Cassell's Vegetarian Cookery/creams

Creams.—Creams may be divided into two classes—whipped cream, flavoured in a variety of ways, and the solid moulds of cream, which when turned out look extremely elegant, but which when tasted are somewhat disappointing. These latter moulds owe their firmness and consistency to the addition of isinglass, and, as this substance is not allowed in vegetarian cookery, we shall be able to dispense with cream served in this form, nor are we losers by so doing. The ordinary mould of cream is too apt to taste like spongy liver, and, so far as palate is concerned, is incomparably inferior to the more delicate whipped creams. Just in the same way a good rich custard made with yolks of eggs is spoilt by being turned into a solid custard by the addition of gelatine. In order to have good whipped cream, the first essential is to obtain pure cream. This greatly depends upon the neighbourhood in which we live. In country houses, away from large towns, there is as a rule no trouble, whereas in London really good cream can only be obtained with great difficulty. There is a well-known old story of the London milkman telling the cook who complained of the quality of the cream to stir it up, as the cream settled at the bottom. We will not enter into the subject of the adulteration of cream in big cities, as probably many of these stories are gross exaggerations, though it is said that pigs’ brains and even horses’ brains have been used for the purpose of giving the cream a consistency, while undoubtedly turmeric has been used to give it a colour.

We will suppose that we have, say, a quart of really good thick cream. All that is necessary is to beat up the cream with a whisk till it becomes a froth. This is much more easily done in cold weather than in hot, and, if the weather be very warm, it is best to put the tin or pan containing the cream into ice an hour or two before it is used. Old French cookery-books recommend the addition of a little powdered gum, not bigger than a pea, and the gum recommended is that known as tragacanth. Others again beat up the white of an egg to a stiff froth, and add this to the cream. It is a good plan when the cream fails to froth completely to take off the top froth and drain it on a sieve placed upside down. The cream that drains through can be added to what is left and re-whipped. It is also a good plan to make whipped cream some time before it is wanted, and, indeed, it can be prepared with advantage the day before. When the cream is drained (we are supposing a quart to have been used) it should be mixed with three or four ounces of very finely powdered sugar, as well as the particular kind of flavouring that will give the cream its name. For instance, we can have, if liqueurs are allowed—

Maraschino Cream.—This is simply made by mixing a small glass of maraschino with some whipped cream, properly sweetened.

Coffee Cream.—Make a very strong infusion of pure coffee that has been roasted a high colour. It will be found best to re-roast coffee berries in the oven if you have not got a proper coffee-roaster. Pound the berries in a pestle and mortar, or grind them very coarsely; then make a strong infusion with a very small quantity of water, and strain it till it is quite bright. This is mixed with the whipped sweetened cream.

Chocolate Cream.—Take about two ounces of the very best chocolate and dissolve it in a little boiling water; let it get cold, and then mix with the whipped sweetened cream.

Vanilla Cream.—Vanilla cream is nicest when a fresh vanilla pod is used for the purpose, but a more simple process is to use a little essence of vanilla.

Orange Cream.—Rub some lumps of sugar on the outside of an orange, and pound this sugar very finely, and then mix it with the whipped cream.

Lemon Cream.—Proceed exactly as in making orange cream, only substituting lemon for orange.

Strawberry Cream.—The juice only of the strawberry should be used. This juice should be mixed with the powdered sugar and then used for mixing with the whipped cream. It is a mistake, in making creams, to have too much flavouring. The juice of a quarter of a pound of ripe red strawberries would be sufficient for a quart of cream.

Pistachio Cream.—Take about half a pound of pistachio kernels, throw them for a minute or two into boiling water, and then rub off the skins, throwing them into cold water like you do in blanching almonds. Pound these in a mortar with a tablespoonful of orange-flower water, and mix a little spinach extract to give it a colour. Now mix this with the whipped sweetened cream very thoroughly. This bright green cream makes a very elegant dish.

Custards.—Good custard forms, perhaps, the best cold sweet sauce known. It can be made very cheaply, and, on the other hand, it may be made in such a manner as to be very expensive. We will first describe how to make the most expensive kind of custard, as very often we can gather ideas from a high-class model and carry them out in an inexpensive way. The highest class custard is made by only using yolks of eggs instead of whole eggs, and we can use cream in addition to milk. The great art in making custard is to take care it does not curdle. Six yolks of eggs, half a pint of milk, half a pint of cream, sweetened, would, of course, form a very expensive custard. An ordinary custard can be made as follows:—Take four large or five small eggs, beat them up very thoroughly, and add them gradually to a pint of sweetened milk that has been boiled separately. In order to thicken the custard, it is a good plan to put it in a jug and stand the jug in a saucepan of boiling water, and stir the custard till it is sufficiently thick. Custard can be flavoured in various ways. One of the cheapest and perhaps nicest is to boil one or two bay-leaves in the milk. Custard can also be flavoured by the addition of a small quantity of the essence of vanilla; if you use a fresh pod vanilla, tie it up in a little piece of muslin and have a string to it. This can be boiled in the milk till the milk is sufficiently flavoured, and this pod can be used over and over again. Of course, as it loses its flavour, it will have to remain in the milk longer.

