The housekeeper's guide to preserved meats, fruits, vegetables, &c

APRICOT CREAM ICE. — Take a tin of apricots and rub the whole, juice and all, through a wire sieve. Add if necessary some sugar and mix it with some cream. The proportion for ices is one pound of pulp to one pint of cream. A little vegetable colouring— yellow— (see Vegetable Colouring)— gives the ice a richer look. Then freeze the mixture in a freezing-machine in the ordinary way. A former pupil of mine, Mr. C. W. Baker, who is now one of the head cooks in the service of the Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company, a service so famed for good cheer, tells me that these ices are the most popular of all on board ship. A small glass of noyeau may be added with advantage to the mixture before freezing. APRICOT WATER ICE.— This is simply made by freezing the pulp and syrup when it is properly mixed without adding cream. In this case it would be best not to add any colouring matter. A small glass of noyeau may be added, and will improve the flavour as before. Apricots also can be used to make APRICOT CREAM, SOLID— For this purpose proceed exactly as in making apricot ice-cream, only instead of freezing the mixture dissolve in the juice before mixing some gelatine or isinglass — proportion, two ounces to a quart. Then pour the mixture into a mould, and when set turn it out. A lighter cream may be made as follows, known as APRICOT BAVARIAN CREAM.— Take a couple of dozen pieces of the tinned apricot — each piece is half an apricot as a rule — and boil these in about a quarter of a pint of their syrup till the apricots are thoroughly dissolved. Then rub the mixture through a hair sieve into a large basin, and mix with it a pint of whipped cream and an ounce and a half of clarified isinglass. Pour the cream into an oiled mould and let it set in rough ice. Another nice use to which preserved apricots can be put is to make APRICOT TART, OPEN.— Get some puff-paste and line a well-buttered tin. When the paste is baked, fill the tart as follows : — First pour in a rich syrup made from the syrup of the apricots, coloured with cochineal, and sufficient gelatine dissolved in it to make it nearly set. Now place the pieces of apricots with the concave side up in the syrup so that the edges of the apricots are slightly above the syrup, then with a spoon fill the little concave places in the apricot, the place where tne kernel was, with some more syrup, coloured, so that the apricots look like yellow rings in a red pool. When quite cold place a white kernel of the apricot in the centre of each ring on the red, taking care it does not sink in, but looks white. If you have not enough kernels almonds will do. The border of pastry can be glazed and sprinkled with coarse sugar and chopped angelica. Tinned apricots will also make a very pretty dish of APRICOT TARTLETS.— Make a few tartlet cases, pour a little apricot syrup into each, and then place half an apricot in each case. Press it down in the case, and place a preserved cherry in the centre of each. ARCHANGEL OX TONGUES. — See Tongues. AROMATIC MONTSERRAT CORDIAL.