Original White House Cookbook

The juice could be colored by a few drops of liquid cochineal, or a few slices of beets, while boiling. A teaspoonful of brandy adds much to the flavor. Serve with cream or boiled custard. BAKED QUINCES. Take ripe quinces, pare and quarter them, cut out the seeds ; then stew them in clear water until a straw will pierce them ; put into a baking dish with half a cupful of loaf sugar to every eight quinces ; pour over them the liquor in Which they were boiled, cover closely and bake in the oven one hour ; then take out the quinces and put them into a covered dish ; return the syrup to the saucepan and boil twenty minutes ; then pour over the quinces and set them away to cool. GOOSEBERRY FOOL. Stew a quart of ripe gooseberries in just enough water to cover them; when soft, rub them through a colander to remove the skins and seeds ; while hot stir into them a tablespoonful of melted butter and a cupful of sugar. Beat the yolks of three eggs and add that ; whip all together until light. Fill a large glass fruit dish and spread on the top the beaten whites mixed with three tablespoonfuls of sugar. Apples or any tart fruit is nice made in this manner. MERINGUES OR KISSES. A coffeecupful of fine white sugar, the whites of six eggs ; whisk the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and with a wooden spoon stir in quickly the pounded sugar ; and have some boards put in the oven thick enough to prevent the bottom of the meringues from acquiring too much color. Cut some strips of paper about two inches wide ; place this paper on the board and drop a tablespoonful at a time of the mixture on the paper, taking care to let all the meringues be the same size. In dropping it from the spoon, give the mixture the form of an egg and keep the meringues about two inches apart from each other on the paper. Strew over them some sifted sugar and bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. As soon as they begin to color, remove them from the oven ; take each slip of paper by the two ends and turn it gently on the table and with a small spoon take out the soft part of each meringue. Spread some clean paper on the board, turn the meringues upside down and put them into the oven to harden and brown on the other side. When required for table, fill them with whipped cream, flavored with liquor or vanilla and sweeten with pounded sugar. Join two of the meringues together and pile them high in the dish. To vary their appearance, finely chopped almonds or currants may be strewn over them before the sugar is sprinkled over; and they may be garnished with any bright-colored preserve. Great expedition is necessary in making this sweet dish, as, if the meringues are not put into the oven as soon as the sugar and eggs are mixed, the former melts and the mixture would run on the paper instead of keeping its egg-shape. The sweeter the meringues are made the crisper will they be ; but if there is not sufficient sugar mixed with them, they will most likely be tough. They are sometimes colored with cochineal ; and if kept well-covered in a dry place, will remain good for a month or six weeks. \ JELLY KISSES. Kisses, to be served for dessert at a large dinner, with other suitable confectionery, may be varied in this way ; Having made the kisses, heap them in the shape of half an egg, placed upon stiff letter paper lining the