely and combine the fruits well with one teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Form into small balls and roll each in castor sugar or desiccated coconut.

Almond Macaroons 4oz. ground almonds, whites of three .small eggs, ■} teaspoon vanilla essence, Soz. castor sugar, Soz. rice flour, a few almonds, halved. Have a baking sheet ready—slightly greased and covered with rice paper. If possible let the egg whites stand overnight; this prevents the macarpons from spreading too much during baking. Put ground ' almonds, egg whites and castor sugar into a basin, and cream together for 10 minutes. Add rice flour and vanilla essence. Put mixture into a forcing bag with a plain Jin. pipe. Force on to the rice in rounds the size of a penny, leaving a good space between each to allow for spreading. If you have not a forcing bag, use a teaspoon, and shape the mixture with a pastry brush dipped in egg white. Place half an almond on each and bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes. Russian Toffee lib. castor sugar, 2oz. butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 4oz. blanched almonds, 1 tin condensed milk. Blanch and chop the almonds. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, then add the sugar. Stir till the sugar has dissolved and the mixture becomes a deep amber colour, then add the condensed milk, chopped nuts and vanilla essence. Cook till mixture reaches hard ball test (250 to 260 degrees), when a little of the syrup dropped into cold water is pliable but firm enough to hold in the fingers. Have ready shallow buttered tins and pour toffee in. When nearly cold and set, cut into neat blocks. Honey Fudge Honey fudge is a delicious sweet, simple to make, and generally popular. Put a third of a cupful each of honey and water and two cupfuls of granulated sugar into a saucepan and stir them carefully over the gas ring or hotplate until the sugar is dissolved. Add a pinch of cream of tartar and boil until the syrup will form a thread when drop-

ped from a spoon. Beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth in a basin, pour the hot syrup gradually on to them, and continue beating until the mixture thickens. Add a teaspoonful of vanilla or orange flower water, and spread out on an oiled or buttered tin. Mark the squares when set. Half a teacupful of shelled walnuts may be added. A richer fudge may be made by using a gill of milk, or milk and cream, instead of water, two ounces of unsweetened, grated chocolate, and an ounce of butter to a pound of .sugar.

y J J Z JXB' Z 7ET Z JOT J JB7 £ Z" JBT | Scotch Shortbread I] A cake of home-made short- |j b bread makes an acceptable Christ- *> |j mas gift. Heal Scotch shortbread s contains no eggs and a large pro- \ h portion of butter. To be success- jj y ful, it must be well kneaded with y h the hands and baked, in a slow h y oven. To a pound of flour use y b three-quarters of a pound of but- b y ter, a good pinch of salt, and six y b ounces of castor sugar. Cream b J butter and sugar together, then Jj l work in the flour gradually, and l S knead thoroughly until a smooth S k dough results. Make into as many y " rounds as are required, about half a Jj an inch thick. Mould the edges . H with the thumb, and prick the b b cakes with a fork. Decorate with J* q citron peel, and bake on a greased s S tin in a slow oven for forty to (| fifty minutes. The shortbread 5 S should be very pale brown when J< || finished and should not be over- § S baked. Sometimes two ounces of \ h rice flour are substituted for two \ ounces of the plain flour. Also, s | the butter can be rubbed into the y flour instead of creaming it with \ b the sugar, and a teaspoonful of h ® baking powder can be added, if y b wished. > jasr r jßnr z jnr r asp jar s rmr s

Stuffed Egg Salad 4 hard-boiled eggs, 1 small tin sardines, juice half a lemon, mayonnaise. 1 teaspoon butter, pepper and vinegar to taste, lettuce. Cut the hard-boiled eggs across in halves and remove the yolks to a small basin. Add to the pounded yolks be sardines, also pounded; the butter, melted; and pepper. • lemon juice and vinegar to taste. stuff the egg whites with the mixture, heaping well above the white. Place each stuffed egg in a crisp lettuce leaf, pour a little mayonnaise over, and serve quite cold.

