The encyclopædia of practical cookery

Cut a small French roll into thin slices, and then into small squares ; place these on a baking-dish, sift sugar over, and glaze under a salamander or in a brisk oven. Place the fruit on ice or in a cold place until quite cold, then put in the glazed pieces of bread, and serve. Cherry Fritters. — Select black Cherries with their stems on, and tie them together in small bunches. Prepare a batter with plenty of eggs, and sweeten it with a small quantity of sugar. Put the Cherries into a frying-pan with some clarified butter, and fry them, dropping a small quantity of the batter all round them. When the batter has set and nicely browned round the Cherries, -put them on a hot dish, strew caster sugar and a small quantity of powdered cinnamon over, and serve while very hot. Cherry Gateau. — Take out the stones of lib. of red Cherries, put them with half their kernels and stones into a jar, sprinkle in |lb. of sugar, pour in 1 teacupful of water, and cook in the bain-marie or saucepan of boiling water until the fruit is reduced to a pulp. Strain through a fine sieve. Place loz. of gelatine into a bowl with 1 teacupful of water, put it into a saucepan on the fire, and stir continually until dissolved. Pack a fancy mould in ice. Blanch six bitter almonds, dip them into the gelatine mixture or glaze, arrange them at the bottom of the mould, and decorate with two rings of angelica, likewise dipped in the mixture. Cook by stewing ^lb. of White-heart Cherries, taking care that they do not break, and arrange them in the same way in the mould. Now add the remainder of the gelatine to the red Cherry puree, stir over the fire until it is nearly set, pour it into the mould, and leave until quite set and firm. Turn the contents of the mould out on to a cold dish, and serve with whipped cream. Cherries Glazed with Caramel. — Take some either fresh or brandied Cherries, cut the stalks off rather short, and put the fruits one at a time in boiling sugar prepared as follows : Put lib. of caster sugar with 1 pint of water into a sugarboiler, and when the sugar has dissolved place it over a quick fire, boil, and carefully skim it. It must be boiled to such a degree that if a stick or skewer be put into it and then suddenly plunged into cold water the sugar will come off easily, and if placed between the teeth will not stick to them (see Sugar-boiling). Let the Cherries drain well, and when cold they are ready to serve. Cherry Ice. — Put 21b. of ripe red Cherries, picked and stoned, into a small preserving-pan, bruise them a little, and set them over the fire with ^lb. of loaf sugar broken very small, and a little water. Boil them and then rub through a hair sieve. Crack the stones, pound the kernels, and squeeze over them the juice of two lemons. Add to the Cherries when rubbed through the sieve lib. of sugar boiled to first degree, is that when, if a drop of the boiled sugar be put on the thumb and touched with the forefinger, and when the thumb and forefinger separate again it draws to a fine thread, and in breaking leaves a drop both on finger and thumb (see Sugarboiling). When the sugar is at this degree and the Cherries are added to it, strain the lemon- juice and kernels on to them. Mix all this thoroughly and put it into a freezer. Keep stirring it, to distribute the Cherries well through it, until it has set. Serve in glasses.