English and French cookery

Cheesecakes — Richmond Maids of Honour. — The following, believed to be genuine recipe, is taken from Cassell’s invaluable ‘Dictionary of Cookery’ : Beat 2 eggs, and mix them with a quart of new milk ; add the eggs and milk to a quart of boiling water in a saucepan. Pour in lemon-juice, and remove the curd, as it rises, to a sieve to drain. Mix the curd with the yolks of 4 eggs, previously well beaten, a large cupful of clotted cream, the rind of a lemon, rubbed off on sugar, a little pounded cinnamon, J nutmeg, grated, 6 ounces of currants, well washed and dried, and a glass of brandy. Mix well, and bake in patty-pans, buttered and lined with a light French puff-paste. Time, about 20 minutes to bake. Probable cost, 2s. 6d. Sufficient for 24 cheesecakes. Lemon Cheesecakes. — Mix together J pound fresh butter, the yolks of 4 eggs, ^ pound sifted white sugar, the juice of a lemon, and the rind grated. Make a rich crust ; line the dish, and make a delicate edge of the paste round it. Put in the ingredients, and bake. If preferred, it may be baked in small pans. Cornflour Blancmange. — Take 4 ounces cornflour, and mix with a little cold milk. When quite smooth, add 1 quart boiling milk ; put into a saucepan, and keep on the fire about 4 minutes after boiling up. Add sufficient sugar to sweeten, and flavour to taste. Cornflour Jelly. — Into a tumbler put a teaspoonful of cornflour, and mix with a little cold water. Keep stirring well while pouring upon it sufficient boiling water to make into a clear jelly, and add a glass of sherry or madeira. Apple Cream. — Pare and core 8 medium-sized apples ; steam till quite tender, but do not allow them to fall to pieces. Lay in a glass dish, and, when cold, pour over them this cream : to 1 teacup condensed milk or cream add 1 of sifted white sugar, and the whites of 2 eggs ; flavour with lemon. Whisk together for a few minutes, and distribute evenly over the fruit. Lemon Creams. — Pare 2 lemons very thin, and throw the peel into 6 tablespoonfuls of wat»r ; squeeze the juice over 4 ounces finelypowdered sugar. Well beat the yolks of 5 eggs ; then add the peel, water, and juice gradually, and strain through muslin into a stew-pan. Stir one way over a gentle fire till the mixture becomes pretty thick, but do not let it boil. Serve in custard cups. White Lemon Creams are made in the same way, but using the whites instead of the yolks of eggs. Delicious tartlets may also be made by adding to the preparation a little finely-crumbled spongecake, and proceeding as with lemon cheesecakes. Normandy Cream. — Put into a saucepan \ pint cream, 1J pints milk, 1 J ounces Nelson’s gelatine, castor sugar to taste, and flavouring ; stir well, and allow to boil. Have ready a wetted quart mould ; arrange tastily in the bottom some candied fruit of different colours. Pour in a little of the cream, and set away to cool. When firm, but not quite cold, lay in carefully more candied fruit, and add more of the cream ; repeat till the mould is full. Swiss Cream. — Boil 1 pint thick cream with a slice or two of lemon-peel, and pour into a bowl with a little crushed lump sugar. When quite cool, add the juice of 2 lemons ; soak £ pound of macaroons in a glass dish with a little marsala, sherry, or brandy, and pour the cream over.