FoodNet

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

1880

Page 58 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1880. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
The pieces of white cut off each end of the hard-boiled egg in order to make it stand can be chopped up finely, and these little white pieces can be placed in a saucer, like the bread-crumbs, and shaken in the cochineal, when they will turn a bright pink or red according to the quantity of cochineal used. They can be sprinkled over the devilled eggs or used in other ways to ornament them. The expense of ornamenting the dish, owing to the very small quantity of cochineal employed, is almost nil, and the amount of trouble is very little. What a difference, however, there is in the appearance of a dish so ornamented with these specks and that of one sent up plain. Cochineal is also used for co- louring various kinds of sweets. When pink sugar is shaken over dishes, such as trifle, or any dish sin-mounted with whipped cream, the sugar should be prepared as follows : — Get two sieves, one fine, the other coarse. First of all sift the sugar in the fine sieve, and then in the coarse. This will give you pieces of sugar of a uniform size, not too coarse and not too fine. This sugar can now be shaken over a plate in which a few drops of cochineal have been placed, which will have the effect of turning the sugar pink or rod, according to the amount of cochineal used. Should the sugar be required dark more cochi- neal must be added. The sugar should be allowed to dry when it is used for ornamenting whipped cream, and should never be added until the very last moment, as it has a tendency to sink into the cream, and to destroy its frothy appearance. Another very pretty addi- tion to whipped cream is made by sprinkling over it at the last moment a few of those sweetmeats known to chil- dren as hundreds and thousands. An imitation pink noyeau can be made with essence of cochineal. Colour a couple of tablespoonfuls of brandy pink, and add to this three or four drops of essence of almonds. This can be set on fire and poured over a sweet omelet. It resembles pink noyeau both in taste and colour. Cochineal is useful for colour- ing various kinds of sweet sauces. One of the simplest and cheapest of sweet sauces for puddings is that made from arrowroot. Take sufficient arrowroot to thicken half a pint of water, which has been previously well sweetened with sugar. Before adding the arrowroot colour the water a bright pink with cochineal. When the sauce is suffi- ciently thick, but not so thick that it cannot be poured over the pudding, add to it two or three tablespoonfuls of rum. This sauce can also be flavoured with essence of cloves, essence of cinna- mSweet Sauce with Arrowrooton, etc. But when rum is used by far the best flavour is obtained by rub- bing the outside of a lemon on two or three lumps of sugar, which imparts a lemon-bitter flavour, which in conjunc- tion with the rum is very nice. In making all kinds of sweet sauce it will as a rule be found that rum is far superior to any other kind of spirit, and in making brandy sauce for plum pud- ding, though, of course, a certain amount of brandy must be used, I would recommend the addition of a little ram, which gives a richness of flavour which cannot otherwise be obtained, except it be by the addition of an extravagant and excessive quantity of brandy. Cochineal is also used in colouring various kinds of puddings, such as cornflour pudding, arrowroot pudding, etc.