Barley Sugar One pound of crystal sugar, one cup of barley water, one beaten egg white, i one tablespoon glucose, one teaspoon : each of lemon and vanilla essence. Put ; sugar and water into enamel saucepan < and when dissolved place over slow | heat till just warm. Then add the egg ; white. Stir well till syrup boils, then ; boil for a few minutes till clear, re- ( move all scum, and strain through j muslin. Put back on stove and boil j without stirring until the syrup c reaches snap-in-water stage. Take off, ] and when bubbles cease, add extracts ( and pour on to a buttered slab or flat ( tin. Cut into strips, and with wet 1 hands twist into sticks. When cold ( store in airtight jars; will keep in- f definitely. To make the barley water, t wash a tablespoon of pearl barley, boil for fifteen minutes in a pint of water. then strain the clear water carefully v off the barley through muslin. <. J Orange and Asparagus } Arrange crisp curled lettuce leaves on ' shallow glass salad plate. On each leaf > place a thinly sliced round of orange, J freed from rind, pith, and seeds. Place | two short asparagus tips on each orange J section, and decorate with a round of , stuffed olive. Pour over a little French ( dressing, or if preferred, a creamy ' mayonnaise may be served. When the I French dressing is used, this salad ' makes an excellent first course for | luncheon in summer in place of soup. s I Cold Cherry Sweet Stone and halve some ripe red cher- > ries, cook them with sugar- and water (j till just soft, and allow to cool. There \ should be half a breakfastcupful of j cherries and a gill of juice. Soak half a tablespoonful of granulated gelatine b in a quarter of a gill of cold water, ’ dissolve in a quarter of a gill of hot l water, and add the prepared cherries I and juice. Leave till the mixture is , beginning to thicken, and then stir in t the white of an egg, and whisk until £ stiff. Put into a wetted mould, and | leave to set on ice or in a very cool S place. Turn out, and serve garnished Q with whipped cream. s

r b y A pudding In Verse q y S \ If you would make a pudding m b h which every one delights, y Of six precious new-laid eggs you k b take the yolks and whites, j y A pound of stoned raisins, a pound y b of currants dried, M J Some sugar and some suet, and £ some candied peel beside. | Jj I’on mix them in a basin till they | thoroughly combine, \

\ And be sure you chop the suet par- b ticularly fine. y \ Then you mix it all together with b h a little wheaten flour, J* y And you let it stand together for u b a quarter of an hour. * y You tie the mixture in a cloth, you " put it in a pot; J* Some people like the water cold, M and some prefer it hot. \ [* But either of these methods, I don’t know which to praise; y $ 1 know that it should boil an hour b § for every pound it weighs. h If I were king of France, or, bet- ? ter still, the rope of Borne, ? k I’d have a Christmas pudding | ® every time I dined at home. ' ? And all the world should taste a q bit; and, if any did remain, s For my breakfast next morning I’d | warm it up again. \ b —Leigh Hunt, b I V . z z xflar Z znr z ziz z ZBZ z znr z z ziar z. Five-Egg Sponge Five eggs, Boz. castor sugar, soz. sifted flour, grated rind 1 lemon. Whisk eggs till frothy, then add sugar and beat toegther over hot water for at least 10 minutes. Fold in the sifted flour mixed witli the grated rind of one lemon. Grease two sandwich tins thoroughly, and dust with

icing sugar and flour mixed together. Put mixture in and bake in a quickoven till well risen and set. Allow to cool for a few moments before removing from tins. Ice ami fill with any Ilavouring preferred. Fruit Barley Water For children and grown-ups alike there are few better summer drinks than barley water flavoured with fruit juice. It is excellent for clearing the complexion, and also is very palatable. To make it wash four ounces of barley in cold water, put it into six pints of cold water, and bring slowly to boiling point. Simmer for ten minutes, strain twice, and add the juice of a lemon, oranges, or any other fruit in season, with sugar to taste.

