À la mode cookery

Make some Genoese paste the size required, cut into three rounds, spread the bottom thinly with apricot pulp. Put over it a thick layer of coffeecream upon the apricot ; then place the middle round upon the bottom and mask with apricot and coffee-creams as before ; then place the top round on and mask the same, carrying the coffeecream with the palette-knife all round the sides ; then have some desiccated cocoa-nut which has been slightly browned, and cover the sides with it upon which the cake is placed with the palette-knife, and then pipe with the coffee-cream, a small star border round the top, and a design in the centre. The Genoese paste is made thus : — Beat ten whites of eggs to a stiff snow, stir in eight ounces of powdered sugar, beat ten yolks of eggs for a minute, stir them in lightly, and then mix in six ounces of sifted flour only just enough to incorporate it, and at the same time four ounces of melted butter. Mix the whole together, then pour the mixture on to the prepared tins in a hoop, and bake. Coffee-cream, to make : — Beat half a pound of fresh butter to a cream with a quarter of a pound of icing sugar, add one yolk of an egg and a table-spoonful of Distil coffee essence, and beat till it is a light smooth cream. ' Chief nourisher in life's feast ' Macbeth An invalid requires nourishing and light food, especially in convalescence, when the strength has to be kept up ; but it is often a difficult matter, as invalids are often capricious and faddy in their appetites, and take a dislike for what is recommended to them. Cookery for an invalid should be most nutritious, but neither rich nor heavy, for the digestion is always more or less deranged for a time. Everything should always be served daintily, neatly, and punctually, and a little must be served only at a time, and never a repetition of the same dish Arrowroot Moisten two tea-spoonfuls of arrowroot with two table-spoonfuls of cold milk ; when quite smooth, pour in half a pint of boiling milk, then put it in a saucepan and stir over the fire for three or four minutes. Add two or three tea-spoonfuls of castor sugar to sweeten it. Wine or brandy can be added to this. To make water arrowroot, use the same quantities as above, substituting water for milk. Arrowroot Jelly Take half a pint of water into a saucepan with a table-spoonful of brandy and castor sugar to taste ; boil it up, and add gradually a dessert-spoonful of arrowroot which has been rubbed smooth in two tablespoonfuls of water. Boil for about three minutes. Beef Tea Take two pounds of beef without any fat, and cut it into small dice. Put it in a gourmet boiler with a quart of cold water and leave it to soak for several hours, pricking it now and then with a fork. Then place the gourmet boiler into a stewpan of water, which must be brought to the boil, then let it simmer for three hours. Strain and put by till cold, removing all particles of fat ; when required, add a tea-spoonful of Valentine's beef juice or a tea-spoonful of Armour's extract of meat, and heat it to boiling-point. Brains au Gratin