A guide to modern cookery

purpose for which it is intended, add a more or less large quantity of chopped almonds, according as to whether the pralin be required thick or slightly liquid for spreading. Cover it with a piece of white paper, moistened with white of egg, that it may remain moist if kept for some time. (2) If it is to be added to a soufflé preparation, to a souffied omelet, to a preparation of ice, or to a custard, it is a nougat powder which is prepared as follows :— Gently melt one Ib. of powdered sugar in a small saucepan, taking care not to let it acquire a deeper shade than old gold. Mix twenty oz. of dried almonds with it; turn the whole out on to the corner of a slightly-oiled marble slab (or on an overturned saucepan-lid), and leave to cool. When the nougat is quite cold, pound it and rub it through a sieve. Pound and rub what remains in the sieve until the whole goes through. Put the powder in a well-closed box, and place the latter in a dry place. 2353—CURRANTS AND SULTANAS Sultanas and currants should always be at hand, ready and cleaned. To clean them, first dredge them and then rub them in a towel, closed to form a sort of purse. Now, turn them into a sieve or colander, which shake vigorously, that the flour and the detached stems may be eliminated; then examine them, one by one, to make sure that no stems remain. Currants should be examined with very particular care, as small stones often get in among them. Put the currants and the sultanas aside, each in a box or a drawer. 2354—ESSENCES AND FLAVOURINGS The various essences used in pastry are bought ready-made. The flavourings consist of those products treated by infusion, such as vanilla; of grated or infused products, such as lemon and orange rinds; and liqueurs in general. Fruit juices only become flavours when a liqueur in keeping with the fruit from which they were extracted has been added to them. 2355—GILDING PREPARATION This consists of beaten eggs. Its purpose is to ensure the colouration of certain cakes, whereon it is smeared by means of a brush. In some cases this gilding may be combined with a little water, as, for instance, when the heat of the oven is too fierce, and cakes are required of a light colour. In some cases, especially in that of small, dry cakes, it consists entirely of egg-yolks diluted with a few drops of water. THE PASTES 2356—ORDINARY SHORT PASTE Sift one lb. of flour over the mixing-board; make a hollow in its midst, and put therein one-sixth oz. of salt, one-third pint of cold water, and one-half lb. of butter well softened— especially in winter. Mix the flour gradually with the butter and the water; mass the whole a moment or two, and knead it (see No. 2357) twice. Then roll it up in a ball; wrap it in a piece of linen that its surface may not dry, and put it aside in tha cool. Remarks: A kneaded paste should be prepared either one day, or at least a few hours, in advance, in order that it may lose that elasticity which it acquires from the kneading. Pastes, after they have rested awhile, are much more easily treated, and bake a much more definite and lighter colour, than those that are used as soon as they are prepared. 2357—THE KNEADING OF PASTES The object of kneading paste is to combine the ingredients of which it is composed thoroughly, and also to smooth it. Proceed as follows :— When the paste is mixed, roll it into a mass; put it in front of one; then press it away from one, little by little, between the board and the palm of the hand. For the paste to be perfectly smooth, it ought to be treated twice in this way. 2358—FINE, SHORT OR FLAWN PASTE (For Fruit Tarts)