Chicken Salad

Colj chicken can be served up again most attractively and economically in the form of chicken jelly, which provides an excellent meal when served with salad. Tile jelly is simple to make. A lemon jelly is required, and can be made either with a packet lemon jelly or by dissolving one ounce of gelatine in a pint of water and adding one tablespoon vinegar. When the jelly is beginning to set alternate layers should be arranged in a mould with layers of sliced chicken, sliced tomato or cucumber, one layer of shredded olives, and one layer of chopped nuts When set firmly, turn out on a bed of lettuce and garnish with parsley and chopped celery. Serve with crisp rolls.

Sauces For The Christmas !J

Pudding H Jj Blazing Sauce. —Cook Goz. of su- h M gar in a gill of water until it be- y gins to darken, then remove from b tj the fire, and add 2 teaspoonfuls of J S lemon juice and a gill of brandy | |j or rum. Pour over the pudding ' $ just before serving, set a match to h it, and carry in blazing. y Hard.—Cream 4oz. of butter, add J* b gradually Goz. of powdered sugar q J and flavour with half a teaspoon- $ u ful of lemon extract and two-thirds j)

S S h of a teaspoonful of vanilla essence. ’ Sherry, brandy, or powdered chi- \ k namon or nutmeg can be used to q J flavour instead. \ l Hot Custard Sauce.—Beat two h Heggs with half an ounce of sugar, y jj stir in a pint of warmed milk, and b y pour into a jug with flavouring of |j \ vanilla or almond as desired. Place l bin a saucepan of boiling water, and s Sstir constantly in one direction un- . til it thickens. M Devilled Almonds To devil almonds first cover them with boiling water for a few minutes, then remove brown skins, which will slip off easily. When dry drop into thick frying pan, in which butter has been melted, and allowed to become very hot. Keep the almonds moving in the pan until they ar® evenly coloured to a pale straw shade. Then drain off butter in colander, sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper to taste, and drain on paper. When cold and dry the almonds are ready for use. Puff Ball Oranges Choose rather small oranges, and peel them, taking the white pith with the peel. For four oranges make a meringue with a beaten egg white and a gill of powdered sugar. Put a thin wire skewer through the oranges, frost them with the fneringue, and balance the skewers across the top of deep baking tins. Put in a slow oven for 15 minutes, and take out skewers carefully by twisting them slightly. Lemon Flummery Half cup sugar, 14 cups cold water, juice and grated rind of one lemon, 2 heaped tablespoons cornflour, 4-pint cream, 1 egg white, 6 passion fruit. Place water, lemon rind, juice, and sugar on to boil. Then stir in cornflour blended with little cold water. Cook till thickened. Allow to cool slightly, then beat into the stiffly beaten egg white. Set in small wetted moulds till firm. Unmould into individual sweet dishes, pour over the passion fruit pulp slightly sweetened top with whipped cream and a glace cherry. Serve very cold.

ST jr jatr s w s.jsor ss jot jt auf f Josr zj> ; Strawberry Shortcake $1 Now that strawberries are at s their best, try the following well [) q tested recipe for strawberry short- \ \ cake. This is how the modern h |j cook makes it:—To three cupfuls \ of flour take Mb. of butter and a h h pineh of salt and three teaspoonS fuls of baking powder. Rub the | h ingredients well together and ’ $ moisten with enough milk to make k a soft dough. Handle very lightly when forming the dough into a k h ball for rolling. The “cake” should H be about an inch thick when rolled ? | out into the shape of a large J ’ scone. Bake it in a hot oven for ? h fifteen minutes. Slit it open and q fill the underside with crushed, £ k sweetened fruit. Cover it over q J thickly with the hot crust and i serve at once with whipped cream q H or merely with a sauce made of \ k more crushed and sweetened her- B S ries. s £ Individual shortcakes made q about the size of a large scone, are \ S a success at the bridge party. .jsr xxarx xrfaarfjzrfjrs&sxP x

