Elements of the theory and practice of cookery

Scald the milk in a double boiler, and stir into it the cornstarch just moistened with cold water. Cook directly over the heat till it comes to the boiling-point ; then remove at once. Separate the eggs ; beat the yolks slightly by themselves, then with the granulated 276 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COOKERY sugar ; stir these into the thickened milk, cook all together for one minute, add the vanilla, and pour into a baking-dish. For the meringue. — Beat the whites till frothy, add the powdered sugar, and beat again. When stiff enough to hold its shape, spread the meringue over the pud- ding, neaping it in the middle, sprinkle with poAvdered sugar, and brown slightly in a warm oven. Serve cold. Creamy Rice Pudding Milk, 1 quart. Sugar, y^ cupful. Rice, Yz cupful. Grated nutmeg, a few grains. Salt, % teaspoonful. Wash the rice. (§ 138.) Mix the ingredients in a pudding-dish and bake for three or four hours, stir- ring in the brown crust as it forms. Or cook slowly for a shorter time in a saucepan on the stove, stirring often. Serve cold. Half a cupful of raisins may be added to this recipe. Section 3. Ice-cream and Water-ices The daintiest last to make the end most sweet. — Shakespeare. 436. In summer no other dessert is so welcome as ice-cream. With bread and butter, it is a sufficient lunch on a hot day. 437. Ice and salt form a freezing mixture. — When ice and salt are mixed, a double action takes place : the salt makes the ice melt, and the melting ice dissolves SUGAR AND SWEETS 277 the salt. We have already observed that heat is used up in changing matter from the solid to the liquid form (§§ 48 and 100). Melting ice and salt reach a tem- perature below the freezing-point of water. If we pack them around some other liquid, they draw the heat from it so fast that it freezes. This is why we use a mixture of salt and ice to freeze ice-cream. Experiment. — Fill a cup with cracked ice ; take the tempera- ture of the ice with a thermometer. How cold is the ice ? Mix four tablespoonfuls of rock-salt with the ice, and watch the ther- mometer. When the mercury stops falling, see what degree of cold it registers. Directions for freezing Cream 438. Making ready. — Put the ice into a strong can- vas bag, or wrap it in a piece of stout cloth, and pound it fine. Use rock-salt ; fine salt will not do. Scald can, dasher, and cover. Fit the can into the socket in the pail, pour in the mixture to be frozen, put on the cover, adjust the cover to the cross-piece, and turn the crank to make sure that all is in working order. 439. Packing. — Fill the space between the can and the pail with alternate layers of ice and salt, putting in three measures of ice, then one of salt. The ice and salt should come a little above the height at which the cream will stand in the can. As the mixture expands in freezing, fill the can not more than three-fourtlis full. Pack ice and salt solidly, turning the crank a few times to let the mixture settle. 278 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COOKERY 440. Freezing. — Turn tlie crank slowly and steadily until the cream is rather stiff, then turn more rapidly. Do not draw off the water unless it stands so high that there is danger of its getting into the can. The cream should take about twenty minutes to freeze ; cream frozen too rapidly, or not well stirred, is coarse- grained.