Cheap Custard.—A very cheap custard can be made by adding to one pint of boiled milk one well-beaten-up egg and one good-sized teaspoonful of corn-flour. The milk should be first sweetened, and can be flavoured very cheaply by rubbing a few lumps of sugar on the outside of a lemon, or by having a few bay-leaves boiled in it. A rich yellow colour can be obtained by using a small quantity of yellow vegetable colouring extract, which, like the green colouring, is sold in bottles by all grocers. These bottles are very cheap, as they last a long time. They simply give any kind of pudding a rich colouring without imparting any flavour whatever, and in this respect are very superior to saffron.

Apple Custard.—Good apple custard can only be made by using apples of a good flavour. When apples are in season, this dish can be made fairly cheaply, but it does not do to use those high-priced imported apples. Peel and take out the cores of about four pounds of apples, and let these simmer till they are quite tender in rather more than a pint of water. Add about one pound of sugar, or rather less if the apples are sweet; add a little powdered cinnamon, and mix all this with eight eggs, well beaten up; stir the mixture very carefully in a saucepan, or better still in a good-sized jug placed in a saucepan, till it begins to thicken. This custard is best served in glasses, and a little cinnamon sugar can be shaken over the top. Nutmeg may be used instead of cinnamon, and by many is thought superior.

Cheese-cakes.—Cheese-cakes can be sent to table in two forms, the one some rich kind of custard or cream placed in little round pieces of pastry, or we can have a so-called cheese-cake baked in a pie-dish, the edges only of which are lined with puff paste. We can also have cheese-cakes very rich and cheese-cakes very plain. The origin of the name cheese-cake is that originally they were made from curds used in making cheese. Probably most people consider that the cheese-cakes made from curds are superior, and in the North of England, and especially in Yorkshire, where curds are exposed for sale in the windows at so much a pound, very delicious cheese-cakes can be made, but considerable difficulty will be experienced if we attempt to make home-made curds from London milk. Curds are made by taking any quantity of milk and letting it nearly boil, then throw in a little rennet or a glass of sherry. The curds must be well strained.

Cheese-cakes from Curds.—Take half a pound of curds and press the curds in a napkin to extract the moisture. Take also six ounces of lump sugar, and rub the sugar on the outside of a couple of oranges or lemons. Dissolve this sugar in two ounces of butter made hot in a tin in the oven; mix this with the curds, with two ounces of powdered ratafias and a little grated nutmeg—about half a nutmeg to this quantity will be required; add also six yolks of eggs. Mix this well together, and fill the tartlet cases, made from puff paste, and bake them in the oven. It is often customary to place in the centre of each cheese-cake a thin strip of candied peel. As soon as the cheese-cakes are done, take them out of the oven, and if the mixture be of a bad colour finish it off with a salamander, but do not let them remain in the oven too long, so that the pastry becomes brittle and dried up. These cheese-cakes can be made on a larger scale than the ordinary one so familiar to all who have looked into a pastry-cook’s window. Suppose we make them of the size of a breakfast saucer, a very rich and delicious cheese-cake can be made by adding some chopped dried cherries to the mixture. Sometimes ordinary grocer’s currants are added and the ratafias omitted. Sultana raisins can be used instead of currants, and by many are much preferred.

This mixture can be baked in a shallow pie-dish and time edge of the dish lined with puff paste, but cheese-cakes made from curds are undoubtedly expensive.

Cheese-cakes from Potatoes.—Exceedingly nice cheese-cakes can be made from remains of cold potatoes, and can be made very cheap by increasing the quantity of potatoes used. Take a quarter of a pound of butter, four eggs, two fresh lemons, and half a pound of lump sugar. First of all rub off all the outsides of two lemons on to the sugar; oil the butter in a tin in the oven and melt the sugar in it; squeeze the juice of the two lemons, and take care that the sugar is thoroughly dissolved before you begin to mix all the ingredients together. Now beat up the eggs very thoroughly and mix the whole in a basin. This now forms a very rich mixture indeed, a good-sized teaspoonful of which would be sufficient for the interior of an ordinary-sized cheese-cake, but a far better plan is to make a large cheese-cake, or rather cheese-cake pudding, in a pie-dish by adding cold boiled potatoes. The plainness or richness of the pudding depends entirely upon the amount of potatoes added. The pie-dish can be lined with a little puff paste round the edge, if preferred, or the pudding can be sent to table plain. It should be baked in the oven till the top is nicely browned. It can be served either hot or cold, but, in our opinion, is nicer cold. If the lemons are very fresh and green—if the pudding is sent to table hot—you will often detect the smell of turpentine. If a large quantity of potatoes is added more sugar will be required.

Orange Cheese-cake.—Proceed exactly as above, only substituting two oranges for two lemons.

Almond Cheese-cakes.—Proceed exactly as above, only instead of rubbing the sugar on the outside of lemons add a small quantity of essence of almonds.

Apple Cheese-cakes.—Apple cheese-cakes can be made in a similar manner to apple custard, the only difference being that the mixture is baked till it sets.