Raspberry Fool Raspberry, strawberry, gooseberry, and black or red currant fool are made in the same way. To 11b. of fruit allow half-pint of whipped cream or of rich boiled custard and 4oz. to Goz. sugar, according to taste. Put fruit into a saucepan with the sugar and cook over a very low heat until it is tender. Then rub it through a sieve. When cold mix with the custard or cream, top with a little whipped cream, and serve. Small fruits prepared in this way make a delicious dessert if served icy cold. Cream Caramels Four ounces of light brown sugar, 1 tin condensed milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 2oz. butter. Combine all the ingredients and cook over the fire for about 15 minutes, stirring all the time, and taking care to stir the mixture right to the bottom of the saucepan. When a good rich brown pour into a shallow tin, liberally buttered. Allow to become nearly cold, turn out, pat with butter pats to make the ridges, and cut into neat blocks. Cinnamon Torte For cake —Half-cup butter, 1 cup sugar, yolks of 4 eggs (beaten), G tablespoons milk, 1 cup plain flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder. For filling— Juice and rind of 1 lemon, 1 egg,- 1 cup sugar, 1 heaped tablespoon flour, 1 cup hot water, butter the size of a walnut. For top—-Whites of 4 eggs. 1 cup sugar, i teaspoon cinnamon, 4 cup chopped nuts. Mode —Cream butter and sugar, add beaten egg yolks and milk, then sifted flour and baking powder. Bake in a shallow greased tin. Filling—Blend all ingredients, mixing flour with sugar before adding. Cook until thick in a double boiler. Spread over cake, cover with topping, and return to the oven until brown. Passion Fruit Meringue Make a large meringue mixture with the whites of two eggs, and four ounces of castor sugar. Take two-thirds of the mixture and spread on a wellgreased slide on greaseproof paper. Make into a square or round meringue as desired. The other third of the mixture is made similarly into a smal-

ler meringue to fit the top of the first one. Bake in a slow oven till crisp right through. When cold, fill the large case with stiffly beaten cream, to which sweetened passion-fruit pulp has been added. Place small meringue on top, and serve immediately. A rich but delicious sweet or cake for a special occasion Sherbet Take 41b. icing sugar, jib. tartaric acid, lib. carbonate of soda, 40 drops of essence of lemon. Put the essence of lemon on to the sugar and leave to dry, then mix the carbonate of soda and tartaric acid with the sugar. Mix well, and to ensure this the whole can be passed through a very fine sieve. Put into bottles and cork well. It is important that dampness be excluded. Used in the proportion of one teaspoonful to a tumbler of water it makes a very refreshing drink. znr z xssnr z znr z zrar z zar z zssr z zsrr z z b m Almond Paste s Take Jib. icing sugar, Jib. ground \ almonds, 2 largo egg whites, vanilla k h flavouring. 801 l the lumps out of J y the sugar and rub it through a ? h flue sieve. Add the ground al- " y monds and mix well together, jj h Whisk the egg whites slightly, and ? add sufficient, with a few drops of J; b vanilla flavouring, to mix the Ij J sugar to a stiff paste. Work it h k until smooth, then roll out to size q J of cake top. h tay z zsar z zar z z z zsar z znr z zar z zb»’

Toffee Apples These are especially popular with the children: Select nice, rosy apples, free from blemishes. Wash and polish them, and into the core of each stick a small stick or skewer. Make the toffee by either of the following recipes:—(l) Boil together one cup of brown sugar, one cup of white sugar, half cup of water, half cup vinegar, and cook till a little will crackle when dropped into cold water. (2) Cook 341 b. of white sugar in a pint of water, with half teaspoon of cream of tartar, to 320 deg. Fahr. Dip the apples in the toffee and prop up to dry.

Glucose Marshmallows Three-quarter ounce gelatine in 1 gill of water, lOoz. granulated sugar, 1 gill waler or orange flower water, 1 dessertspoon glucose, beaten white of 1 Boil sugar, water, and glucose to 2GO deg. Fahr. Melt gelatine and water, add any flavouring essence to gelatine, and add to syrup. When ready pour into a large basin on to stiffly beaten egg white, and whisk till stiff. Leave in basin for- half an hour, then turn on to a marble slab or crockery dish sprinkled with icing sugar. Leave exposed to the air for an hour or more, then rub over with icing sugar and cut in squares. 801 l each square in icing sugar before packing away. Strawberry colouring, and strawberry or rose flavouring, may be used for very pale pink marshmellows. The gelatine must be dissolved very slowly, and stirred continually. Sugar, water, andglucose should be stirred till clear, when spoon should be removed. Boil briskly to 260dcg. Fahr. Marshmallow can be used for snowballs, topping tarts, decorating desserts such as trifle, or be rolled in browned desiccated coconut, as well as for plain marshmellow sweets rolled in sugar.

Christmas Pudding 1) Ij Chop up finely lib. suet, mixing x S in, at the same time, 41b. sifted " flour and 41b. brown breadcrumbs; £ \ pick and clean lib. currants and | h 11b. sultanas, stone and cut up Jj y small lib. prunes (these give a q b rich flavour), and roughly chop S ” up 41b. mixed peel. Put all these b ingredients in a large basin, add > J 11b. Demerara sugar, 3oz. shred-'- h kJ ded almonds, loz. bitter almonds, y " 1 grated nutmeg, the grated rind h Jj of two lemons and a pinch of salt. ® tj A pudding of this description used l S to be allowed 8 eggs, but 4 might Ji q serve. They should be well- »J b beaten, added to 4 pint or more b tj milk according to the number of 5 \ eggs used, and -J pint brandy, q h Pour the liquids over the dry in- b y gredients, stir vigorously; melt b 2oz. butter, and add and stir \ Jj again. Pour into greased moulds, h b cover with grease-proof papers and y J> cloth, plunge in boiling water and b y boil for eight hours. Place in a Jj " cool place till required, and boil b k again for two hours. " $ Eggless Pudding.—Stone 41b. b Jj raisins, clean and pick -Jib. cur- S tj rants, chop finely jib. suet and ? b 41b. mixed peel and the rind of 1 Ij |j lemon; mix well with 11b. flour b b and a piece of the lemon; stir two q tablespoonfuls vinegar into one b \ breakfastcupful milk, beat this q h well for five minutes into the other b k, ingredients, then pour into a [j b greased basin; cover with grease- \ Jj proof paper and boil for six hours. Iced Coffee Whip Take 4 breakfastcup ol coffee, 2 tablespoonfuls thick cream whipped cream, cracked ice. Put the cream in the bottom of a tumbler and add enough cracked ice to half-fill the tumbler. Pour in the coffee, freshly-made and strong, then pile whipped cream, sweetened to taste, on top. Cold Lemon Souffle Take 4-pint cream, 2 lemons, 1 gill lemon jelly, Jib. sugar, 3 eggs. Separate white and yolks of eggs, and beat yolks with sugar, in a basin, over. a pan of boiling water, till the consistency of cream. Then grate into the mixture the rinds of both lemons, and add juice very gradually, stirring all the time. Whisk separately the egg-whites, cream, and jelly; mix all three together and add to the yolks. Whip all together until it begins to set. Have ready prepared a buttered souffle case with a rim of white paper projecting above the top. Stand in a cool place to set. Decorate with almonds and crystallised cherries. and serve very cold. Cherry Cocktail One pound cherries, six tablespoonfuls strawberry juice, half cupful chopped almonds, one teaspoonful lemon juice, six tablespoonfuls castor sugar. Stone cherries, sprinkle with chopped almonds and pour over them a syrup by mixing strawberry juice with sugar and the lemon juice. Chill, and serve ice-cold in cocktail glasses Decorate plate with two or three